Empowering teachers to roll-out life skills in schools through clubs
"What boys can do, girls can do as well and we are all equal"
Maliama Hope Bridget's mantra is “what boys can do, girls can do as well and we are all equal.” She is confident that given the same opportunities, girls can do actually better but she is conscious of the boys’ ability too. “That is why I prefer to say that we are all equal,” she says, confidently.
Maliama heads the Girls Education Club at Alere Secondary School in Adjumani District where she spends her free time teaching adolescents from both sexes how to make re-usable sanitary pads and encouraging them to stay in school including girls that may have become pregnant. This has made her confident and enabled her club to prosper.
“My club has 35 members 15 of whom are boys. We all work together giving each other advice on menstruation, career and how to cope with the different challenges that we face,” says the 18-year-old senior four student.
That advice has saved a life too. “One of my friends in the community where I live had been chased away from home by her mother because she told the mother’s lover that she was her mother’s child yet the mother had told her lover that they were siblings and she had no child,” she reveals. “Having been abandoned, my friend started living with her friend which resulted into a pregnancy. When she realized she was pregnant, she wanted to die by suicide. I counseled her. Today, she is alive with her baby and learning tailoring,” she reveals.
It is that kind of involvement that has seen her do a radio show named Leaders of Tomorrow on Aulongo FM in Adjumani. “The radio show has enabled us to reach more youth in the region because we understand their issues and we speak from their perspectives,” she reveals
“We have high cases of child marriages in Adjumani with 176 girls married and another 60 girls are pregnant this year (2022) alone. They need to be empowered because adolescents face a lot of challenges such as sexual and domestic violence and emotional abuse." “If we don’t give them the skills, they need to be assertive, confident, and able to make the informed decisions, we would have failed at our job,”
In the studio at Aulongo, Maliama is joined by some of her friends to discuss the issues of teenage pregnancy and child marriages. They are encouraging other adolescents to keep in school and delay pleasure and if pregnant to find ways to return to school. They are exhibiting confidence and knowledge beyond their age.
“You may only be seeing us today but behind us are our teachers who give us opportunities to pass on the information which they impart to us to others,” Maliama says.
Indeed, at UNNA Primary School, just outside Adjumani town, 204 teachers from 59 primary and nine secondary schools are undergoing a training on life skills so that they can support clubs such as Maliama’s to enable students live meaningful lives when and out of school. The participants are from both private owned and government aided schools.
The training is based on the Life Skills Roll Out Toolkit developed by the Ministry of Education and Sports. UNICEF with funding from the David Beckham Foundation through the United Kingdom National Committee for UNICEF is supporting the training of the teachers and other adolescent development and participation activities in Adjumani District.
The training will also enable pupils and students in problem solving and managing conflicts, have hope for the future, practice cooperation and team work, be creative and innovative, and find their identity and self-skills. “The toolkit addresses all aspects of life with skills like identify and self-esteem which are important in helping children address the challenges they face,” says Pamela Muganga, the lead facilitator at the training.
“The training will further help us impart our learners with knowledge on teenage pregnancy, child marriages, HIV/AIDS among others so that they can develop holistically,” says Hellen Zura, the senior woman teacher at Pagirinya Primary School.
With many school clubs expected to be rolled out starting in the last academic term of 2022, one can only hope that many learners will become as confident as Maliama and help other adolescents stay in school, avoid death by suicide and accomplish their dreams.
