By Dalton Mujuni
The day was March 12, 2021. The venue, Uganda Christian University (UCU) parking yard. The activity, car wash. The university was witnessing one of its first student-led charity activities upon their return from a year-long break, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A disturbing statistic drove the charity activity. The Non-Governmental Organization, World Vision, reports that insufficient menstrual hygiene management is responsible for 10% of the dropout rate of girls in primary schools in Uganda. The data unsettled a group of UCU third-year Bachelor of Human Rights, Peace and Humanitarian Intervention students, up to the point of organizing a fund-raising car wash.  

The students are targeting girls in Bugujju, a poor neighborhood near the university’s Mukono campus, with basic menstrual hygiene necessities.  Suzan Venusto Kaluma, one of the students, said their intention is to empower up to 100 youths in Bugujju with skills in making re-usable sanitary pads. The car wash has given them a financial boost to kick-start possible other activities; the students collected sh200,000 (about $55) in one day of washing cars.

Whereas a pack of disposable sanitary pads can cost as low as $1, many children from poor families in Uganda cannot afford them. According to the World Bank, more than a third of Uganda’s population lives below $1.9 a day.

Previously, the government had promised to give school girls free sanitary pads, but the promise did not materialize. The government later said it had no funds to implement the promise. Money raised by UCU students will allow the purchase of cloth the girls can use to make pads that can be washed for re-use.

Kaluma said they were concerned about the high school dropout levels in Uganda that are attributed to the lack of self-esteem caused by insufficient access to sanitary pads by young girls. 

She noted that high poverty levels in the country were the root cause of the challenges the young girls face and that it was the reason they were compelled to consider equipping youth with skills to make re-usable pads.

The team leader of the students, Emmanuel Sanyu, said: “Bureaucracy in Uganda has caused a big gap between the central government and the people at the grassroots, compelling young leaders like us to step forward and fill the gap with such initiatives, so as to mitigate the effects of this divide.”

The students expressed their gratitude to the university administration for supporting them with free water to use for washing cars. 

They also said the Director of Students Affairs, Mrs. Bridget Mugume K. Mugasira, had promised them some financial assistance through her department. 

Sandra Abara, a student from Makerere University Business School (MUBS), who participated in the campaign, said there were similar campaigns at her university.

The same group conducted a similar project for Bidibidi Refugee camp in northern Uganda in February 2020, where they empowered hundreds of youths with the life skills. In Bidibidi, they taught the camp settlers the skill of making reusable pads and also used a football game to sensitise the residents about the dangers of domestic violence.                                                

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