Volunteer Recruitment at St. Mary’s University

In February, the fundraising team were very kindly invited down to St. Mary’s University in Twickenham to recruit volunteers for the year ahead. We had a great time and met some fantastic people – thank you to everyone who stopped by!

As a busy development organisation, we are always on the lookout for passionate, motivated and enthusiastic volunteers to assist us in the office, at collections and at fundraising events.

If you’re after some quality volunteering experience, feel free to check out our full list of volunteering opportunities here

In return, you will receive:

• Practical experience and insights into the every day running of a UK based charity
• Research, communications, events, fundraising and international development     experiences and skill development opportunities based on your interests
• Ongoing support from the fundraising and communications team
• The chance of a fantastic reference
• The knowledge that you have contributed to vital development work in two of the poorest countries in the world

To apply for any of our voluntary positions, just e-mail an up-to-date CV and cover letter to info@africanrevival.org

Don’t forget – our voluntary needs are constantly changing so keep an eye on our website and social media pages to stay updated with the latest opportunities!

Meet Susan Piloya #GirlsEducation

We would like to introduce you to Susan Piloya, a 14 year old student in Class P6 at Koch Goma Primary School – one of the highest population schools in the region, with over 1,000 pupils.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is recognised as a crucial component affecting the quality of girls’ education in developing countries. Without access to facilities including hygienic latrines and changing rooms, girls are at serious risk of illness, school dropout and sexual abuse. This often puts them at a significant disadvantage to their male counterparts, hindering boys’ and girls’ equitable access to education.

If girls are to be encouraged to stay in school they need clean, private facilities in which to feel safe and secure. Too often in countries like Uganda there is either a complete lack of such facilities in schools, or girls are forced to use changing rooms and washrooms which are dirty or have no doors, leaving them exposed and potentially unsafe. Thanks to large programmes in the mid-90s like UNICEF’s Water, Education and Sanitation programme, which ran from 1995 – 2000, there has been an increase in the prevalence of such facilities for girls, but there is still a long way to go.

Girls’ access to changing rooms and washrooms is of particular importance during menstruation; it is all-too-common for girls to feel they have to skip school in order to manage their periods. Without clean and private changing rooms and washrooms they have nowhere to change dirty pads and manage their personal hygiene. Providing girls’ changing rooms and washrooms enables them to manage their menstruation with dignity, encouraging them to stay in school throughout their periods, and ultimately to stay in school full stop.

After attending one of our workshops for girls, Susan told us:

“Before the girls’ workshop, I would always feel uncomfortable going to the toilet to change my pads. Now I know it is normal and I’m healthy. I learnt how to take care of myself during menstruation and this has allowed me to stay freely in school throughout my period”.

“After the training I have been telling other girls how to avoid early pregnancy. I have been telling them about using condoms or abstaining from sex so that they can continue with their studies uninterrupted by pregnancy.”

Because many pupils lack the opportunity to become more aware of changes in their bodies when they grow up, girls often become the target of bullying and ridicule from boys at school. We have found that, unfortunately, many girls suffer these experiences in silence and are put off going to school as a result.With greater information, we hope to change this outlook for many girls in the region.

Since the start of the project, we have found strong support, both from teachers and from the local community, for girls’ education. This support has been so strong that the school community itself came up with the idea of forming after-school clusters. This allows a senior mother figure to mentor and support girls experiencing challenges, and is proving to be an effective way of encouraging girls to stay in school.

We are looking to build on the success of this programme both in northern Uganda and with the community schools we work with in Kalomo District, Zambia. Read more about the programme here.

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Meet Esther Lakica #GirlsEducation

As part of African Revival’s #GirlsEducation month, we are introducing you to some of the amazing girls we are supporting this year in Northern Uganda. Today, we meet Esther Lakica, a 16 year old student in Class P7 at Bwobomanam Primary School.

Bwobomanam primary school is one of the beneficiary schools of our Girls’ Access to Education Project and is also on our Model Schools Programme. We have worked with Bwobomanam for nearly 6 years, and have met some fantastic students there in that time.

When we first met Esther, she was a very shy and timid girl. However, our interaction with Esther over the years has seen her come out of her shell and gain self-confidence and assertiveness. When the African Revival M&E team visited Esther recently, she said:

“The knowledge I gained has helped me to avoid peer influence, I can say no to bad suggestions from friends. The pads have helped me a lot because when I have my periods, I now have something to use so I can stay in school.”

“I had a friend who would lure me to go to the disco, with the knowledge from the workshop I am now more confident to say no. I have applied the same knowledge to advances from boys. All of us can choose whether to make the right or wrong decisions.”  

“I had a friend liked sleeping around as a solution to her problems.  Also her mother wanted her to get married to help solve their financial issues and she was very stressed and frustrated. I advised her to speak with the senior woman teacher.”

Sadly, there are many girls like Esther’s friends in rural schools in the region who have never had the opportunity to be mentored, or acquire information that is vital in helping them make informed decisions. With your help, we can reach more girls and ensure that they are able to get the best education possible.

Meet Vicky Adong #GirlsEducation

As part of our #GirlsEducation month, we’re going to introduce you to some of the girls we work with in Northern Uganda. Today, we meet Vicky Adong, a 15 year old student in Class P7 at Koch Lila School.

When Vicky stood up to share her experience with the girls in one of our sensitization workshops, she said:

“The knowledge I gained back when African Revival came to our school has helped, I have avoided bad friends and abstained from early sex. The pads I received have really helped, the money I would have used to buy pads I now use to buy scholastic materials.”

“I mentored my friend who was in a bad group that went to discos and stopped going to school. I told her to leave that group and come back to school because it is her future that she is playing with. A friend of mine missed the training, I took it upon myself to educate her on hygiene, menstruation and the risks of early sex and pregnancy. We are now completing together as she has listened.”

When African Revival staff contacted the school again recently to see how Vicky was getting on, we were told that she had joined a local secondary school – something she was able to do having been supported by our Girls’ Access to Education Project. It is our hope that many more girls will be able to benefit from this project and go on to achieve great things from their education.

#GirlsEducation Update

Girls’ Access to Education

This month at African Revival, we are focusing on #GirlsEducation because we believe that every girl has the right to a quality education.

Over the last 2 years, we have implemented a Girls’ Access to Education Project in 10 schools across Northern Uganda. It involved construction of girls’ changing and wash rooms, sensitization workshops for girls and boys (from upper primary) and the provision of sanitary pads. There were also workshops which addressed social issues incarnate in Ugandan culture which affect the education of girls, notably early marriage and pregnancy, issues surrounding menstruation, lack of parental support, and the preferential treatment often given to boys over girls in education. All these are ingredients to school drop-outs and low completion rates for girls at school.

Mary Adyero, the District GEM chairperson, recently had this to say about the project after attending one of African Revival’s workshops in Koch Goma primary school; “the training shall help the girls of Koch Goma, I will also use my position to ensure that all the girls in the district benefit from this workshop”.

Together, we can make a significant impact on #GirlsEducation and ensure that as many girls as possible in Uganda and Zambia are getting the education they deserve – because when you educate a girl, you educate a family, and a whole nation.