Irene Limio hopes to inspire other girls by returning to school after giving birth
Advises girls to abstain from sex until after school
When Josephine Langua, 36, lost her husband, she decided to move to South Sudan’s capital, Juba, to look for a job. She left her children with their paternal uncle in Northern Uganda. Working as a housemaid in Juba, she would send the little she could to support her children’s school fees and welfare.
Her eldest child, 16-year-old Irene Limio, was attending Primary Seven in Onigo Primary School in Ciforo Sub-County, Adjumani District, in Northern Uganda. However, school became difficult for Irene as her uncle’s wife made her brew alcohol at night. She fought sleep deprivation in class and could not concentrate on her lessons properly. Her grades dropped.
Along the way, a 22-year-old male student from a nearby secondary school promised to make her life better. She became pregnant. When her paternal uncle asked her to terminate the pregnancy, Irene refused and ran away to live with her boyfriend’s family.
The honeymoon didn’t last for long. After she gave birth, the boyfriend started verbally abusing her. Her paternal uncle informed Irene’s maternal uncle who then told her mother about her situation.
The mother, Josephine, left Juba and returned to Marili village in Ciforo. She encouraged Irene to leave the boyfriend and come with her.
Meanwhile, Irene’s old school – Onigo Primary School – had improved some of its facilities. “I realized that the school had new water tanks and sanitation facilities. Life seemed to be better there than me simply staying at home,” Irene says.
“They even had a new fancy uniform. I really wanted to wear that uniform,”
The water and sanitation facilities had been installed with support from UNICEF.
Still, Irene didn’t know what to do. “I looked for my friend, Ayikoru Majuma, who was in Senior Four at Adjumani Model Senior Secondary School. She advised me to go to the school and talk to the head teacher, which I did,” she says.
The head teacher, Delphine Adrupio Lali, welcomed her back with open hands. “We were happy to have her back. Any child that we can have back in school, we accept. She is also bright. But we advised her to go back to Primary Six since she had missed school for a long time,” Delphine explains.
Irene’s mother promised to look after her granddaughter, Desire Patience, who was a year and nine months old, during school time. Josephine also promised to pay the school development fund and buy her a new uniform. “I have paid the money apart from the uniform,” says Josephine.
Irene’s maternal uncle, Innocent Izati, a carpenter, had attended a community meeting organized by the Go Back to School campaign, spearheaded by the Adjumani District and Trailblazers Mentoring Foundation, a UNICEF implementing partner. He agreed to buy her books.
“I was impressed with her enthusiasm to go back to school after giving birth and I agreed to support her. The Go Back to School campaign dialogue had also left a mark on me. We have many girls here who leave school due to teenage pregnancies and child marriage. We need to encourage them to stay in school or return to school,” says Innocent.
Seeing girls like Irene return to school is one of the goals of the UNICEF-supported Adolescent Development Programme, which is implemented by Trailblazers Mentoring Foundation. It supports adolescents to complete primary education and transition to secondary school. The programme also helps to protect them from violence and harmful traditional practices such as child marriage. In addition, it equips adolescents with vital information and gender-sensitive life skills to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse and violence.
The programme is funded by the David Beckham Foundation which channels the funds through the United Kingdom National Committee for UNICEF. David Beckham is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and former captain of the national soccer team of England.
It is envisaged that well-functioning, well-resourced and safe and protective schools become an effective platform for social and behaviour change, and for connecting children and their communities with the child protection system. An effective child protection system, in turn, will help children go to school, stay in school, or go back to school.
Irene’s transition has so far been smooth and her grades have improved. “She just returned to school this year but we realized that in tests she is scoring on average 70 per cent in all subjects,” Delphine says.
Irene, now 18, wants to complete her education and become a nurse. “I want to play a key role in other people’s lives. But before that, I want to advise other girls to abstain from sex until after school as there isn’t much they will get apart from insults and problems,” she concludes.
