Strengthening capacity of schools in Menstrual Health Management

Project Summery:

 KORD supports 200 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) to access formal education annually, 58% of whom are female.It’s estimated that 48% of school dropouts of female students can be attributed to difficulty accessing sanitary pads due to the high cost available on the market.  Some students resort to using old and unhygienic clothes, bedings and grass during menstruation. Girls also miss school due to the stigma associated with menstruation. Girls who miss four to seven days of school each month struggle to keep up in class, fall further behind in their learning, and eventually drop out of school.

 The subject of menstruation, however, is often taboo, and has many negative cultural attitudes associated with it, including the idea that menstruating girls and women are ‘contaminated’, ‘dirty’ and ‘impure’. Girls especially in rural schools suffer most from stigma and lack of services and facilities to help them cope with the physical and psychological pains they undergo during their menstrual period; inadequate preparations for the young girls not yet experiencing menstrual hygiene, lack of or inadequate water to clean and wash the body, lack of materials for managing menstrual hygiene, private space and washrooms and inappropriate facilities for disposal of materials for those who have used pads. Despite these issues, menstrual hygiene has been routinely ignored by professionals in the water, health and education sectors

 ProjectDescription:

 KORD is seeking a student(s) to help design an awareness or a“trainer of trainee’s”program for menstrual health management in schools; the program is intended for senior teachers in schools, pupils and /or students at school, community women and Village Health Team members. The program will be tested before being rolled out by KORD in the near future. There will be a need to empower selected members in community on how to make re-usable sanitary towels using readily available materials in community.

 Community Impact:

 The project will help to improve on the knowledge and attitudes about menstrual health and how girls can manage their period.Giving re-usable sanitary towels is not sustainable, but if accompanied with empowerment/training, counseling and guidance will yield positive results. Girls need to understand what is happening with their bodies during menstruation.It’s also critical for boys, male teachers, and members of school management to have a good understanding of menstruation as well as the needs of girls in menstruation, this can reduce on stigma and ensure that sanitary materials are included in school budgets and school improvement plans.

 Intern/Volunteer profile:

 The Intern/Volunteer(s) should have a background in women and gender, social work and health-related disciplines or similar subjects with a passion for community development. 

 Description of Community Partner.

 Kakira Out growers Rural Development Fund (KORD) is an innovative partnership between Kakira Sugar Limited (KSL) and Busoga Sugarcane Growers Association (BSGA).

KSL and BSGA are pioneering KORD as a new model of Corporate Social Responsibility focused on building a sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship with the community served by KORD. The KORD model of partnership promotes community development and accountability through the involvement of both KSL and sugarcane farmers in annual financial contributions to the KORD fund.

 The Vision of KORD is to realize Kakira sugarcane farming community’s well being that betters the national average, and the Mission is to improve the quality of life of the community within a 50 km radius of KSL by improving household income and managing funding for projects that facilitate access to social-economic services.

 The KORD objectives/activities include but not limited to;

• Health initiatives (sensitizations on HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention, reproductive health, partnerships to enable vulnerable households access free HIV treatment and rehabilitation/construction of health facilities according to need),
• Education services (facilitating 200 vulnerable children access formal education annually, skills for life/apprenticeship program, construction / rehabilitation of classroom blocks and schools science laboratories)
• Delivering environmental, water and sanitation community livelihood projects tailored to meet community needs,
• Facilitate access to credit for sugarcane farmers and vulnerable households,
• Rehabilitation of community feeder roads to access markets and other services, and
• Care and support for orphans and vulnerable children - OVC (food and nutrition interventions, child protection and legal support, economic strengthening of OVC households, psycho-social support and basic care services)