This is what happy sounds like...Ever wondered what it feels like to learn how to make soft, comfortable reusable sanitary pads? When, until now, you have had to make do with rags? Watch this super short video of our recent training of Catholic schoolgirls in Nebbi, northern Uganda.
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We're celebrating the success of our Dignity for Girls programme, which helps more Ugandan girls stay in school and build a better life. We've reached nearly 32,000 people!
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Christians and Muslims in Uganda are helping to break the silence on menstruation and remove stigma and shame through the first project to work with faith communities in this way.
Our Dignity for Girls programme has reached 31,844 people in Uganda with awareness raising on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) – more than four times our original target of 7,232 people. It is the first menstrual health programme to work with three major faith groups in Uganda: the Catholic Church, Church of Uganda and Uganda Muslim Supreme Council. |
'I learned how a girl can manage her menstruation... And they told us that menstruation is not a disease but is normal and natural for everyone. I feel so good! At this time I feel so good!' |
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The aim is to keep more girls in education by helping them manage their periods more confidently, and to work with the wider faith communities to reduce the stigma and shame so many girls feel.
We've established 24 Catholic, Anglican and Muslim schools as centres of excellence in MHM. This includes training girls, parents, teachers and faith leaders, plus improving school WASH facilities. For example, we repaired latrines and gutters, built hand washing facilities and girls' changing rooms and constructed ten brick rainwater harvesting tanks. We also worked with faith-based women's groups and youth groups to break the silence on menstruation and promote periods as natural, normal and nothing to be ashamed of. And, together with the Uganda |
Muslim Supreme Council, we established Dignity Day as an annual day for celebrating women, girls and menstruation (see the report below on the success of the second Dignity Day).
Mid-term evaluation shows that 96.64% of girls who have started their periods report being 'very' (87.22%) or 'a little' (9.42%) confident about managing their menstruation. Meanwhile, 99.01% of women and 88.16% of men taking part in awareness raising activities say they have a more positive attitude towards menstruation as a result. The main Dignity for Girls programme involving 18 schools is funded by UK Aid Direct; the remaining six schools are funded by Joffe Charitable Trust. |
The 2nd Dignity Day was a huge success, with prayers, speeches, singing, dancing and poetry
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Around 5,500 people gathered at Uganda's National Mosque to celebrate this year's Dignity Day - the second since it was launched in 2018.
It was a happy and joyful occasion, with music, singing, dancing and poetry, as well as more serious speeches about the need to help girls and women manage their menstruation with confidence and dignity. Once again, His Eminence the Mufti Sheik Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje presided over the celebrations, which began with Friday prayers in the mosque, where the sermon (broadcast across Uganda on Muslim radio) was preached on the importance of good menstrual health and parents' responsibilities for supporting their daughters during their periods. The celebrations ended with a meal served to 466 people. Afterwards, 94.17% of those questioned said they had a more positive attitude about menstruation, and 90.51% said they felt more comfortable talking about it, while 93% said faith groups should discuss menstrual health more to end stigma and shame. You can watch a short video (right) from Salaam TV, which broadcast Dignity Day live, of extracts from the speech by Susie Weldon of Faith in Water, followed by comments by His Eminence The Mufti. 'There is a serious relationship between MHM [menstrual hygiene management] and education and that's why we are here. The Uganda Muslim Supreme Council is interested in ensuring we have proper MHM in a bid to ensure we improve education. This is a noble cause.' |
Above, top row: Women and men pray in the mosque, Uganda Moslem Women Association's Matali band. Bottom row: His Eminence the Mufti, Sheik Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje (right) and the Hon. Secretary General Hajj Ramadhan Mugalu (centre); Nanjobe Hawa Kimbugwe from Uganda Muslim Women Vision recites a poem; Dignity Day organiser Hajjat Sebyala Aphwa and Dr Namala Hanifah Sengendo, discuss menstruation using a model of the female body. Below: A short video from the day.
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More than 100 people attended our conference on Dignity for Girls in Kampala, Uganda
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We held a very lively and exciting 'Lessons learned' conference for our Dignity for Girls programme in Kampala, attended by more than 100 Anglican, Catholic and Muslim faith leaders, education chiefs and head teachers from across Uganda.
The overwhelming consensus was that D4G had been extremely successful in engaging faith communities on the issues faced by girls in managing their periods with confidence and dignity. The conference heard that the D4G programme had:
*** Since the conference, more information has come in – we've reached an amazing 31,844 people! |
Above: Images from our 'Lessons learned' Dignity for Girls conference in Kampala, Uganda
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Faith in Water works with all the major faiths to inspire them
to give greater priority to water, sanitation and hygiene issues
in their schools and communities. We also help to build powerful
partnerships between secular and faith groups.
to give greater priority to water, sanitation and hygiene issues
in their schools and communities. We also help to build powerful
partnerships between secular and faith groups.
The crisisDiseases caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation kill children and blight lives. Around one in ten people lack clean, safe drinking water and one in three don't have adequate sanitation, causing people to become trapped in poverty and illness.
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Why work with faiths?Faith groups are the biggest organised element of civil society and often the most trusted and influential. They have massive outreach through youth groups, Sunday schools and madrassas, and they play a major role in education.
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What we do
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Faith in Water grew out of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), which was founded in 1995 to help the world's major faiths develop environmental programmes based on their beliefs.
Our faith partners told us that water and sanitation problems were the biggest environmental, social and health issues in their schools. Given that faiths play such a big role in education worldwide, and that water and cleanliness have spiritual significance in many religions, we realised that working specifically with faith schools could have a significant impact. Faith in Water has a long experience of engaging faith communities. We also understand how secular groups work and what they need. By building closer relationships between faith and secular organisations, we aim to help each group to work more effectively with each other – for the benefit of people, nature and the planet. |
'The biggest change to many of the activities |
Reporting concernsFaith in Water (FiW) has a zero tolerance towards any form of bullying, harassment, sexual exploitation or abuse. We believe everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. We are committed to providing a safe and trusted environment for anyone we work with.
If you have any concerns about anyone involved in Faith in Water's projects, or about any employees of Faith in Water or of our partners, please let us know. You may report your concerns to us in confidence by emailing info@faithinwater.org. You may also contact the UK's Charity Commission at www.gov.uk/complain-about-charity. To download our Safeguarding Policy, click here. |
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Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.
St Teresa of Avila
St Teresa of Avila
Image credits, from top, left to right: Zata school well, Ethiopia, by Gary Edenfield; Dignity Day photos by Susie Weldon, Faith in Water; Conference photos, photos by Faith in Water; Kenyan child, by Mary Bellekom, ARC; Children at Vrindavan, by Victoria Finlay, ARC; Kenyan smile, by Brad Ruggles; Ugandan schoolgirls, by Susie Weldon, Faith in Water
