#PEA2019 Week Three Newsletter

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

2 1 ST - 2 5 TH J A N U A R Y

D AY F I F T E E N

D AY T H I R T E E N

D AY F O U R T E E N

WEEK THREE

D AY T W E LV E

D AY E L E V E N

• 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 The third week of the 2019 Peer Educators’ Academy was an exciting one laced with unique activities such as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, Gender Based Violence, organizational visits as well as educative sessions. Here is how last week went. Follow the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #PEA2019.

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 ELEVEN Winnie Akeso from Health Class Development Communications and Quraish from Reproductive Health Uganda kicked off the week with a full day session on Understanding the concepts of sexuality. The two gave a thorough presentation on the understanding the working of the male and female reproductive organs. Quraish also went ahead to explain the stages of puberty plus the health issues relating to menstruation by girls and wet dreams by boys. The participants were later taken through the 5 circles of sexuality which are; sexual identity, sexualization, intimacy, SRHR, and sensuality.

We were later joined by Miss Uganda North America team that talked about life skills, relationships & drug abuse. Shalom (Miss Uganda North North America 2018-2019) flanked by her predecessor Yvonne Kushemererwa, described life skills as hard work, self belief, critical thinking and making your own decisions. She relates the concept of beauty to economic empowerment, defining your strong and weak points and knowing yourself beyond how society defines you.

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DAY TWELVE The day kicked off with a session on understanding alcohol and drug abuse facilitated by Joshua Thembo from Naguru Teenage Information Centre.

He went ahead to define a drug as anything that modifies the functioning of the body and mind. He listed examples of drug and substance abuse to include alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, heroine, petrol, shisha, marijuana, miraj, kubah, murah and khart. Drugs are sniffed, chewed, administered through injections and smoked. He concluded by reminding participants that drugs are illegal and have bad effects which sometimes can lead to death.

Session two was on sexual and gender based violence led by Carolyn Kushemererwa. Carol defined Gender Based Violence (GBV) as any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will on the basis of unequal relations between women and men, as well as through abuse of power. The forms of gender based violence include physical, emotional/psychological, human trafficking, child marriages, economic violence, harmful traditional practices like pulling of the labia, female genital mutilation, widow inheritance & sexual gender based violence. Effects of gender based violence include physical, emotional injuries, job loss, family breakdowns, collateral damage to children that witness the violence and diseases like HIV from sexual based violence.

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#PEA2019 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

DAY THIRTEEN Wednesday kicked off with Paul Namanya from Uganda Network for Young People Living with HIV (UNYPA) who led a session on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. The session focused on equipping the participants with info about it ranging from definitions, how it is spread, how it can be prevented and safe practices. Miss Miss Y+ Nawanyaga Gloria from UNYPA also gave an inspirational session on how you can prevent yourself from the disease.

The second and last session was facilitated by Barbara Kemigisa Katabazi, an advocate for positive living who shared her personal story and her story addressed the misconceptions of HIV/AIDS held by very many participants. She stated that HIV is for everyone, so no one is immune to it. She stated various reasons to support her statement; 1) Some people living with HIV want to spread it, so anyone can be a victim and 2) one can take their ARVs so that the viral load is very low. The effects of ARVS include; extreme weakness, nightmares and loss of appetite.

The inspirational speaker of the day was Betty Ogiel from Total Uganda. Her message is one of resilience, and hope having struggled through her entire childhood to educate, feed and shelter herself. At age 6, Betty was brewing local beer, picked cotton and was smuggling waragi from Uganda to Kenya walking over 60 kilometres with a 20-litre jerry-can across the border. Her only dream was to go to school and she is now the Human Resource Manager at Total Uganda, author of “Against All Odds� and Founder of the Betty Ogiel foundation which educates girls.

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DAY FOURTEEN Quraish Mubiru bounced back in the week to conduct a full day session on Sexually Transmitted Diseases.

His session informed participants how STIs are spread predominantly by sexual contact, through vaginal, anal & oral sex. Some STIs can also be spread through nonsexual means such as via blood or blood products and from mother to child during pregnancy during pregnancy & childbirth e.g syphilis, HIV, etc.

Unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or anus, pain when peeing, lumps or skin growths around the genitals or anus, a rash, unusual vaginal bleeding, itchy genitals or anus, blisters and sores around the genitals or anus among others. Why are teenage girls and women at more risk of sexually transmitted infections? - Biologically, their cervixes are lined with cells that are more likely to be infected. They also face problems accessing information and services.

One of our #PEA2019 groups Elites shared on how the male and female condoms are worn. Why must you check for pressure and lubrication in condoms? How do you open condom packs? We learnt it all!

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#PEA2019 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

DAY FIFTEEN The main program of the day was organizational visits. Peers were divided into 5 groups each headed by a team member from RAHU. The purpose of the visit, was to let peer educators know our partners and expose them to the kind of work that they will be doing in communities.

The organizations that were visited were musana Carts, Remnants Generation, Action for Fundamental Change and Development, Uganda Youth Adolescent Forum, Set her Free, Maries Stopes and Naguru Teenage Information Centre.

These organizations have made major pushes in mental health, environmental protection methods, youth empowerment, sexual and reproductive health of young people and are sources of information and empowerment to youth and adolescents. #PEA2019 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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