Training & Sensitization

The little we can do we must do.

We are now approaching our destination and from a distance, grass-thatched mud houses clustered on top of rock catch our attention.

“That over there is a camp of internally displaced people.” Our guide explains. “There are approximately two thousand people living on about an acre of a rock donated by a good samaritan. Twenty years ago, they were forced to leave their land on orders of the Uganda National Forest authority. With no compensation what so ever and with no land provided by the authority to relocate, they have since been homeless. This camp is called Rwanda. We are now in Kween District, this is Sebei region”

We have traveled by car and driven for over seven hours from Kampala. We are glad to finally reach our destination. We prayed that God keeps the rain in the sky and we are thankful the road was not slippery. They had warned us about the impenetrableness of this area.

“This is Kapkwata secondary school and down there is Kapkwata primary school.” Our guide says.

The students are neat, teachers are seated under a tree in front of a mud house harboring their staffroom. The headmaster gives us a tour of the school. They are constructing staff quarters. The new structure, like the boys and girls dormitories, is a mud house. We are now in his office to sign a visitor’s book and this office is neat. When I look around, I see some brick structures such as this we are seated in now. Students are converged under a tree and Caring hearts Uganda team of trainers is conducting their first session of the hand-sewn reusable sanitary pad.

We have had a fruitful training. Girls and boys equally participated. Some boys made a pad for their sisters and mothers. Girls were terrific and neat. Unlike our usual visits, we carried a donation of Holic pads by Sheebah Karungi. She donated a pack of ten pads to each and every girl who was at school today and we can not thank her enough.

I am glad to have visited this place. I made friends, answered questions and my colleague, fellow co-founder Jimmy is proud of the work we did.
I find solace in knowing that absenteeism from school by the number of girls in Kapkwata secondary and primary schools will drastically reduce. Girls’ academic performance will improve, better menstrual hygiene will be observed, boys will now understand that it is a normal process for girls to menstruate.

We at Caring hearts Uganda are doing our best to keep the girl child in school. Join us, make a difference.