Teen Girls Health & Empowerment in Uganda

Shanti Uganda and Ugandan NGO WoMena have been partnering together to educate and empower girls and woman on reproductive and sexual health. In August, WoMena came for one day to talk about reproductive health to our Teen Girls, and to introduce the girls to the Ruby Cup, a reuseable menstrual cup. Many of the girls face challenges in buying sanitary pads, iwhich often leads to them being unable to attend school during their periods each month. The Ruby Cup offers a safe and affordable alternative.

As an additional part of the training, WoMena and Shanti had a follow up session with the girls, who attended the five day workshop and received a Ruby Cup. Last week this follow up session took place at Shanti on October 6th, 2016.

During this visit, the girls were given a survey to complete that referenced the sexual health education they were taught about during the original session, with the goal of discovering what information the girls retained from the original workshop.  Additionally, they girls were invited to give feedback on the Ruby Cup Company.  

The results from the survey showed that the girls learned a lot about menstruation and reproductive health and many of the girls feel more confident talking about menstruation and can now openly ask questions without feeling shy or embarrassed as a result of the workshop.

One girl reported that she had used the Ruby Cup and liked it. The others were still unsure but were willing to try it.

In the future, WoMena is hoping to get more feedback on whether or not the Ruby Cup is a better option for teen girls during their menstruation time. The process of change can take some time; however, together WoMena and Shanti are creating options that allow girls to stay in school during their moon time. This small change is one step closer to creating a movement that supports healthy woman in the communities surrounding the Luwero district in Uganda.