Early in the year in 2013, Namusiitwa
Rebecca was often pestered by her aunt to leave school and get married
despite the fact that only 6 months remained until he
r
Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Kiziba Primary School. Kiziba
Primary School is located in Kiziba sub-county, a hard-to-reach area
that lacks models to motivate local children to stay at school. Most
boys in this area drop out for petty jobs like loading matooke on
lorries and fishing. Girls are quickly married off for their labour and
production of children.
The community turns a blind eye to these incidents because they lack awareness about the effects of child abuse and poverty, it is a local tradition, and because they cannot rely on law enforcement for much assistance even though such infringement on girls' rights go against the Children Act. Fortunately, Rebecca is a member of the Child Rights Club (CRC) in her community which was established in 2012 by RACA under the IDF funded Rakai Community Based Rights Project. As a member of the CRC, Rebecca was aware of her rights and also felt empowered to protect herself and her future. Rebecca shared her problem with the Child Rights Club members, who in turn reached out to Kiziba Primary School teachers for assistance. The teachers counseled the parents and were successful in convincing them to drop their initial plan to marry Rebecca off at an early age.
r
Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Kiziba Primary School. Kiziba
Primary School is located in Kiziba sub-county, a hard-to-reach area
that lacks models to motivate local children to stay at school. Most
boys in this area drop out for petty jobs like loading matooke on
lorries and fishing. Girls are quickly married off for their labour and
production of children.The community turns a blind eye to these incidents because they lack awareness about the effects of child abuse and poverty, it is a local tradition, and because they cannot rely on law enforcement for much assistance even though such infringement on girls' rights go against the Children Act. Fortunately, Rebecca is a member of the Child Rights Club (CRC) in her community which was established in 2012 by RACA under the IDF funded Rakai Community Based Rights Project. As a member of the CRC, Rebecca was aware of her rights and also felt empowered to protect herself and her future. Rebecca shared her problem with the Child Rights Club members, who in turn reached out to Kiziba Primary School teachers for assistance. The teachers counseled the parents and were successful in convincing them to drop their initial plan to marry Rebecca off at an early age.
Later that same year, Rebecca sat for
her PLE and passed with division one. She was also offered a bursary at
Kako Secondary School.
"Ndi musanyufu nyo olwabannange
obutandekerera mukaseera Ssenga lweyali asazzeewo okunfumbiza,singa
nafumbirwa ate ebibuuzo nandisobodde ntya okubituula. Kenfunye Bursary
ngenda kufuba nyo okulaba nga mpita bulungi." Namusiitwa Rebecca happily
narrates.
In English: "I am
extremely happy for the support rendered by club members during the time
my Aunt wanted me to be married off. Had I got married how could I sit
for PLE.")
