This was the catchy message given to 31 girls living in the town of Katikamu this past Saturday as part of the Just Like My Child Foundation’s Girl Power Project.

Girl power helps build self-confidence in girls and teaches them about sex education and life skills like personal empowerment, communication, social survival skills and how to avoid peer pressure.

I think the 7B’s is a funny sounding message, but an important one, since girls are not always encouraged to focus on education, but on preparing for marriage and having children.

One cultural practice young girls are pressured to do is labia pulling, what Ugandans call “pulling,” so named because girls pull the labia minora regularly to lengthen the labia. There are strongly believed myths that a woman will not be able to find a husband or get pregnant without long labia. Long labia are also believed to give the man and woman more pleasure during sex. Who knows, maybe it’s true?

Girls as young as 12 are pressured at home and during school breaks to go off into the bushes and pull on their labia. One concern about pulling is that it increases the girls’ interest in sex at a very young age, possibly increasing their risk of contracting HIV/AIDs, because they may not have received sex and reproductive health education to protect themselves. JLMC’s Girl Power Project facilitator, Monica, teaches the girls that it is important to focus on education first and remember the 7 B’s. She doesn’t say pulling is good or bad, just that a girl should wait to make that decision when she is much older.

Every culture has their beliefs that put pressure on girls to want to modify their appearances to reach the dominant culture’s ideal beauty, like breast implants, Botox, laser hair removal, hair dye, anti-wrinkle cream, diets to reach a certain weight, etc. So, this is not an issue uniquely Ugandan. If girls are educated, they can make informed decisions for themselves like whether or not they want to engage in certain cultural practices.

Be a part of empowering girls in Uganda to make informed decisions about their bodies by supporting the Just Like My Child’s Girl Power Project.

Written by Sara Todd, JLMC Country Director

 

Bishop Asili Hospital Dentist, Jane Mandera, pictured right with Puja Shah and Dental Beneficiaries

Dental care has always been something that I have taken for granted. My mother was adamant that we get our teeth cleaned and checked every six months, and we were lucky enough to always have the insurance to cover our dental care. At 35, I have never had a cavity or any other major problem with my teeth and am probably one of very few people who actually likes going to the dentist.

It’s a much different story for most people living in Uganda. As Jane Mandera, the dentist at the Bishop Caesar Asili Hospital told me, many people can’t afford dental care. She said her patients often shun her advice because they know they can’t afford basic treatment. Many say, “eh, just keep on removing the teeth,” which is much more affordable than receiving annual cleanings, fillings and restorative work.

Jane joined the staff at Bishop Asili in 2009 after completing her degree in public health and general dentistry at the Mulago Paramedical School. At that time, the hospital’s dental unit only had a hard wooden straight back chair for patients to sit in while Jane worked on their teeth and a wooden table for her meager equipment. In 2010 Jane met Vivian Glyck, Founder and Executive Director at Just Like My Child Foundation (JLMC). Accompanying Vivian was a pediatric dentist, Dr Puja Shah, who came to the hospital with her dental instruments and the intention of mentoring and helping Jane perform extractions and other dental work. However, Dr. Puja was unprepared for the poor condition of the hospital’s dental unit. Using the wooden chair and table she spent one week assisting Jane in the clinic. After her touching experience, Dr. Puja went back to the States with stories and photos to start raising money to upgrade the standard of the clinic.

 

Bishop Asili Dental Clinic Before .. and After

Dr. Puja and her colleague, Lidia Trainer, engaged their community and raised the funds to equip the dental unit with a proper dental chair and dental instruments so Jane can comfortably and effectively serve the needs of her patients.

Jane says, “Now with the chair and instruments I receive the greatest joy when clients come back for follow up care and I see that they are following the advice that I gave them.” She says she still faces many challenges. Material for dental fillings is very expensive. So the hospital often runs short of these materials. Jane says right now she doesn’t have any materials for restorative treatments, like fillings. The fillings cost a patient 20,000 Ugandan shillings, less than $10. The materials cost anywhere between $40 and $80 depending on the type of filling material. One package of material could last through 50 people needing fillings.

