#PEA2019 Week Two Newsletter

W W W. R E A C H A H A N D . O R G

1 4 TH - 1 9 TH J A N U A R Y

D AY N I N E

D AY T E N

D AY E I G H T

D AY S E V E N

WEEK TWO

D AY S I X

• L E A D E R S H I P T R A I N I N G • C O M M U N I C AT I O N S K I L L S • N E T W O R K I N G O P P O R T U N I T I E S • I N T E R N S H I P O P P O R T U N I T I E S • F U N , L AU G H T E R & B E YO U N G • M E N TO R S H I P • S R H R I N F O R M AT I O N & S K I L L S • P R E S E N TAT I O N S K I L L S

CO MMU NICAT IO N S K ILLS

F UN, L AU GH T E R & B E YO U NG

PRE S E NTAT IO N SKI LLS

S RH R INFO RMAT IO N & S K ILLS

INTERN SHI P O P P O RT U NIT I E S

FIRST OF ALL,

INTRODUCTION New week, new plot, new learning and new opportunities for our new class of Peer Educators. Great to see participants now fully settled in and met new people.

Here’s what happened last week!

M ENTORSHI P

LE ADE RS H IP T RAINING

NETWORKI N G OP P O RT U N I T I E S

DAY SIX The day kicked off with a session on Healthy Relationships facilitated by Zaitun Nabaterega. The main takeaway of the session, was to inform peer educators know that there’s need to question the kind of relationships we have with each and everyone and base on the fact that it should build you, nurture you or take you from one level to another. She emphasized that relationships are always built on communication whether with your parent, sister or partner.

She continued with a second session on life skills. The class was asked to brainstorm the supportive skills they know and several of them mentioned communication skills, self awareness, active listening e.t.c. Zaitun cautioned the peers to always explore their skills because with them, they will be able to communicate well, relate well with people and above all have self confidence.

Jamila Mayombwe a senior consultant at Andela Uganda an IT company was the last speaker of the day with an inspirational talk on girls in technology. In her talk, she talked about the need to shift the mindset thinking that sciences are difficult. She encouraged the peers not to give up on their dreams and that one can always be what they want to be as long as they have the love and passion for it and are committed to doing it.

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DAY SEVEN The first session on Human Anatomy was led by Zaituni Nabaterega.

Focusing on the different stages of growth and puberty, the participants the different stages both in boys and girls. Some of these changes in boys included; development of beards, increase in height, enlarged penises, and deeper voices and in girls; menstruation, developed rounder bodies and breasts and got vaginal fluids. This session was aimed at understanding how the human body works.

The second session was a powerful one that focused on Menstrual Hygiene Management facilitated by a team from the Public Health Ambassadors Uganda led by Patrick Segawa, the Team Leader. Key things discusses were how to keep our pubic areas healthy and clean? What is menstruation? How to handle the menstruation period and consequences of poor menstrual hygiene management for example Urinary Tract Infections.

Key part of the discussion was to involve men and boys in menstrual hygiene management topic.. Men and boys can support women and girls to manage menstruation effectively across different social domains including household, community, school, and work. In schools, teasing girls about menstruation lowers their self esteem and counts as bullying.

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DAY EIGHT The day’s topic was Contraception and Family Planning. Family planning is when a couple makes an informed decision on when to have children. To understand family planning, one needs to get to know the 4ps i.e too many ( too many children than you can take care of), too frequent (very small spaces between), too early (giving birth before 18 years), and finally too late (giving birth after 45 years).

In the second session on contraception, participants were taken through the various family planning methods like the condom, intrauterine devices (IUD), pills, implants, tubal ligation, injectables, and vasectomy. This data will help peers to pass on the right information to enable the public during integrated outreached to make informed decisions on which method to use.

The last session of the day came with an inspirational talk from Lynnet Kwagala the current Miss Uganda Central and Nyangan Karen the Miss Uganda Rising Woman. Lynnet talked about self esteem and emphasized that building one’s self esteem starts with them,and always surround yourself with positive energy. Karen on the other end, shared her story of how she has suffered depression since her childhood but she has never let it stand her way. This left the participants very energetic and positive about life. #PEA2019 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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DAY NINE Renowned gynaecologist Dr. Charles Kiggundu started off the day with a session on maternal health in Uganda.

He provided facts about the topic including maternal mortality rates and causes, ways of supporting and reducing/preventing maternal mortality were also shared. Any death from a woman in consequence of pregnancy is called maternal. 13% are because of unsafe abortions and yet can be prevented. He highlighted the abortion was generally prohibited in Uganda even though there are certain exceptions for example; if the pregnancy will affect the health of the mother negatively, if the baby is to born by a mother who is suffering from insanity and others as stipulated in the law.

He related an abortion to a miscarriage and asked why people stereotype an abortion and yet it is not any different from a miscarriage since it all involves a termination from a child. There are safe and unsafe methods of aborting and what causes the latter include; ignorance, uninformed doctors, poor methods of abortion and quack doctors. There are safe abortion methods that should capture; medical, comprehensive, emotional, social, physical and psychological care.

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Joshua Thembo from Naguru Teenage and Information Centre then had a session on youth friendly services and referrals. When he asked participants on what they think should be the minimum package a young person should get from a health centre in terms of SRHR health services, some responded by saying that such services should be comfortable and convenient enough for young people to open up, health centres should have recreational services like games and sports for young people, they should be good listeners and communicators. Youth face many barriers in accessing SRHR health services unique to them due to their stage in life & their special needs, perceptions & abilities. Youth-friendly services are able to effectively attract young people, meet their needs comfortably & responsively.

Allan Mwasa Nsubuga from Youth Rising International and one of our Peer Educators from the 2016 class concluded the day with an inspirational talk focusing on the role peer educators play in promoting SRHR and youth involvement.

DAY TEN Dr. Naboth Cole, our Advisory Board member, lecturer, entrepreneur and motivational speaker kicked off with a session on self identity. Dr. Naboth stated that as a young person, it’s hard to become what you want to become unless you discover what your strengths are. He also introduced the participants to always ask themselves 5 questions on the course of their life journeys which are; Who are you? Where do you come from? What is your value to society? What can I do? And where am I going?

We then went into a session on science & technology, a fascinating and interesting session. Martin Kafeero who facilitated the session, went ahead to do different demonstrations on science. Henry Mugenyi, one of our peer educators from last year’s class, also did a session and concluded this part.

We are glad to host the Youth SRHR ambassador Melodi Tarmadians. She pointed out that young people need safe environments where they can air out their SRHR challenges without judgement.

They need safe spaces that align to their needs and interests.

Ladies and gentleman, we concluded the week with a dance session! Keep following #PEA2019 on social media for, the best is yet to come.

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