Caritas Uganda has started a campaign intended to reduce girl child school dropout in Busoga region. There has been a sharp increase in the number of girls prematurely leaving school mostly in the rural areas. This what has forced Caritas a non governmental organization to sensitize the girl child and parents on how to reduce the causes such as lack of menstruation pads.
Caritas and police have severally discovered that many parents in Busoga forces their children into early marriage after observing that they have started menstruating. To many parents, menstruation means maturity and some believe that if a girl doesn’t get married it could lead to barrenness.
Cynthia Muhirwe, the Caritas Uganda legal officer said: “Due to misconception to menstruation period like it leads to infertility to girls, some parents wrongfully advice or force their girls to get married.” The situation becomes worse when the girl experiences cramps and looses wight. This creates fear to some parents and the girls who in turn get hoodwinked that marriage would be the solution.
Muhirwe and others were speaking at the sensitization meeting of menstruation hygiene at Nawandala secondary schools, Nawandala sub county, Iganga district. The meeting was graced by both boys and girls as well parents and youths from Denmark.
Muhirwe emphasized that girls need to embrace menstruation periods because it’s part of their life and a normal female gender must experience it for four or five days a month. Nevertheless, she acknowledged that menstruation periods have affected many girls to an extent of dropping out of schools due to shame and fear from the opposite gender.
Meanwhile the headteacher Nawandala secondary school Charles Kayuyu, requested Caritas to provide skills related to making sanitary pads, which could help the girls stay in school. Kayuyu said many parents and girls cannot afford the monthly expenses of 3,500 shillings for buying sanitary pads.
Daniel Mumbya