Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Girls Camp




The vision of Girls Camp is to develop a generation of girls who are equipped with factual information and are acting as change agents for their community. During the summer of 2010, Fount's Community Health Initiative hosted a pilot Girls Camp and asked the girls, ages 9 to 30, to anonymously submit questions about puberty, family planning and cultural perceptions of the subject. CHI would like to share a handful of their questions with you.

As you will see from their questions, public health is a topic lacking in correct information, leading to a dangerous cycle of misinformation and myths that can be harmful to their lives.

One question that was asked is, "Is the use of birth control harmful to our lives?"

This was an interesting question because birth control in the form of contraceptives is rarely available in Uganda. The most accessible forms are condoms and natural family planning such as the Standard Days Method in which you count the days of your cycle to be able to predict your most fertile days and avoid having sex during that time.

In knowing how to prevent early pregnancy, young girls and women are able to focus on education and skills training so that they have more control over their lives. This gives them the opportunity to obtain skills that will generate an income, give them independence and empowers them to live the life they choose.

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