2022年6月28日火曜日

【Educational Environment】 Monthly Report May 2022 "Online demonstration about MHM and sanitary pad making at happy pad promotion center"

A boy participates in making sketches of the reusable sanitary pads 


<Activities conducted>

1.     Finalize editing the teachers’ MHM training manual

2.     Work on necessary renovation at Happy-pad Promotion Center and conduct MHM trainings.

3.     Work on the sanitary pads instruction flier (leaflet)

4.     Online demonstration about MHM and sanitary pad making at the happy pad promotion center

5.     Conduct an online demonstration of the teachers’ training about MHM

6.     A new awareness raising animation was shared by a Cooperating Organization, VOTU

7.     Follow up on progress of WASH facility renovation in the selected schools

 

1.     Finalize editing the teachers’ MHM training manual 

The teachers’ training manual was edited by the project team in order to come up with a final version.  Various sources of literature were consulted during the process of editing the manual in addition to several meetings with the GBN team in order to come up with the valid final version. The manual was ready for use during the teachers’ training online demonstration.  The manual is intended to guide teachers on how to train students/learners on how to manage menstruation, gender issues and sexual reproductive health and showing examples of workshops.

 

2.     Work on the necessary renovations at the happy pad promotion center and conduct MHM trainings

The Happy pad Promotion Centre, located at Katalemwa secondary School, is ready for use and has been painted. The draft labelling words have been finalized and ready for writing on the external wall.  The draft final label is here below;

In addition, an Information Technology person Nabirye Restetuta has been identified and placed at the Centre to assist in the running of the centre and train potential clients in MHM especially making reusable sanitary pads.

Training on sanitary pad making is ongoing with 92 students of Katalemwa Secondary School from Monday to Friday including 33 boys and 59 girls. The current trainees are not paying training fees. The students are now familiar with the process and are able to Sketch reusable sanitary pads; sew the re-usable sanitary pads as they are now familiar with using the sewing machine. Learners have welcomed the idea of learning how to make reusable pads and are willing to encourage others out of school to come and learn how to make pads.

 

3.     Work on the happy pad sanitary pad instruction flyer (leaflet)

Team drafted and finalized with working on the sanitary pad flyer (leaflet) which shall help users of the sanitary pad to know how to use the pad. The leaflet shall be inserted into the packaging of the pad. It is also to be included in the teacher’s training manual.

 

 

 


4.     Online demonstration about MHM and sanitary pad making at happy pad promotion center

On the 13/05/2022 online demonstration was conducted by SORAK team with reusable sanitary pad trainer via google meet. SORAK team members and students of Katalemwa secondary school physically attended and GBN and VOTU staff and other project members attended online.

-Participants were introduced to practical making of reusable sanitary pads

-The advantages of using reusable sanitary pads over disposable ones

-How to manage reusable sanitary pads.

This demonstration training is further illustrated in the photographs below;

The online team including the GBN and VOTU informed the trainers to identify strategies of improving on the skills of conducting online trainings as they will offer support in that regard for better results moving forward.

A student illustrating how to insert a pad in the nicker before using it

The SORAK director shows the audience all the sketches of the reusable pad and taking members through the advantages of the materials used.

Members having a feel of the finished product of the reusable sanitary pad after making it

5.     Conduct an online demonstration of the teachers’ training about MHM

Project team conducted an online demonstration of the teachers’ training about MHM on the 27/05/2022 via zoom. SORAK and VOTU team members shared topics contained in the MHM booklet. The GBN members listened in. After the presentations, participants made observations and comments for making relevant adjustments and improvement. Comments were mainly on;

·       Better to make more strict time management

·       Use of practical examples and illustrations like photographs, videos whenever possible

·       It will be necessary to guide the teachers on how to use both the manual and the booklet

·       Need to ensure that during the trainings, both male and female teachers get to understand the purpose of the training

 

6. A new awareness raising animation was shared by a Cooperating Organization, VOTU

VOTU in Butambala designed an animation with a message about menstrual hygiene management. The audio was submitted to Voice of Kikambwe and Voice of Butende. The spot message was aired out 21 times in May 2022. To view the spot message, follow the link and members were encouraged to use it.  (https://youtu.be/whvtHmCh-Xg) 


7. Follow up on progress of WASH facility renovation in the selected schools

The project team in all the three districts made follow up visits to all project schools. It was discovered that most schools had succeeded in renovating the facilities. 

 

In Mubende, 9 schools have completed renovation and the facilities could now serve the purpose of helping girls be in safe and secure places during their menstrual periods. On the other hand, Christ the King primary school’s work still pends more community contribution. 

