Imagine you are 11 years old and pregnant. Or 17 and expecting your second or even third child. This is the reality that 40% of under 18-yr old girls in Uganda face. Two out of every five Ugandan girls have at least one baby by the age of 18.
Some have been raped by family members; some have exchanged sex for food. Some have paid their school fees through sex. 25% of these underaged girls are impregnated by a teacher.
Then, when it is time to deliver the baby, these girls are expected to show up at the clinic with a birthing kit that includes, amongst other items, rubber gloves, cotton fabric, and even a razor to cut the umbilical cord. If they don’t have these supplies, the girls are sent away to purchase them before they are helped to deliver.
ISEE Solutions has been asked to partner with a Ugandan organization that provides free birthing kits to pregnant teenage girls. Our contribution will be postpartum sanitary kits. These are the same as our menstrual kits but the components are larger to help these girls have some dignity once they have delivered their baby. They can then continue to use the kits as menstrual kits for three years.
In 2019, I will have the opportunity to join an outreach program to work with pregnant teens in a village outside of Kampala. I will be able to teach them about the kits but also share more about their reproductive health.
But I need your help.
On Sunday, October 7th, I am running a 10k race for these teens. I started training when I returned from Uganda in August and will reach the 10km mark this week, just in time for the race.
You can help by sponsoring a teen for $10 so that she gets a complete birthing kit with the postpartum supplies.
I am raising $2000 to sponsor 200 teens.
Please help a girl have some dignity at such a challenging point in her young life.
You can use the PayPal button on the right or mail a cheque to the Kelowna address.
Please, $10 will make an amazing difference in each girl’s life and the life of her baby.
Webale Nnyo
In friendship
Erika
