For 14-year-old Ilhan Jimcaale Abdi, a pupil at Dhobley Major College, life has taken a dramatic flip for the higher.
Since receiving hygiene kits, Ilhan has skilled a profound transformation that has boosted her confidence and enabled her to focus on her schooling.
“Earlier than the ATMIS Feminine Engagement Crew launched us to this system, we stayed at house. We had a detrimental notion of schooling however now this has modified, and we attend faculty usually. We’re grateful to ATMIS for enabling us to remain in class through this program,” Ilhan says.
“I can now deal with my research and dream about my future,” she provides with a large smile on her face.
Ilhan is amongst 270 women at Dhobley Major College who’ve benefitted from a three-year mentorship program led by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) Feminine Engagement Crew (FET) and the Dhobley Ladies’s Affiliation.
The mentorship periods deal with private hygiene and self-care. Every participant learns the best way to handle her menstrual cycle and receives a hygiene package containing important merchandise resembling sanitary pads, cleaning soap, and different supplies obligatory for sustaining correct hygiene.
“Via our steady mentorship and academic packages, we aren’t simply offering women with hygiene kits however giving them the information and encouragement to confidently care for his or her well being and likewise make them conscious that they will obtain something they need by schooling,” says Capt. Valarie Shikuku, the ATMIS Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Gender Officer.
For a lot of women in Dhobley, menstruation has traditionally hindered their schooling, with many lacking faculty throughout their durations as a consequence of an absence of assets, information, and societal stigma. Nonetheless, the collaboration between the ATMIS FET and Dhobley Ladies’s Affiliation is addressing these challenges.
“ATMIS has helped us quite a bit with our schooling, offering studying supplies and private hygiene kits and for all this, we’re grateful,” says Ikhlaas Ibrahim Arte, a pupil and beneficiary.
Below this system, the ATMIS KDF Feminine Engagement Crew and the Dhobley Ladies’s Affiliation have been elevating consciousness and offering sensible help to women and girls in the local people. The initiative has empowered ladies and women in Dhobley, guaranteeing that women can attend faculty with out the worry of embarrassment associated to menstruation.
“Final yr, many ladies returned to highschool with elevated confidence, and this yr, much more women are becoming a member of our packages, motivated by the information that they received’t miss class due to menstruation,” says Fatima Abdi, chairperson of the Dhobley Ladies’s Affiliation.
“By offering entry to menstrual hygiene merchandise and fostering a supportive atmosphere, we’ve eliminated a significant barrier to their schooling,” she provides, referring to the low enrollment charges for women in Somalia’s Federal Member States (FMS) as a consequence of social, financial and cultural causes.
As a part of this system, the ATMIS KDF Feminine Engagement Crew and the Dhobley Ladies’s Affiliation lately held a mentorship session at Dhobley Major College to commemorate World Youngsters’s Day. They engaged the ladies on private hygiene, and self-care – crucial subjects that instantly affect their faculty attendance and tutorial success.
The mentors additionally donated balls, soccer kits and books to boys on the faculty to create consciousness about women’ proper to schooling and destigmatize menstruation.
“We prolong our heartfelt appreciation to the ATMIS Feminine Engagement Crew for his or her exceptional efforts in elevating consciousness amongst our feminine college students. The dear data and steering they supply has significantly empowered our college students, equipping them with the information to take care of themselves higher,” stated Sadia Madobe, a instructor at Dhobley Major College.
Via the mentorship program, the ATMIS KDF Feminine Engagement Crew and the Dhobley Ladies’s Affiliation purpose to extend enrolment of women and reduce faculty dropouts.
The purpose is to extend women’ transition to increased schooling, boosting the variety of ladies professionals and fostering long-term financial empowerment. It will create a technology of women and girls who’re outfitted to guide, thrive, and contribute to prosperity of their communities.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).