There is a new Gender Respect Program at Tina’s Primary School!
The Gender Respect Program at Tina’s Primary School in Nyamagongo-Shirati believes that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and offered an opportunity to lead healthy lives.
In collaboration with Dr. Chirangi from Shirati Hospital, this transformative program offers students between the ages of 11 and 16 an opportunity to gain life-changing information ranging from reproductive health and family planning to women’s rights and gender-based violence. In the process, girls and boys gain greater ownership over their lives, and become part of the solution in establishing gender dynamics that engineer a healthier future – for themselves, their families and their communities.
When teacher Linda Arot and Headmistress Madame Anna Serya introduced the program, 49 students in class 5 obtained their parents’ permission and applied to participate! Currently, the program is in its first year; the students stay after school twice a week for lessons and activities. In the future, we hope to expand this program to 6th and 7th grade. Once built-out, this program will provide 150 students in grades 5 through 7 with an education fostering the kind of decision-making that allows all of them to remain in school and pursue a secondary education.