Pictorial view of the current state of facilities in Mubende district


In Butambala, schools have performed as follows;

Pictorial view of the current state of facilities in Butambala district

 


In Wakiso, 9 schools have completed renovation apart from Ssayi Bright primary school which has just been recommended to replace Kigoogwa Muslim by the Municipal Education Officer. They noted that it is a pleasure to have such an opportunity of being one of the few selected schools and they will fix a door on the girls’ washroom.

Pictorial view of the current state of facilities in Wakiso district


<Positive influences/ Changes>

·       Most learners learnt about reusable sanitary pad for the first time. Students learnt the advantages of using reusable sanitary pads and picked interest in making use of them during the online demonstration on MHM

·       The online team got time to identify what was missing out on conducting an effective training which shall help to inform future course of action.

 

<Challenges faced during the conduct >

·       Poor internet connectivity that made some online presentation to go on and off

·       Lack of electricity to enable use of electric powered means of training

·       The Municipal Education Officer delayed to update team about the details of another school to work with in Wakiso which delayed the school’s facility renovation process in that school

 

<Lessons Learnt>

·       Practical demonstrations are key in order to help articulate the message clearly.

·       It is important to be ready and use different approaches of training in the event of poor internet or electricity availability. 

·       Some schools undertook to do much more renovation work than the planned work under the budget. On the other hand, some schools expected to get community support/contribution soon; however, it has not come in time to ensure completeness of renovated facilities.

 

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*This project is implemented under JICA's Kusanone Partnership Program.







2022年6月11日土曜日

【Intern Activities】We are interns joining GBN from April 2022!

Hello!

We are pleased to announce that we will be interning at Global Bridge Network. 
This is Miyu and Rio!

In this blog, we'd like to introduce our daily life through intern activities. At this time is the first blog, so we will introduce ourselves! We hope you will enjoy it 😊

 

-Miyu Maki



Hello again everyone🌞My name is Miyu Maki, and I am very eager to learn and absorb a lot about international cooperation and NPO activities through my activities at GBN, so I hope you will support me 🐈💖

 

Affiliation

-Department of Education and Culture, Faculty of Sociology, Doshisha University

-Vocalist, Band Club

-Public Relations Manager, UNICAMP


Keywords

#cats #bands #karaoke #cosmetics #baseball games #clothes #shonen manga #lemon tea #Reading #Zoo #Aquarium #Travel


Overseas Experience

              -Brunei Darussalam (2 weeks homestay, junior high school)

              -Taiwan (1 week stay in Taiwan, 1st year high school student)

              -Guam/Australia/Hong Kong (travel)


Key Quotes

              "Because I have a dream, a life is brilliant" by Mozart

This is my favorite quote that always makes me take a step forward 😺I don't think you have to be dreaming, but I think I shine the most when I'm working towards my exciting dreams...!


-Rio Yamada



Nice to meet you! I’m Rio Yamada.

I’m a rookie, but I want to try anything and learn a lot from this intern activities!

I really looking forward to doing this intern activities!

 

Affiliation

- College of Social Sciences, Ritsumeikan University

-Intern, Very50


Keywords

Rookie Long Sleeper Love Dog No Ra-men No Life

Social Engagement Cloth Sanitary Napkins Project Gender Education


Overseas Experience

              -Taiwan (1 week stay in Taiwan as a field work, 1st year high school student)

              -Singapore/Shanghai (Travel)

 

Key Quotes

 "Don't give up at any time, You can do anything" by Sambo-master (Japanese Band)

I always try to be positive as much as possible, but since I am a human being, I sometimes become negative. Whenever I'm depressed, I listen to this song. This song cheers me up!!



That's all for now, just a little self introduction from the two of us! We hope you got to know a little bit about us 😊.

We will be updating this blog from time to time with information about our high school days, our encounters with Global Bridge Network, etc., so please come back and take a peek 💖.

Thank you for reading to the end!




2022年6月3日金曜日

【Educational Environment】 Monthly Report Apr 2022 "Editing the booklet, Rennovation of happy pad promotion centre"

 

Internal appearance of the promotion Centre

<Activities conducted>

1.     Finalize editing the booklet about MHM, sex education and gender issues

2.     Drafting the teachers’ MHM training manual

3.     Translation of the radio spot message from Luganda to English

4.     Finalizing renovation of the happy pad promotion center to be ready for use

5.     Follow up on progress of sanitation renovation progress at school

 

1.     Finalize editing the booklet about MHM, sex education and gender issues

The booklet was edited by the project team. This was after input by key stakeholders from Ministry of health and GBN members. This involved making consultations from different experts including one from the Ministry of Health, Health education department. The suggestions that were received from the experts were used to finalize the booklet. The booklet is now being printed and will be ready for distribution during May 2022.