Jane always dreamed of being a dentist and delivering the best dental treatment. Relieving the clients of their pain and ensuring that they can have good dental hygiene is her ultimate goal. “Oral hygiene is really bad among my clients. I educate them how to maintain and take care of their teeth. I follow up with their care and see that they return for cleanings. They learn to take better care of their teeth,” says Jane. Before Dr. Puja,’s visit, Jane explained she was feeling discouraged working with so many inadequacies. “People needed so much, but we had so little; we couldn’t provide all the treatments. The visit with Dr. Puja, motivated me to reach out to the community and realize my dream again. They [JLMC and Dr. Puja] touched my life so much.”

She hopes in time the hospital will be able to afford a full dental unit. Currently, they do not have the resources to do dentures or crowns. She explains that people don’t like to be referred to Kampala for needed dental treatment. They feel discouraged because the transportation and stay in Kampala are additional expenses they cannot afford. “People come see me and they can’t even open their mouths the infection is so bad,” Jane says.

Contributions to the dental clinic are part of the Keep a Mother Alive program implemented by JLMC. A $100 contribution will help Jane and the Bishop Asili hospital purchase filling materials and other dental equipment for patients in dire need of dental work.

Gyriadda Girls Participate in a Girls Empowerment Workshop 2/12

One of those communities, St. Kizito, Gyriadda faced several struggles over the past two years, which initially had delayed the building of their school. A major challenge was the discovery of a defilement case right before their project was to begin. JLMC found out through its Girl Power Program that the nursery school teacher was sexually abusing his girl students, and had been for several years. When the community members learned of the abuse, they felt they had no recourse since corruption is so rampant within the local justice system and the teacher was so well known within the community.

Another struggle facing the community has been impoverishment. Because of the high poverty in the area, the community members struggled to gather local resources: sand, stones, and clay bricks required as a co-investment by JLMC to construct the school building. In cases like Gyriadda, JLMC must exercise patience and provide encouragement as communities together find solutions to issues that delay their progress. Community contributions are critical to deep development; it builds community ownership over a project, ensuring the community will maintain the project well into the future.

With the help of JLMC, the Gyriadda community has overcome many of their struggles one by one and has made great progress in 2011. Through JLMC’s Project Justice, a human rights workshop was held for community members to promote the rights of women and children and to prevent more cases of sexual abuse. As a result of the workshop, the community was successful in chasing the teacher involved in the defilement out of town with the help of local police.

As of November 2011, the construction of the school is back on track. The roof has just been added to the building, which will have three classrooms and an office for the principal. JLMC also contributed to the construction of a latrine for teachers and students.

Skilled Labourers Work to Add Roofing to St. Kizito, Gyriadda’s School Building 2/12

Teachers, school board members and PTA members received two professional development workshops to improve the learning environment of the school and to help increase student performance.

63 girls participated in three Girl Power workshops to increase their capacities for self-empowerment, leadership potential and social survival skills. When asked during the first Girl Power workshop of 2012, girls reported no cases of defilement since the sensitization campaign. A major success!

Yet, despite these magnificent accomplishments, the Gyriadda community, as well as the four other school communities sponsored by JLMC, still have many challenges to overcome. Many of the schools lack chairs and desks, critical for a conducive learning environment. Instructional materials are also limited in many of the schools.

Access to health care and health education is limited, and income generation activities in the schools to support extracurricular activities like drama and sports is nonexistent.

In 2012, JLMC has exciting plans for its Universal Education Program, which hopes to address the aforementioned challenges.

JLMC will

• Provide furniture and instructional resources to improve learning environments
• Provide the opportunity for schools to generate income  to give students lunch and opportunities for extracurricular activities
• Increase student and teacher’s ability to deal with relevant health issues in their communities
• Increase the capacity of school management committees to manage operations, solve community problems and supervise education through capacity building workshops.
• Increase the capacity of teachers to deliver well planned lessons
• Ensure that schools meet national standards as laid out by Department of Education

However, JLMC cannot reach its goals without your support. Here are ways you can help:

For only $1,000 you can  furnish an entire classroom, so that children are not seated on the floor during lessons.

