My background;
We all know that Education is the most effective tool to break the cycle of poverty, and when both boys and girls are educated in a family, the development process is fastened due to improved productivity. I was raised in a community where education is considered important for boys but not girls. In this community, especially when a girl starts her menstruation periods, that will be the end of her school journey & the beginning of her marriage journey in exchange for dowry which can be in form of a cow, goats, food or money (Ideally barter traded)! Traditionally, culturally & in some religions, menstruation is a taboo, a shame, an embarrassing issue which can't be discussed in presence of men or boys. No man or boy understands the difficulties girls go through during their menstrual periods including how to manage it, materials used, the fevers, headache, back pains, nausea, vomiting, etc. and its impact on girls’ education. To them it’s a sign of maturity & readiness to start producing babies hence, fitness for marriage irrespective of the girl’s Menarche age. This makes them continue to have bad attitudes & practices like bullying, nicknaming and marrying off the girls.
My name is Prossy Nakattudde, a public health, community development& leadership professional from Mukono, Uganda-THE PERAL OF AFRICA. I am the eldest child in my rural family of 3 daughters & one brother (with my mum) but the 3rd daughter of the 7 girls among a 2 football teamed family (with my polygamous dad). Although my mom was against this poor practice & decided to end her 17yrs old marriage than seeing her 3 little angels get married because of menstruation, I still almost dropped out of school due to poor menstrual hygiene practices. My mum couldn’t afford to buy me pads, I used to get embarrassed when my uniform was blood stained since I used papers, pieces of foam mattresses & some clothes. I always suffered a lot of Urinary Tract Infections, crumps, and had no right information how to manage myself. My performance dropped because I was always absent for 3-5 days & couldn’t compete in class but mum kept on encouraging me. Senior women/men teachers didn't help because they too were either shy to talk about it or had no right Information. Fortunately, I persisted & graduated with a BSc. Human Nutrition & Dietetics.
My turning point;
When I visited my village after university in 2011 and some years of employment about 10yrs since I left village, I discovered many girls between 12-19 years (school going age) still went through the same, dropped out of school and some already married with over 3 children to men not of their choices & almost 2x or 3x their age. I envision a world where child marriage & early pregnancies no longer exists. Girls & young women are supported to enroll, stay & complete school. They make decisions on their sexual reproductive health & rights (SRHR) like how to manage their menstrual periods hygienically/safely with dignity, when to have sex, whom to get married, when to have children & how many. A world where men & boys understand menstruation, how it affects girls’ education and their roles as gents to support girls complete their education. In 2014, I mobilized some of the girls I knew had excelled in our village & presented this vision. With their support we registered “African Child & Youth Development Initiative (ACYDI)” in 2016 to support health, education & economic empowerment of children & youths especially girls. Due to lack of enough capacity & resources, the project didn’t start well until 2018 when we had some resources saved & contributions from volunteers. We have been able to support over 150 vulnerable children with scholastic materials & school fees subsidies. We have trained 4 schools on menstruation & local pads making (Including male & female teachers, boys & girls) which has shown a big change in their lives.
Goal & Target;
My project aims to improve knowledge, attitude & practice on menstrual health management (MHM) by the different stakeholders including policy makers, traditional cultural & religious leaders, and increasing accessibility to hygienic cheap menstrual materials & sexual reproductive health information for girls in and out of schools thus reducing frequent absenteeism, school dropout, child marriage and teenage pregnancies. In conclusion, when not educated nor engaged, children & youths especially girls and young women are at greater risk for entering into early marriages hence early and unplanned pregnancies, engaging in petty & huge crimes, substance/drugs dealing or abuse and contracting HIV/AIDs, evident in in my community. This needed to be changed I saw the time was now and the change maker was MYSELF.