Educate Girls in Zambia on Gender Equity

In March 2021 Chance4All  launched a  new project on GlobalGiving with a focus on Gender Equity and Girls' Education. 

The objectives of the project are to address issues that trigger poor attendance in school and to address the issue of gender equity. Poor attendance has been exacerbated as a result of COVID- 19. The focus of the intervention will be to reduce the number of out of school girls in the long-term and we aim to address this through:

- school sessions and safe counselling groups. We will provide awareness and sensitize the students (including teenage boys) on the benefits of gender equity in education. 

- school-based meetings held with boys and girls, together or separately depending on the topic, and in collaboration with the guidance of counselling professionals, the project shall address safeguarding issues such as gender equality, child protection & gender inclusion, and create awareness of sexual health education in the Bauleni  Community. 

- girls will be educated about their basic human rights, the benefits of not dropping out of school, equip them with tools to ensure their well-being and safety.

Pilot Workshop on Sexual Reproductive Health

In April 2021, the Pilot workshop on Sexual Reproductive Health was held at Space4all. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions we had to limit the  numbers to 25 female students and their mothers. We were pleased to have the organization Talula Cup partner with us to make a presentation on Menstruation and Puberty, as well as introducing the menstrual cup. The workshop also included presentations on sexuality, sexually transmitted infections and contraceptive methods as well as mental well-being, gender equity and gender based violence. 

10 girls were identified to volunteer to receive the menstrual cup and  to report their views on the cups over the next 3 months. They will report on  how they are dealing with the cup  and maintain a record on the effect of the use of the  menstrual cup on their absenteeism from school due to their monthly period. Through these “Cup Ambassadors”, we hope their learnings will be shared back to  the community and can encourage their friends to  also try out the cup.

With the funds  raised we handed out a package of reusable pads and body soap to all girls. The  outcome of this first workshop was very encouraging as the audience asked many questions and the feedback from the participants was very positive. We look forward to facilitating the next workshop. 

In May, Chance4all conducted an anonymous survey with 76 girls from Grade 7 to 9 from Bauleni Special Needs Project to gather further data on how menstruation impacts their school attendance and what actions could be taken for them to not miss school. Although final conclusions cannot yet be made, the survey revealed some interesting findings: firstly, one quarter of the respondents claimed to have at least one sister of  school going age who does NOT go to school. Secondly over half of the respondents claimed to miss at least one day of school per month because of their period. Thirdly, the survey has also shown that nearly 40% of the girls do not talk much  or not talk at all to their mothers about their period, which supports our approach of inviting the mothers to our workshops on the topic. Finally, the survey  revealed that there is a big  curiosity towards the menstrual cup which fits very well with the approach of having cup ambassadors to disseminate information. We are optimistic that we’ll be able to increase the number of the ambassadors in the near future. Overall, the insights from this survey give us valuable information for further interventions and are a good baseline for the upcoming workshops.

Outlook

A follow-up sensitization workshop with a different group of girls from Bauleni Special Needs Project is planned for August/September 2021, as we continue to receive the feedback and reporting from the Cup Ambassadors .The findings will be used to inform our future project activities. We hope to start a conversation on the benefits of gender equity. 

Links:

• Gender Equity and Girls' Education.