For only $100 you can help fund a much needed professional development workshop for teachers and school boards.

For only $200 you can help fund dental hygiene outreach.

Donate today to further improve the lives of the thousands of children that JLMC serves through its Project Universal Education.

George William

Construction Supervisor

George William was the fabrication Genius behind JLMCF’s Universal Education Program. He worked with our Project Coordinators to create school building plans and then transforms those creations into safe and shining learning environments where eager and knowledge hungry Ugandan children can thrive.

George William was a person whom you would never hear gloat, but we will not hesitate to brag about the wealth of experience that this accomplished man brought to our team. A moment in his presence told the story of an individual with a steady and true wisdom that comes with years of life and building experience. He was well known and respected within the communities we serve and came highly recommended by our Project Coordinators. Before joining us on our first ever school building project, George William worked for decades in building schools with Plan International. He never failed to continually design feasible and appropriate blueprints, budgets and plans that incorporate JLMCF’s methodology and vision. He commanded a quiet respect within every community he worked with, while at the same time setting an essential standard for ethical building practices. George William had a knack for transforming perceived community constraints and limitations into opportunities for creative building solutions. He acted as a professional mentor and guide to both skilled labor and unskilled volunteers, who were contributing to the building process with an aim to achieve capacity building, community ownership and participation. Since joining our team as Construction Supervisor in 2008, he had proven an efficient builder, maintaining quality and safety, while still coming in under budget, which allowed for JLMCF to spread our resources across a larger population of communities in need of school buildings. George William had a gift for turning our big ideas and inspirations into real life sanctuaries for learning. Our favorite grandfather who certainly got the job done will be greatly missed and always honored.

George William’s capacity building contributions to our programs and his expert building plans will continue to be drawn upon by JLMCF. Our school building projects are currently being carried out by his skilled apprentice, Mr. Akwong Janan Wilson, who has now graduated to Construction Supervisor through George William’s guidance and support.

And a 2010 Amnesty International report shows, between January and June 2009, there was only a 1.83 per cent conviction rate for rape and a 5.89 per cent conviction rate for defilement cases. Defilement is the all-too-tidy euphemism used in Uganda for sexual molestation.

How do you even begin to inject hope and change into a society with those kind of horrific human rights odds? Among many other strategies, we empower the women and unleash the full legal power of attorneys like Ugandan’s Rose Nsenge, a strong ally in our Project Justice program.

For eight years, Rose has proven that “I’ll do anything to help anybody as long as it’s within my power! When I feel justice has to be done, I’m not going to eat. I’m not going to sleep.  I will make sure I follow each task until the very last conclusion.  I don’t mind having sleepless nights if, in the end, I get justice.”

Working closely with legal authorities, Rose helped mobilize our St. Kizito community, identified the headmaster who’d assaulted the girls, and got him arrested. After serving some time, he was released for lack of evidence (all-too common in Uganda). But he was run out of the community – for good. As importantly, Rose sees people in the community rising up with their own sense of empowerment. “Now when we return to St. Kizito we ask, ‘Where are the children?’ And they are in school. And the majority of women? They are making decisions and holding positions in the community.  They are more vigilant about protecting the children.”

A 29-year-old mother of two, Rose grew up in the slums of Kampala. She became outraged when she saw how she and other children had no voices in her culture, even when they were abused or treated as property. Now, she’s an attorney making waves across Africa. Her husband, also an attorney, supports her professional leadership.

Under our Project Justice umbrella, Rose trains paralegals, police officers, social workers, medical personnel, and families in more than 50 communities in rural Uganda about their rights, the need for justice, and how to seek it. She’s made a name for herself throughout Uganda as a legal lightning rod. Rose was the first attorney on the scene when a horrific human rights abuse from Uganda rocked the globe. It’s beyond the pale, but in 2009 it was discovered that a rural Ugandan man had forced his wife to breastfeed puppies for years.

