Help reduce teenage pregnancies in Uganda

Thank you very much for your support towards this project, with your contribution, Mountains of Hope organized a two days training workshop on 8^th and 9^th May 2014

During his speech to open the workshop the project leader James noted that research indicated that adolescent pregnancy is associated with a variety of factors, “it is not simply a problem of teens having unprotected sexual intercourse at an early age, for many young people, the issues related to early pregnancies and child bearing include much broader social, economic, cultural and psychological factors including poverty, schools and guardians failure and sexual abuse.

The training was carried out by the Mpigi District Health Officer Dr. Ruth Nassanga who covered topics on sexual reproductive health, pregnancy prevention, and self-esteem development, together with the District Health trainer Sister Loy Kazinda who covered topics on psychological changes, hygiene, signs of pregnancy, life skills and harmful traditional practices to abortion.

The activity focused on empowering young girls in their choices and create a safe community that promotes parents and guardians to support young girls through healthy discussion of sexual rights

The first phase of the project targeted one village called Kafumu which according to our research has high rates of teenage pregnancies, as a result we trained 02 primary school teachers, 04 school girls (02from Primary school, 02 from Secondary school), 02 female guardians, 01 male guardian and 01 Local council leader.

The training topics included Sexual Reproductive Health, Sexual Rights, and Pregnancy Prevention.

The participants expectations as noted at the beginning of the training were all met, for example Teddy a primary school pupil who attended the training had expected to know how to avoid pregnancy at a teen age, this topic was covered where by the y were able to learn the following:

Abstain from sex, visit a youth center to get information on reproductive health, avoid situations that may lead you to getting pregnancy, have values and goals in life and have life skills

Group discussions encouraged a high level participation during the training

At the end of the training the participants developed a work plan to follow while training others on the same, beginning July 2014 all participants will move around the community and schools disseminating information on dangers of teenage pregnancies.

This project has successfully partnered with different stakeholders including government officials, community leaders, teachers, students and staff, this is an enriching and impactful experience we have in our community.

The second part of the training will focus on monitoring the progress, setting up counselling services in health centers, accommodating pregnant teens that have been sent away from their homes and facilitating those that are already victims of teenage pregnancies with birth kits and transport to attend antenatal services

The workshop had a press coverage of a local radio station CBS 88.8FM and Bukedde TV news to help reach a wider coverage not only in Mpigi but also country wide.

James, the project leader noted “one of the complicating factors is that adult men are frequently the fathers of children born to teenage girls” he noted that the project is now involving youth in needs assessment, programme design, implementation and evaluation. The project is also coordinating messages to target both young women and men like in sexual communication, assertiveness and refusal skills

The workshop was closed by the Mpigi District Child Protection and Family Unit officer Monica Nawegulo who in her remarks thanked Mountains of Hope for organizing this kind of workshop in the community, she also noted “in April 2014, 11 cases of teenage pregnancies were reported to my office of children aged 16, 17, 18 and all responsible men denied the pregnancies” she pledged to work with Mountains of Hope to sensitize communities on the same.

This project was budgeted at $3000, but donations worth $287.75 have been received and used to facilitate this workshop, with only 07 days remaining to expiration of this micro project on global giving page, we hope to raise $2600 to help monitor the progress, set up counselling services in health centers, accommodate pregnant teens that have been sent away from their homes and facilitating those that are already victims of teenage pregnancies with birth kits and transport to attend antenatal services, will you support us again?