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| Adult women and teenagers undergo pad making training. |
1. Radio
talk shows (Mubende and Wakiso)
2. Spot Messages to raise awareness on support for girls’
education and increase on reusable sanitary pad users
3. Happy pad promotion centre
(Butambala)
4. Forth MHM Online discussion
1. Radio
talk shows (Mubende and Wakiso)
In
Mubende,
the talk show was conducted in a duration of one hour at Luna FM located in Kibalinga
sub county on the 19th /May/2023. Community members were reminded
about the need to support adolescent girls with the right information regarding
MHM. Various ways of availing information were shared including; Through
guidance and counselling sessions at schools, media campaigns, using community
radios among others.
In Wakiso, a one-hour talk show was conducted at Tiger FM on the 28/May/2023
beginning from 7:00pm to 8:00pm in the evening. The Executive Director took
listeners through the project overview and the achievements attained so far. He
encouraged listeners to make use of reusable sanitary pads which are cost
effective and ecofriendly. He urged parents to inform their children about MHM
issues in order to avoid the challenges associated with limited knowledge about
the same.
2. 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: via
Voice of Butende 21 times and via Voice of Kikambwe 22 times.
3. Happy pad promotion centre (Wakiso and Butambala)
Wakiso
Training of the 147 learners at the promotion center is ongoing. A total of 50 pads were made and 60 sold
Mubende
The
team organized a community outreach in Kalamba village on 25th May
2023 in partnership with Operation One Project Foundation (OPF), an NGO in
Kibibi who mobilized 48 community members to undergo a practical training on
how to make reusable sanitary pads.
Of the
48 participants, 35 were female adults and 13 were male. The OPF contributed
material/fabric, needles, scissors, sewing machines and all tools which they
used to make the pads. Each participant made a pad at the end of the day’s
training session.
Participants
were very eager and excited to learn. Each of them went home with a pad.
The
team at OPF made arrangement with the VOTU team to continue organizing similar
outreaches to reach more community members in the coming months. Plans are
underway to have the next community training.
Six(6)
local leaders including village woman counsellors of Kalamba, minister of
health and education of Kalamba town council, LC1, LC2, LC3 chairpersons
attended and participated in the activity.
The
objectives of the community training included;
· To address the existing cultural attitudes
and misconceptions around menstrual health and hygiene among girls and women in
Butambala.
· To
address/ respond to the community need of accessing sanitary wears during
girl’s and women’s menstruation period.
· To identify menstrual health issues among girls and
women in Butambala that require
attention and draw recommendations to those concerned accordingly.
A two
hours online discussion was conducted on 30th/ May / 2023 under the theme ‘Breaking
silence about Menstrual Hygiene Management.’ The rationale was to raise
awareness about issues of Menstrual Hygiene Management by breaking the silence
among the youths. The topics of discussion included; Survey findings in line
with limited knowledge about MHM issues, major factors which lead to limited
knowledge about issues of MHM (Myths and taboos), project interventions in that
regard, way forward and recommendations. A total of 13 participants (including
Votu, GBN and SORAK staffs) attended the zoom discussion that was coordinated
by SORAK and VOTU.
Participants
reacted and recommended as follows;
·
There is need to utilize both traditional
and mainstream media to amplify issues of Menstrual Hygiene Management byway of
breaking the silence through radio talk shows, spot adverts, using media
campaigns on menstruation, using the SNS platforms like Facebook, Twitter among
others
· There
is need to use participatory theatre in order to amplify the voices regarding
MHM for the target beneficiaries to easily receive the message. This can take
shape of role plays, drama and songs in that regard.
· There
is need to train the girls in how to make and use reusable sanitary pads which
are eco-friendly as well as cost effective.
· It is important to avail information regarding MHM in accessible formats in addition to working hand in hand with the different responsibility holders.
Positive
influences of all activities
· Participants
were eager to learn from one another and were able to share their views in a
participatory manner during the online session.
· New
participants joined the online discussion and were eager to learn more about
the topic of discussion and promised to work with team to invite other members
to other scheduled online discussions moving forward.
· The
online discussion about breaking the silence about menstruation was very
informative with appreciation from participants.
· Listeners
to the radio talk shows appreciated SORAK for the project work which has
greatly improved the standards of the schools for Mubende.
· Participants
at the community training in Kalamba village of Butambala asked for more
training sessions in pad making.
Challenges
·
The network was
unstable during the online discussion but the participants were patient enough
to follow closely as the network went on improving.
·
Fabric/material
remains a challenge during pad making trainings in schools (Butambala). We
continue to encourage trainees to contribute as well as forming partnerships
with other community groups for a combined effort. (Butambala)
·
The time for the
community training of pad making in Kalamba was limited in regard to the big
number of trainees.
Lessons Learnt
There
is a line of challenges regarding access to information about MHM and a lot
needs to be done. This clearly came out during the online discussion from
participants.
There
is need to strategically find solutions to the insufficient material for pad
making
Partnership
with other community groups can steer the project to reach more beneficiaries.
It also boosts community participation
Recommendations
Utilize
fliers during communication regarding the online sessions which can be shared
on the various platforms for more visibility to ensure that many participants
turn up during the sessions
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