“My role was to initiate, mobilize, and call for action from fellow women activists to travel and visit the woman, who lived about 100 km away from Kampala. I led a team of about 14 women activists to seek justice for her.”

The man, who felt justified in abusing his wife in this manner because he’d paid a “bride price” for her, was arrested, but not prosecuted.

“I have been following up on this case, trying to see to it that this poor woman gets justice.” Rose says. “Actionaid Uganda got the woman funding, and they managed to build for her a house, however, the man is still at large, and up to now, he has never been charged. The case is currently before The Uganda Human Rights Commission. I will work to see that this woman will get justice one day. I think I was the determination and courage to move this case. It might be a matter of time, days, months, but the woman will get justice one day.”

Disease won’t change, poverty won’t change, and illiteracy won’t change—until access to justice increases.

In Luwero district in rural Uganda, we are so excited that a new partnership with Heifer International will bring even more dignity and “wekembe” to our families. Over the next three years 740 families will receive goats and vegetable, bean and nut seeds and fruit seedlings for passion fruit, oranges and mangoes. We can already see those new trees blossoming along with this project!

The 740 families join 20 other families already benefiting from Just Like My Child’s Project Grace Initiative. Project Grace empowers rural Ugandans to create and sustain businesses.

The 740 families help support about 5000 men, women and children in this area of rural Uganda. They will be trained in animal husbandry, building and managing the animal pens, business building/savings, and other skills. As their businesses and animals grow, the families will proudly pass on more goats and business acumen to other families in Heifer’s “Pass on the Gift” model.

Anatolia will be one of our first Project Grace superstars to help other families succeed. When we first met Anatolia, all she wanted was the freedom to live out the rest of her days in peace. Now she has a bright future and enough money to pay for her children’s education. Anatolia has bred and sold two pigs – for a $30 profit. She’s wisely re-invested most of her profits into other pigs and pens to grow her business. She shows her children each day what empowerment looks like.

“My dream now: to build up my project to a level that I can provide for my family for generations to come,” Anatolia says. “I want to ensure that my children and grandchildren are happy and healthy and have the opportunities for a good education. I’d also like to repair my family home, so it’s suitable for my family far into the future. I am now confident that we will all have access to proper hygiene, health care and good nutrition.”

Now that’s what we call “Wekembe!”

Many in Jillian’s community in the Luwero district north of the capital of Kampala have long given up of the hope of any justice. They assume that the laws only exist to protect the wealthier in Kampala, where 95 percent of Ugandan attorneys live.

But Jillian’s wiser and more empowered. She knew about her rights because her community had participated in our game-changing, groundbreaking Project Justice program.

John Baptist provides training to guardians on creating a Will in Kikoiiro

Project Justice provides rural Ugandans with greater knowledge of and access to judicial information and processes to strengthen the legal safety net, especially for vulnerable women and children, like Jillian (not her real name). Now she is protected, no longer living at home and has escaped an early marriage- if not much worse.

In rural Uganda, most people remain ignorant of most criminal and civil laws and how to uphold them. Couples don’t even know if they are legally married. They view their children, as “property” yet does not know if they even legally own their land and homes. They lose hope and are vulnerable to crime, anarchy, and terrorism.

We demand and work for change. With the African organization FIDA, weaving in legal and medical personnel and community members, we’ve helped people protect themselves from crime, fraud, and abuse by investing in:

• Paralegal training of legal and medical personnel (more than 1,000 trained so far in 50 rural communities)
• Processes that allow people to immediately access counseling, medical and legal intervention, and report all crimes to the legal authorities
• Practices that allow the expedition of the collection of proper medical evidence, reporting, documentation, and legal prosecution according to Ugandan laws
• Personal training so people feel empowered, confident and secure in seeking legal help

It’s hard for us to imagine the legal and human atrocities that constitute daily reality in Africa. Yet they also represent an opportunity for widespread cultural change. Where rape is often not considered a crime or women are tossed out of their homes for not cooking well, we have to stop looking away. Where children are often viewed as property, or forced as young as 12 into prostitution—we have to act now.

