 |
| Learners receive booklets at Jinja Kalori p/s |
<Activities
conducted>
1. Pad
making training and delivery of startup materials in the project schools in
Mubende
2. Distribution
of edited version of booklets in the project schools
3. Radio
talk shows (Mubende and Butambala)
4.
Spot Messages to
raise awareness on support for girls’ education and increase on reusable
sanitary pad users
5.
Monitoring of
the project schools
6. Happy pad promotion centre
(Wakiso and Butambala)
1. Pad
making training and delivery of startup materials in the project schools in
Mubende
This was conducted on the 28/2/2023
to 2/3/2023 in the ten target schools. The school community including teachers,
students and some community members benefited from the training in re-usable
pad making. The students were mainly MHM club members of each school and other
students from upper primary who were interested in the training.
2. Distribution
of edited version of booklets in the project schools
300 copies of edited version of booklets based on MOH’s feedback were hand delivered to the respective school staff in the 30 project schools in the three project districts. Each school received 10 copies of booklets; teachers were encouraged to use the booklet as a point of reference during MHM lessons without restricting learners from having access.
Mubende
Wakiso
Butambala
3. Radio
talk shows (Mubende and Butambala)
In Mubende, one hour radio
talk show was conducted at Luna FM Kibalinga on 17/2/2023. Community members
were reminded about the need to support adolescent girls especially those that
cannot afford sanitary material so that they can comfortably stay at school.
The major talking point was to inform the community about the pad making
training and delivery of booklets in the project schools which would help
pupils and teachers acquire more knowledge about reusable pads. This would help
to address menstrual challenges in the community.
In Butambala, radio talk shows were conducted on 26 and
27/02/2023 at Voice of Butende. The team leader emphasized continuation of the
MHM activities as schools reopened. He reminded the general public about the
need to engage adolescents with accurate information at home and at school. He
commended the teachers and parents who involved boys in the MHM related
activities in the previous term and urged them to continue with the spirit. He
further reminded the public about the opening of a Happy-pad promotion center
in Ngando subcounty and encouraged interested persons to register and join the
trainings. Girls were encouraged to open to their guardians and teachers in
cases related to MHM and sexuality reproductive challenges they face.
4. Spot Messages to raise awareness on support for girls’
education and increase on reusable sanitary pad users
Spot
messages about Menstrual Hygiene Management, girls’ education and reusable
sanitary pad are aired as follows;
·
Mubende: via Luna FM 6 times a day.
·
Wakiso: via Voice of Kiryagonja 10 times a
day.
·
Butambala: 21
spot messages were aired at Voice of Kikambwe whereas 31 spot messages were
aired at Voice of Butende.
5.
Monitoring
of the project schools in the respective districts
The objective of the activity was to check on the status of the hygiene in schools, awareness creation, MHM club and progress of the pad making. This was done with the aid of a monitoring tool that looked at different facilities of the schools and each of those had indicators to assess the current status. The facilities included; Administration, Washroom/changing room, Awareness raising activities, re-usable pad making activities, Remarks from the MHM club Girl and Boy members, Remarks from the woman and man teacher. The details of monitoring are in the monitoring report.
Ÿ
In
Wakiso, monitoring took place from 21 to
28/02/2023 conducted by the Project Officer.
Ÿ
In
Mubende, monitoring took place from 28/02 to 2/03/2023
conducted by the Project Manager and the Project Officer
Ÿ
In
Butambala, monitoring took place on 26 and 27/02/2023
conducted by the project team
Wakiso
Butambala
Mubende
6.
Happy pad promotion centre (Wakiso and Butambala)
<Wakiso>
Ÿ Visit of Mr. Sempala and Mr. Wagaba
Emmanuel introduced by GBN at the promotion center
Ÿ Purpose: To learn about
pad making and find ways to market the pads
On
07/02/2023 Mr. Sempala and Mr. Emmanuel visited the Happy-pad promotion center
at Katalemwa Secondary school to have a training on how to make reusable pads.
Both knew how to operate the sewing machine so training only stopped at making
the tracing paper, how to use the tracing paper to cut materials to use, the
purpose of the materials, order of arrangement of the materials in the pads and
lastly how to fix the buttons on the pads. We went as far as cutting one of the
finished pads for them to see what is inside the pad and the arrangement of the
materials.
