Caption: AFOD team having a dialogue with Anzoa parents.
AFOD – Uganda targeted adolescents in upper primary to be supported in career guidance and SRH (Sexual Reproductive Health). Adjumani district is highly affected by the vice of teenage pregnancy and early marriage worsened by the influx of the refugees, according to the DEO’s report for 2016, it indicated that over 500 girls dropped out of school, 20 of whom were reported to be from Oyuwi P/S.
It is against this background that AFOD designed an ASRH project aimed at increasing accessibility of ASRH information among young people through the school approach of capacity building, service delivery through demand driven use of the ASRH service.
AFOD-Uganda conducted advocacy dialogues with parents to support adolescent education with particular emphasis on girl child education and persuades parents to send children for secondary education regardless of their sex.
AFOD-Uganda trained teachers and formed functional school clubs, this aroused enthusiasm from the pupils to study harder. Through an educative trips made to selected girls in P.7, four (4) out of the 9 girls from Kolididi P/S, Oyuwi P/S, Itirikwa P/S and Mungula P/S obtained second grade PLE. Parents were persuaded to allow girls to enroll for secondary education which has been rare for the girl child since they are seen as a source of bride wealth. In 2016 many young girls dropped out of school attributed to early marriages resulting from pupil to pupil relationships, poor academic performance, lack of reproductive health knowledge and limited exposure to new environments and forced marriages. Once these girls are married off or get pregnant, they never go back to complete their basic primary leaving examination (PLE) or perform poorly, thus parents take it as an excuse not to support them to attain secondary education, and the long term impacts are severe on the girl child.
2017 has recorded a remarkable improvement. For example, in 2016, Oyuwi P/S had registered drop out of 6 girls in one term, this year 2017 AFOD & L.C V Chairperson have frequently visited the school, giving students information on ASRH and career guidance, so far, no case of school dropout has been reported.
With the support of Adjumani DLG, AFOD intensified on its school health program where pupils formed clubs to share ASRH challenges, got career guidance, were involved in peer to peer discussions, developed poems and drama with messages on ASRH. AFOD also trained teachers to guide young people and health workers to support the schools in menstrual hygiene management and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
Key achievements of the intervention
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36 teachers and 6 adolescent champions trained on adolescent reproductive health services
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Over 1500 information, education and communication materials with messages on ASRH distributed in schools
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16 ASRH school clubs have been established to support adolescent’s mange ASRH challenges, schools have specific time table for them to do their activities guided by the teachers and supervised by AFOD staff.
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22,000 adolescents have been reached with information on adolescent sexual reproductive health through health talks. This has resulted in a drastic reduction in teenage pregnancy and marriage, high improvement in academic performance in PLE among girls. In Oyuwi P/S alone, 7 out of 12 girls who dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy returned to school and completed PLE.
Anzoa is 15 years old. Like many girls in Adjumani district, her parents wanted to marry her off at a young age to a 40-year older man in exchange for kasurube – ‘a local term used to mean dowry’. She immediately reported this matter to her senior woman teacher who contacted AFOD to come to the rescue of this young girl, through having dialogue meetings with her parents. Anzoa who later joined secondary school, remarked, “I have gained knowledge that has inspired me to gain greater control of my life and plan for my future, I have learnt the importance of staying in school and avoiding the pitfall of early marriage, thanks to AFOD – Uganda”
Through AFODs intervention, Anzoa is now back to school and is continuously receiving guidance and counselling from AFOD staff to enable her complete her education.
Parents attention to children’s’ education has increased for instance; parents now frequently invite AFOD staff to talk to their children about values of education. Many adolescents are now accessing reproductive health services and Health facilities have reported an increase in ASRH service uptake by the pupils.
