Speaking at the launch of the Programme at Kisowera Primary School in Mukono on Saturday, District Governor 9213, Edward Kakembo ...
Rotary Club Of Kampala Ssese Hits Ground Running In Boy Child Uplifting Programme
The Rotary Club of Kampala Ssese has kicked off the calendar year with the launch of the Boy Child Uplifting Programme.
The programme is aimed at empowering the boy child and putting them at the same level with their female counterparts.
Speaking at the launch of the Programme at Kisowera Primary School in Mukono on Saturday, District Governor 9213, Edward Kakembo Nsubuga, said the boy child has been ignored.
“We are trying to support the boy child. The girl child is trending. The girl child is so powerful at the moment. And the boy child has lost ground. I have been traveling all over Uganda. I began with Naguru remand Home. I found 166 inmates (aged 7 years to 17 years). There were only 4 girls. In Gulu, we found 155 inmates. There were 3 girls. From there, we went to Arua. In Arua there were 101 inmates. No single girl. In Kampiringisa, we found 195 inmates, there were only 4 girls. In Hoima, there 101 inmates. There was no single girl. So, there is a problem with the boy child and what shocked me was the gravity of the offences. Murder. Not one, not twice. In Arua there were 8 inmates on murder charges. Rape. Aggravated robbery. When you move around in the evening, you find them playing matatu, ludo..Gambling. And they play for Shs 100 and they are like about 40. These are the people who disturb us at night because they don’t want to work. So, we are coming in to support the boy child. We want the boy child and the girl child to be at the same level. That way, we shall have peace and harmony,” Nsubuga said, appealing to mothers to consider supporting the boy child too.
“Divorce is at a very high rate. Crime rate is high in the country. Domestic violence is high and the reasons rotate around the boy child. A lot of emphasis has been put on the girl child at the expense of the boy child. We hope the government will come and join us because the problem is too big for Rotary alone. As Rotarians, we are ready to support this project and we are getting a lot of support. I am appealing to the mothers. They always give too much attention to the girl child and forget the boy child. I always ask them, why do you pay so much attention to girls? They tell me, they are preparing them for marriage. My question is, who is going to marry your daughter? So, that’s where we are coming from,” he added.
Irene Nabayunga, the President, Rotary Club of Kampala Sesse, explained the choice of Kisowera Primary School.
“When we came to carry out the needs assessment, we realized that the boys are so much ignored in the area of their washrooms. The school has like 100 boys between P1 to P7, and all those boys were sharing one bathroom. So, we decided to reconstruct their bathroom and give them 4 stances so that the young boys don’t share the same bathrooms with the big boys given the environment we are in these days. We wouldn’t want to see the young ones being abused by the big ones and the reverse is true,” Nabayunga said.
The School’s headmaster, Tom Kayira, was grateful for the support towards the bathroom construction.
“They (The Rotary Club) are also improving on the girls. It’s going to cater for more rooms for both the young and the big boys. When it’s done, our boys are going to have a good time when it comes to bathing and easing themselves. Likewise for the girls, it’s in a fair state. We are so grateful to them,” Kayiira noted.
According to Kayiira, the Club has over the years donated solar systems, desks, and tree seedlings.
“We are grateful to them. As for the general outreach, our communities suffer a lot from malaria, they have troubles with the teeth, stomach upset, and female related diseases among others. As a school, our parents can only struggle to pay for lunch for pupils. When it comes to doing developmental work, our hands are tied,” Kayiira said.
The launch of the Boy Child Uplifting Programme was coupled with a hybrid outreach. Hundreds of members of the communities benefited from free cervical cancer screening, dental, legal and optical services, vertical gardening, counseling and general medicine.
Rotary Club Of Kampala Ssese Hits Ground Running In Boy Child Uplifting Programme