There were no outsiders (None students) who attended
the training for the month.
<Butambala>
There are 7 female and 2 male trainees that registered and are undertaking training on pad making. Trainees were not charged a fee since it was the first group since opening. Preparations for pad production are underway with the first batch expected by 3rd week of March 2023. Product standards have been developed and are yet to be agreed upon. The team hired a permanent IT personnel, Ms. Christine Atala to manage activities of the Happy-pad promotion center. She will be responsible to advertise the center as well as recruiting trainee’s and managing production at the center.
Positive influence
· Participants
(learners, teachers and parents) were excited to learn how to make reusable
pads (Mubende)
· Boys participated
attentively and were eager to learn more about pad making especially at Christ
the King Primary School (Mubende)
· Some of
the students (Kabowa Primary School) had basic tailoring skills which made
training easier (Mubende)
· After
the training and monitoring of schools, participants appreciated the support
thanking SORAK and GBN for the initiative. (Mubende and Wakiso)
· During
the training in reusable sanitary pad making, samples of the pads were given to
students for them to have a feel of their texture. Students loved the texture of the pads in all
schools. (Mubende)
· Some
schools like Kabowa had improvised material for reusable sanitary pad making
and had made efforts to avail emergency pads to students. (Mubende)
· At
Katega Primary School one of the teachers acquired tailoring skills during
holidays and she will be training the learners during pad making (Mubende)
· At
Gwanika Primary School, the sewing machine was being used for making uniforms
during school holidays to cater for the monthly stipend of the tailor as they
waited for the pad making training. (Mubende)
· Listeners
appreciated SORAK for the wonderful MHM information, pad making training to be
conducted in schools and delivery of booklets. (Mubende)
Challenges
Ÿ The
number of trainees was high per session compared to the tools of work (Mubende
and Wakiso)
Ÿ Some
students had not reported back to school due to failure to raise school fees
and some waiting to get school requirements but their fellow students will take
them through the process of making pads (Mubende)
Ÿ Among
the ten schools only one student at Kabowa primary school could operate the
sewing machine and the rest needed serious training. (Mubende)
Ÿ At some
schools like Kasasa Primary School, the Head Teacher and the Senior man was transferred
to another school whereas at Kiyita Primary School the Senior Woman Teacher was
transferred to another school. All these had just been replaced and were slowly
picking momentum of taking on the responsibility of Menstrual Hygiene
Management issues. (Mubende)
Ÿ Students
turn up at school opening was poor in the first 2 weeks causing delays in some
project activities like school monitoring.
Ÿ Poor
communication of project progress when project manager went for leave.
(Butambala)
Ÿ MHM
club members who sat primary leaving exams left the school which called for
selection of new MHM Club members at some schools.
Lessons Learnt
·
We should
continue to encourage participation of the boys and male adults.
·
To attract more
learners at the Promotion center, training should be free for the first 3
months while community adverts should be prioritized. (Butambala)
·
Target schools
are continuing to practice better MHM depending on what was observed during the
monitoring. Hygiene has greatly improved.
·
MHM club should
be composed of more pupils from lower classes than in P7. There must be a
succession plan for pupil who leave the school for good.
·
More follow up
is required to promote pad production in schools for Butambala, Wakiso and
Mubende (all districts)
Recommendations
· We
should standardize the pads. That is having a consistent shape of the pad,
different sizes because people are not of the same size. We should also add
details of the sizes in the package bag such that people get what they want
with ease. (Wakiso)
· For
sustainability, the center should be open to all people interested in getting
skills in tailoring not only those interested in pad making because this is
what other organizations are doing otherwise with the way we are struggling to
sell the pads the center may only survive with funding from GBN. During this
project period, we focus on pad making
first to address menstrual hygiene challenges in schools(Wakiso)
· As
SORAK team we need to find the actual cost of pads and this will inform us on how
to establish the price of our pad otherwise those on the market like So sure
are much cheaper at shs.7,200 and shs.8,400 for a pair of small and large size
respectively (Wakiso)
· More
marketing of pads needed and we should make use of social media platforms.
(Wakiso)
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