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| Rural Poverty Among Women |
Women must labor not only with this burden, but the burden of being the backbone of the rural economies, farming small plots, selling fruits and vegetables and providing the basic necessities for their families. Still, they have a hard time eking out a living. They often must travel long distances to the markets via dirt roads that are largely impassable, especially during long rainy seasons. Some experts say hope lies in the kind of example set by Southeast Asian countries, which launched agrarian revolutions that successfully tackled infrastructure problems and created consumers in the rural areas. For that, we need political will. Meanwhile, there is some hope in projects enabling women to become economically self-sufficient. |
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Education Seen as Key to Ending Poverty In the end, however, there is widespread agreement that the most fundamental way out of poverty for women and girls is education. It's often said in Africa if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. The United Nations hopes to bring the number of girls being educated up to the level of boys by 2015. Uganda has seen some success since free primary education was introduced there about 11 years ago. But challenges remain. Many girls who complete elementary school can't afford high school, which isn't free. So they drop out because they see no hope of fulfilling their dreams -- of becoming doctors, teachers, school inspectors and even presidents. During my survey through Kaliro's tiny villages, the little girls kept running up behind us, touching our clothing and giggling. I thought something was wrong, but when I asked,I was told that they were touching us with the hope of being like us.i.e looking smart and clean "They see us as powerful men and women, as role models," I was told with a smile. Then one pointed out that it was only girls and not the boys following us around. All over the district, the goal of gender parity in education is lagging, with severe consequences for eradicating poverty. Some blame a lack of political will; others cite resources or a combination |
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Uneducated Children |
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| "The Church Awakens New Hope For Orphan Child." |
Introduction The Me And MyResources Anti-Poverty (Mean-My-Reap) has chosen “The Church Awakens: New Hope for the African Child” as its advocacy theme. Mean-My-Reap will focus its advocacy efforts in 2008 and beyond on the plight of the Orphan child, which is one of the most serious and pressing social issues facing the district. It is also an issue that is systematically shrouded in silence and rarely discussed in our communities—especially in our church communities. Mean-My-Reap kicked off its Orphan child advocacy programme in early 2008 with a “launch” event held at Mean-My-Reap headquarters. The President of Mean-My-Reap, Mr.Mutaasa Yusuf of Kaliro, and a powerful short documentary produced by Mean-My-Reap on the Orphan child’s situation was premiered.Mean-My-Reap also held a panel discussion entitled “Speaking Openly About Child Abuse” in front of a live audience. Our motivation The Orphan Child is the nation’s future, but this is an issue the Church has not adequately dealt with at the national and district levels. However, if we do not intervene to secure the welfare of the children, there will be vast social and economic consequences for the nation in future. Launching the Orphan Child Advocacy Programme under the theme “The Church Awakens: New Hope for the Orphan Child” signifies the Church’s ‘awakening’ to the responsibility of placing the wellbeing of children on the fore of the agenda, of advocating on behalf of the children, and of taking action where necessary to safeguard children’s welfare. The Church has the potential to make an enormous impact since it is in the unique position of directly reaching and touching communities, groups, families and individuals. |
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Objectives of the Orphan Child Advocacy Programme Mean-My-Reap objectives for the Orphan child Advocacy Programme are: To raise the conscious of the Church on the issue of the Orphan Child across the district. To initiate and promote dialogue and the engagement at the grassroots level (within communities) on the issues relating to the Orphan Child, by putting churches in a position to take a leading role in driving increased awareness on the subject To empower churches advocate and take action on behalf of the Orphan child, by working with the Sub-Regional Fellowships, National Church of Councils (NCCs), and the churches, to propel activity at the grassroots level.
We are determined to achieve a sustained impact at the level of the local churches (our “grassroots”). The Orphan child’s situation has never been properly addressed by the Church, which is an institution perfectly poised to make a real impact in reversing the situation of the child. The Church is not simply “close to the grassroots”, it reaches the grassroots everyday. We sincerely hope that by sensitising our member churches to the challenges facing Orphan children and by engaging Christians on this issue, we will help the nation to treat this issue with the urgency and care that it desperately needs |
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Child Labour |
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