The world won’t change and people won’t claim and exercise their rights if the legal system and widespread access to it doesn’t. Help us fuel this justice movement at Just Like My Child Foundation.

For centuries, Ugandan women and girls have been forced to meekly kneel before men. We are so proud of Nyiraguhabwa Monica, who is teaching our girls to stand proud and treat themselves with the greatest respect.

Monica is helping girls embrace life skills and empowered choices that will help them navigate the rest of their lives. Monica designs and leads our Girl Power workshops, which teach hundreds of young women that they have the right to live their lives without being harassed, exploited, or hurt. And that they can choose to attend school or work without persecution.

Monica’s work couldn’t be more urgent. Save the Children estimates that two children each hour are defiled in Uganda.

One of Just Like My Child’s students was raped and impregnated. The rapist’s family tried to “erase” the abuse by giving the child’s family a cow — and her family accepted it as the only kind of justice available to them.

Vivian Glyck knew in that moment that she had to launch a program that would strengthen, protect, and empower future girls, and convinced Monica to train hundreds of girls ages 9 to 13 via the Girl Power Project. Those girls now are becoming more confident and bold, knowing THEY may be Uganda’s next leaders.

We live for those days when the girls say things like, “I discovered ways of building my self esteem” or “I unlearned the mentality that men are stronger than women!”

Thank you Monica, for making the Girl Power Project a force with which to be reckoned! Monica will be joining us remotely from Uganda for our Hand Up, Never a Handout Celebration!

Join us October 13 for an unforgettable evening of hope, inspiration, education and FUN!!

We went to many of the holiest cities in the North, including Rishikesh made famous by The Beatles. They wrote many songs during the brief time they were there, including “Why Don’t We Do It In The Road,” – a paean to the many monkeys who do whatever they want “in the road.” We also traveled to Haridwar, and to the ultimate in overwhelming Indian chaos: Varanasi.

Varanasi is famous for its “burning ghats” – funeral pyres along the banks of the River Ganges where holy pilgrims come to die so they can have their ashes released in the Holy (and dirty) Ganges.

It is fantastically surreal and challenges everything we think we know about death, spirit, and the importance of a sanitary environment.

Throughout India, men who have taken a vow of poverty to pursue spiritual transcendence are revered as a national treasure – the soul of India’s collective body.

But my most spiritual moment did not come in the presence of a Holy Sadhu, but rather through the radiance of a simple woman who had likely spent her entire life’s savings to travel to Varanasi. On this day, she joined tens of thousands of women on the banks of the Ganges for “Women’s Day” – a holy day to celebrate motherhood and the power of the feminine.

When I met her, she was freshly bathed in the Ganges, her head just shaved as she offered the only thing of value she owned to the river of life – her beautiful hair.  In her eyes, I saw deep serenity; radiance and oneness that resulted from her pilgrimage and sacrifice.

The buoyancy of her spirit was so large and happy that I imagined she was taller than me as I posed by her to take a photo. I was stunned when I looked at my photos later that night and realized that I dwarfed her by nearly a foot!

She is the spirit that I conjure up each day when I bring attention to my own spiritual core. I won’t leave my yoga practice until I bow to the full radiance of her feminine power.

She is the spirit that I bring to our Project Justice work and our Girl Power Project: fully maternal, fully fierce, fully loving, fully healing. This spirit can, will, and has healed the planet.

On Thursday, October 13, at our fifth annual gala, we will pay homage to this fierce and healing feminine essence as we honor three amazing women who sacrifice and love every day in order to bring joy and empowerment to others. Read below about one of our amazing honorees: Monica Nyiraguhabwa, leader of our Girl Power Project. She is power and grace in action!

Please join us for a Hand Up, Never a Hand Out.

Namaste!

This was your first trip to Uganda, did you have any expectations or fears? Anxieties?

I went to Kenya a few years ago, my first experience in Africa being from busy Nairobi, Mombasa, a small fishing village on the coast and it’s adjacent island just a short canoe ride away. I saw children begging for coins and food in the city, Nairobi’s slum, the beautiful lush landscape along the coast and the resourcefulness providing many with shelter and food.