The front cover and table of contents of the booklet
 

2.     Drafting the teachers’ training manual

The project team identified relevant material which guided them to combine the manual and it will soon be finalized for the team to use during training of the teachers. The manual will be used as a guide by teachers when teaching school learners about MHM using the MHM booklet as a reference source.

 

3.     Translation of the radio spot message from Luganda to English

The spot message was translated from Luganda (local language) to English in order to cater to stakeholders who do not understand Luganda.

<The Spot message >

Fellow Ugandans, did you know that a girl child on average misses four class room days every month as a result of Menstruation Hygiene Management challenges? It is highly recommended to prioritize girl's education by creating a friendly MHM environment both at home and school not forgetting reusable sanitary pads.

SORAK is here to provide support to some of the schools in the same regard.

It is advised that all school proprietors should ensure that schools have changing rooms and wash rooms where girls can be able to clean themselves and change pads.

This message is brought to you by SORAK together with Global Bridge Network-Japan

 

4.     Finalizing renovation of the happy pad promotion center in Wakiso to be ready for use.

The Happy pad Promotion Centre, located at Katalemwa secondary School, is now open to the public as the necessary renovation for the inside is completed. The outside wall is planned to be painted in May and a canvas banner will be displayed on the wall.

The IT person -Ms. Restetuta Nabirye will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the center. She will be the overall manager. She will take lead in the conduct of trainings, managing other tailoring team for the mass production and marketing of reusable sanitary pads. She will also reach out to community in Wakiso to ensure that new trainees are recruited and trained at a fee.

The centre will start with one tailor and more will be recruited as demand increases. The centre will operate all days with designed program hours to meet needs of various potential trainees. The centre will be open from Monday to Friday beginning at 8:30am and ending at 5:00pm.

This centre will be advertised in the following ways;

1-     Communication to parents and potential trainees through students.

2-     Distribution of brochures to community members, school children. A total of 9000 of these have been printed and the distribution will be a continuous process

3-     Routine announcement on megaphones

4-     Routine announcement on radio

5-     Visiting churches and other schools and provide information about the centre


External appearance of the promotion centre

Another view of the promotion centre before the wall painting

Making of pads in the promotion Centre in Progress

 

5 Follow up on progress of sanitation and changing rooms renovation at school.

The project team in all the three districts visited and made phone calls to all the supported schools to find out progress on renovation and construction of the facilities agreed up.

Most schools had completed renovations apart from the following;

In Mubende, 9 schools have completed renovation. Christ King Primary school needed more funding and they expected to get it after schools opening on 9th May 2022 when parents make cash contributions.

In Butambala, 8 schools have completed renovation pending is Nkokoma primary school still constructing a new washroom and a changing room. Kayenje primary school installed a door on the washroom but the soak pit is yet to be completed.

In Wakiso, 7 schools have completed renovation. Ssanga primary school hope to get money after beggining of the term on 9th May 2022. Jinja Karoli plan to rehabilitate in this new term starting on 9th May 2022 after discussions with the school management committee. This is because their idea of buying an additional sewing machine instead of renovating WASH facilities was disallowable. And a new school will be added in May to replace the non-complying Kigoogwa Primary school.

 

<Positive influences/ Changes>

The activities had the following positive influences;

Ø  The project team has been exposed to various literature regarding MHM, gender awareness and sex education which shall be very essential during implementation of the next project activities for example, some staff have learnt about MHM during the process of developing this MHM booklet. They now have increased knowledge about it and hope to use it during the planned activities of training teachers and raising awareness about MHM among community members.

 

<Challenges faced during the conduct of April activities >

The reusable sanitation pad promotion centre took long to take off because we opted to have a big room at Katalemwa Secondary school, though it still needed flooring, plastering and putting windows and door. 

 

<Lessons Learnt>

Ø  It is possible to achieve impact. For example, most schools supported to renovate toilets, washroom and changing rooms have done excellent work.

Ø  Stakeholders sometimes have the potential but simply need to be told what to do and motivate them to take on particular tasks. This is witness with the way some schools raised more money to complete renovation of their facilities. Schools such as Butalunga primary school in Butambala district went an extra mile to put tiles in the washroom and Lwadda CU in Wakiso bought more iron sheets to renovate the toilet.


Comments from the IT officer Ms Nabirye Restetuta at promotion center


‘’I have liked this project. It is wonderful. It addresses the most pressing need for pads among our urban poor girls. Now that all commodities are expensive including disposable pads, the girls and their parents will be happy to make savings of the money they have been spending on disposable pads’




↓↓↓Click on the following link to view related reports


*This project is implemented under JICA's Kusanone Partnership Program.