In this article, we share the second testimony of “I Will Tell You My Story: Voices of Eastern African Girls”. This is a series of stories and testimonies to raise awareness on a very predominant reality that might seem very distant in time and space to many of us, but that is not. Each story is a short reading and each of them is focused in one different thematic to be treated with the students (we recommend secondary education students, from 13 to 18 years). These being: girls’ role at home, menstruation as a taboo, forced marriage and early pregnancy, child labour and school deprivation, domestic and sexual violence, and war and armed conflict.

We recommend treating every story in an independent manner, reading it with the students in class and then invite for a reflection and a call for action of the youths.

About the Project.

In 2023, JRS Eastern Africa with the support of Entreculturas Spain and Light of the Girls, has worked with girls under 15 years in Eastern Africa Region (i.e., Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Uganda) to develop this set of stories and testimonies, “I Will Tell You My Story”.

The purpose of this material is to: first, conduct group counselling with girls who have suffered different kinds of violence in a child-friendly manner by sharing their own stories; second, to serve as an educational material to raise awareness among the readers outside the region who might not be aware of the episodes of violence that girls still suffer daily in this part of the world; and third, to call for the action of the readers who can, in many different ways, take an active participation in the cause of defending girls’ right to a violence-free life.

Click here to learn more about this project I Will Tell You My Story: Voices of Eastern African Girls, and to see Testimony #1 «ADID – ETHIOPIA, Nationality: Eritrean, Age: 13, Main Topic: Girls’ role at home»

Below is the second testimony out of six testimonies that we will be sharing during the next few months. When reading is finished we recommend using the Proposed Questions for Reflection which are shared below, and consider using the Proposed Calls For Action also shared below.

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Testimony #2
CHRISTINE – UGANDA
Nationality: South Sudanese
Age: 12
Main Topic: Menstruation as a taboo

My name is Christine, I’m 12 years old and I live in Uganda.

I live in a beautiful place named Moio, in northern Uganda border with South Sudan. It is very green, and the soil is so fertile that we never suffer from hunger. Unlike what I hear about my family members back in northern South Sudan. There is desert and they cannot grow all the fruits and vegetables we do. So, I feel very lucky for that!

At home we are five, and we are all women! My dad left us when I was too young to remember, so that does not make me sad anymore. Moreover, many of the girls in my school don’t have their dads either, so I don’t feel uncomfortable about that anymore. My mother is kind and hardworking, and I admire her a lot.

Since I was a child, I was afraid of getting my period… My mother always said it was a blessing from God and I must be proud of it when it arrives, but not everybody thinks like her.

Older girls at school always complain about it being painful… And I know many bad stories related to it.

I remember one day we were in school. Our uniform is yellow. This girl in my class was sitting in the garden with us and when we stood up and moved to the classroom, the boys behind us started laughing at her. At the beginning, we did not understand what was happening…. Until she did, and ran away.

While she was running, I could see it: she had gotten her period and her skirt was dirty with blood.

She was so ashamed! The boys kept making fun at her… It made me feel very bad. After that, she did not come back to school for more than two weeks.

I don’t want to suffer as she did…

Also, I have a neighbour who, when she is bleeding, her father makes her sleep outside the house. They say she is not pure, and she cannot share their home at night. What if she gets bitten by a snake at night? Or some men come to attack her? I would be so afraid!!

But the story that makes me the saddest is my friend’s, Grace. Grace got her period recently, too. Her family, as most families in Moio, could not afford to pay for her sanitary towels or reusable pads. Consequently, every time she got her period she would not come to school and would stay locked in her house.

Me, I don’t want to skip school… And Grace did not either.

In a desperate move, she did what many girls in here do: she was approached by an older male neighbour who promised he would provide her with pads and soap if she needed it… but it was not for free. She had to pay him back with her body, the only thing she could offer him.

As a result, few months later, Grace got pregnant from that man, who rejected her and left her with a baby and no-one to cater for them.

If she had never had her period, that would have never happened!

She got pregnant at the age of 13 and left the school to take care of the child.

Me I don’t want to leave the school; I don’t want to have a child so early… I am still a child myself! I am so afraid…

Being a woman sometimes is too hard in here. I even often overhear my mom telling so to her friends.

When I explained my fears to my mother, she held my cheeks and smiled.

 “My beautiful baby,” she said, “it is only when a girl gets her period that she becomes a woman. Don’t be on a rush for that, it will arrive when it must, but be aware of it as a blessing. Our bleeding is God giving us the power to give birth, to bear life in our womb, as I did with you and your sisters. If I had never bled, none of you would be here… and my little bird, the four of you are the most beautiful thing it ever happened to me.

Do you see the land blossoming? Do you see the fruits and flowers growing bigger and bigger? That is God’s power of life. And that is also what your menstruation will be. God chose us to be the bearers of the seeds of humanity, not men. Don’t be afraid of bleeding, my love, of becoming a strong woman, and embrace it when the time comes.”

My mom is the wisest woman on earth, and if she says so, I do believe her.

It is true that many girls suffer when they bleed. But me I will not. And if I do, I will always remember my mum’s words.

I will be proud of it.

Now, I am ready to be that strong woman full of life, like my mom is.

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Proposed Questions for Reflection

1. Did you know this kind of violence was still being suffered today by girls in other parts of the world?
2. Do you think this reality can also be found in your country? Why?
3. Which rights are being violated in this story?
4. How different in this reality compared to yours?
5. What caught your attention the most of this testimony?
6. What could governments or different agencies (NGOs, civil society movements, etc.) do to finish with this reality?

Proposed Calls For Action

1. By sharing their stories and not forgetting this reality you become an advocator for girls’ rights.
2. By volunteering in organizations that fight for girls’ right you become an advocator for this cause.
3.  By organizing school campaigns to raise awareness on the reality suffered by many girls around the world, you become an advocator for the cause of girls’ globally.
4. By organizing a fundraising activity in your school or community to support any of the different NGO’s working with girls globally, you become an advocator for their cause.
5. What else do you think you could do to become an actor of change and advocate for the right of every girl to be safe and sound?!