Before I visited Uganda for the first time, I didn’t have any expectations, fears or anxieties – mostly curiosity. I was curious how similar (and different) Uganda would be compared to Kenya – both in culture, food, landscape, and the smell. I really looked forward to meeting everyone I’ve seen in photos and video from my three years with JLMC – the scholarship students, the doctors and nurses, the teachers and community leaders behind our school-building projects, and seeing Sister Ernestine in action.

What was your first impression when you finally landed?

My first impression … FINALLY here! The best part of exiting the airport was the smell of Africa. Like warm, dusty earth with a tinge of smoking wood (okay, and a little burning rubber). It is so, Vivian’s favorite part about Africa. I’d say one of mine, too.

If you had one story to tell about your visit, which one would it be? (First thought that pops to mind)

Definitely witnessing Vivian’s son’s impression of Uganda (and everyone at Asili Hospital) unfold. When we first arrived, we spent a day recovering from jet lag and prepping for the week ahead of us. I think it was unusual for him to spend the day without an itinerary. Our first day we had no itinerary and there were a few afternoons like this, when his mama and others were planning strategically and not available to keep him company. But he adjusted quickly, spending many afternoons reading, gathering mangos, exploring Asili Hospital grounds or playing ball into the sunset with neighbor children outside.

Also, seeing Maria de-feather a chicken for dinner. You don’t get to see that everyday. I made the mistake of telling Zak to come watch. He was interested, but then later lost his appetite for dinner that night. hehe.

If someone were to visit Uganda what tips or tricks would you share with them?

1. Bring a reusable water bottle and get your hands on a few gallons of purified water from the local market. It was hot and dusty when we were there, cause for reassurance to know you’ve got hydration in your pocket when out in the bush.

2. Wash your hands and eat the food. It’s delicious, especially the meats!

3. If you want to speak to locals and learn about them – Learn the greetings – either in the local language or what it would translate to be in English. Ugandans have a long greeting sequence, no matter between a formal or casual interaction. It’s like a standard song sung between two people greeting each other, and goes something like this:

asking how was the day,
thanking each other for the work they do,
asking if they are at peace,
asking how is life,
and asking how the family is doing.

This exchange would go back and forth between both parties. And then after, you’d get to what’s really happening in life.

Whether it happens in English or Luganda, it happens. When Ugandans greet non-Ugandans, I noticed that they abbreviate their standard greeting a bit to apply better to visitors. The sisters do this especially well, as they are used to seeing visitors quite frequently.

But I think it’s good to understand how Ugandans greet each other, how to introduce yourself and get a conversation going. It’s not like it is here, where you can say your name and small talk about anything. There’s definitely that formality that occurs.

Was there one particular person, event, or moment from the JLMC tribe that stands out most?

Meeting Muwango and his family. He has AIDS, and lost his wife to the disease. Now it’s just him and his five children. He and his family participate in our Project GRACE program. It was pretty remarkable to meet a family benefitting from our work half a world away. It was the hope and joy in his eyes and his humble graciousness that really touched me. That his young girls and boys wouldn’t go hungry – and even have the chance to go to school. To enter his home and see how proud he was of his work. It was so inspiring.

What was an average day like for you?

Awesome. Waking up early (I had a rooster right outside my window), putting a few chapters down in the (Harry Potter) book I brought to read, Mangos, Bananas and Black Ugandan Tea for breakfast (everything was labeled “Ugandan ___”: Ugandan Tea, Ugandan Milk, Ugandan Cookies, etc… I took an empty Ugandan Coffee can as a souvenir. and then the day’s itinerary – visiting Project GRACE participants, the school sites, the dental clinic, going-ons at Asili Hospital and sometimes just taking the afternoon nice and easy like a Ugandan: mango in hand, sitting on the front step, smelling the sun go down.

Were the mangoes that great? How many did you eat?

Mangos were awesome – even the “stringy” ones as Puja and Lidia called them. I ate at least one a day. Breakfast and dinner were a fun time because we all gathered around the table for a meal like a family.