Dr. Dorothy Kyeyune, the President of the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha said they intended to improve on the water, sanitation and hygiene management for the female students which they realised were so lacking in these schools.
The increasing school dropout rate especially for the girls is one of the leading challenges in most of the rural schools of Mukono district. Teachers relate the vice to the lack of adequate toilet and washroom facilities in schools.
Isaac Kirenzi, the headteacher of Kojja Senior Secondary School, a government aided school located in Katosi Town Council at the shores of Lake Victoria says, previously the school recorded over 20 female students who dropped out on a termly basis.
Kirenzi says following a keen analysis of the problem, they realised that lack of adequate toilet and washroom facilities designated for the female students was majorly the cause.
“Because the school lacked a favourable environment where the students could easily change their sanitary towels and also clean themselves including bathing where possible, they always decided to stay home for the days they spent in their menstruation periods. Those who abruptly found themselves in that situation while at school also could seek permission and go back home,” he narrated.
A student’s experience
One of the female students at Kojja Senior School told this publication that during their stay at home or while going back home; some of their colleagues were often diverted into love affairs by some fishermen and bodaboda riders.
“In some cases, others would find themselves pregnant out of the love affairs they got engaged into at an early age as they were being promised money to buy sanitary towels which they also lacked in most cases and whereas others fall in love just for eats and pocket money,” she said adding;
“It is the pregnancies that always result into abrupt termination from school because parents condemn those who become pregnant so much. They even reach an extent of sending them away from home, denying the victims chances of going back to school after giving birth!”
“I wish parents knew that giving birth at an early age is not the end of one’s journey in life. They should always give the victims a second chance,” she pleaded.
The Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha saves the situation
Kirenzi however says that while they were stuck on how to address that challenge, they were blessed as the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha constructed for them a modern toilet and waterborne washroom facilities for the female students. The water system is powered by a solar water pump which keeps it running all the time.
The headteacher says the facility which was commissioned in April last year has greatly impacted on the better stay of the female students at school at all times.
He adds that after getting that facility, the school also introduced a school kit which is equipped with a sanitary towel and a spare uniform which students who find themselves unaware in menstruation period at school make use of.
“We are always at liberty to contact the teacher responsible and ask for the school kit, go to the washrooms and shower. One changes the uniform and goes back to class for continuation of normal lessons. This is very ok for all the girls now and we are finding the school more attractive,” said Rashida Namulondo, a Senior Two student.
The headteacher however said that the spare uniforms which the students use are washed and taken back to school to the responsible teacher.
“We have found this intervention and others increasing the school population from over 1000 to 1402 students and out of those, 767 are girls,” Kirenzi said.
He adds that they have also prioritized the boarding section to accommodate the big number of students who travelled long distances to school.
The President Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha gives her take
Dr. Dorothy Kyeyune, the President of the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha said in this intervention, they extended these same facilities to other five schools that include; Bugoye Primary School, Salaama School for the Blind, Maziba Church of Uganda Primary School, Joyce Ssebuliba Memorial Primary School, Terere Primary School all from Ntenjeru-Kisoga Town Council in Mukono district.
Dr. Kyeyune said they intended to improve on the water, sanitation and hygiene management for the female students which they realised were so lacking in these schools.
It is just the limited resources which dictates but there also very many other schools which are also badly off. To prove a point, parents after realising better facilities in the schools where the Rotary Club Kampala Maisha put the facilities, they change their children from the previous schools which are still in a dire situation into the ones which were improved.
Moses Tasibula, the headteacher of Bugoye Church of Uganda Primary School says before he got this modern toilet facility for the girls, the school had only 80 pupils, both girls and boys who were sharing the toilet.
Tasibula however says that for a period of only one year they have been with this kind of facilities, the school has grown its enrolment to 270 pupils.
Mary Nabatanzi, a pupil of Joy Ssebuliba Primary School says they were always contracting infections from the old wooden toilet which was ever dirty.
Nabatanzi adds that what was worse is the fact that they were also sharing that same toilet with boys and nursery pupils which made the situation uncomfortable for them.
Dr. Keyune also said that they also constructed six libraries which were stocked with chairs, shelves and text books.
Tasibula said the introduction of a fully stocked library has boosted the pupils’ love towards reading and improved the skills of reading.
“On top of that, we have had our library and administration offices connected to solar lights, which have also improved the security of the school which was previously in total darkness,” he said.
The Past President of the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha Robert Odedo said that the projects come as a result of Rotary International’s Global Grant to the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha and the Rotary Club of Frankfurt Stadel which totals to over sh800m (2,200,000 dollars).
The initiative also impacts women groups
Odedo, who coordinated these projects says they have also impacted the communities surrounding those schools with intentions to improve their financial muscle and literacy.
Through that intervention, he says that 83 loans worth sh90m have been disbursed to different women groups, 220 women trained in vocational skills and 408 women trained in financial literacy by FINCA.
He also said in that same vein, they have managed to plant 5,020 trees so far out of the targeted 10,000 trees.
Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisors Wally Gardiner impressed
Wally Gardiner, a member of the Rotary Club of High River in Canada and Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisors inspected all the projects and was so impressed on how they had impacted the children and women in the local communities.
Gardiner said they are impressed about the Rotary clubs in Uganda for their proper utilisation of the grants.
“When you look into the different countries where we put the grants, Uganda is number one in the whole of Africa for proper utilisation of the grants. I am happy that Rotarians in Uganda are getting the money from the foundation and putting it into proper use,” he said.
Ntenjeru-Kisoga Town Council chairperson Robinson Kiyaga said they have very many schools which are in bad state as far as sanitation is concerned though they lack the capacity of putting up facilities like the ones put up by the Rotary Club of Kampala Maisha in the six schools.
“Being on the lake shores, we register many school dropouts as a result of poor standards of our schools which does not favour the students to stay there all the time. We are calling upon the government and other well-wishers to come to our rescue,” Kiyaga said.