WWW.RE ACH A H A ND. ORG
W E E K
Januar y 8 - 12
T WO
INTRODUCTION New week, new plot, new learning and new opportunities for our new class of Peer Educators. Great to see participants now fully settled in and met new people. Here’s what happened last week!
DAY FOUR
We kicked off the new week with a session on community
mobilisation by Ibrahim Nkonge our Programs Offer who defined it as a process that involves reaching out to people in order to address a common issue. The relevance of his attire to the topic was to address the issue of trying to mobilize yet the community are uncomfortable with you. Everyone must participate and be involved in community decisions and addressing community challenges. We then had a session on report writing and its relevance to a peer educator by Maureen Andinda, our Monitoring & Evaluation manager. She emphasized how the peer educators should document their work using different methods like recording, photography and observation. As a peer educator, report writing is very important because it is an accountability tool and a skilling tool as it creates opportunities to work with certain organisations.
DAY FIVE
The first session on Human Anatomy was led by Zaituni Nabaterega. The first activity required our peer educators draw themselves at the age of 7 and their present bodies, compare the changes and discuss them with the opposite sex. Some of these changes in boys included; development of beards, increase in height, enlarged penises, and deeper voices and in girls;menstruation, developed rounder bodies and breasts and got vaginal fluids. This session was aimed at understanding how the human body works. The second session was menstrual hygiene management facilitated by a team from the public Health Ambassadors Uganda. Key things discusses were how to keep our pubic areas healthy and clean? What is menstruation? How to handle the menstruation period and consequences of poor menstrual hygiene management for example Urinary Tract Infections. We had the pleasure of hosting Maggie Kigozi, a medical doctor, investment promotion expert, a farmer and an entrepreneur. She encouraged the peer educators to be hard working, great leaders, and well disciplined. She encouraged them to start businesses early in life
How can you call it a training of young people without life skills?!
through their passions like dancing, farming, advocacy and leadership.
Alex Kamukama took the day by explaining why teaching life skills important to peer educators. Alex stated that life skills has three stages which are; knowing yourself, knowing and living with others, and decision making. He further went on to say it’s very important to know yourself. If you have a strength at something according to Alex, you have to make that strength better and better. If you have a weakness, then make it your strength/elevate that weakness. Session two of the day was still done by Alex and focused on Self Efficacy. Alex noted that the life skill of how to cope and control your emotions is so important because in life we meet and deal with so many people who may impact us positively or negatively. Therefore, Life skills of learning how to cope with your emotions are important because we deal with so many people that give
DAY SIX 02
#PEA2018 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
off different types of energies. Alex encouraged peer educators to be positive and feed their mind with positive thoughts. Learn interpersonal skills, be empathetic and good to others. Think critically he concluded.
DAY SEVEN This day was about healthy and unhealthy
Achievers Award for Business then gave an
relationships led by Olga Namukuza from
inspirational talk by sharing his story and
the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights
how far he has come and what inspired
Alliance. She kicked off by explaining the
him to start it. He engaged with participants
different kinds of relationships for example
by encouraging them to do their thing and
family relationships, casual relationships,
earn a living out of their passion. When you
romantic
romantic
are young, you need to follow your dreams
relationships. Olga noted that it’s not wise
but you need to understand that there is
to go into a relationship thinking you will
nothing straight as you will meet obstacles.
give your virginity or sex as a sign of love
He shared how the friends he had at the
because your dreams will be shattered.
beginning of his business are no longer with
relationships,
him because they were not persistent. Ricky
Thomson
the
co-founder
of
SafeBoda and winner of the 2017 Young
The day started off with kalombolombo and with the participants raising concerns about the material like books, water bottles to which they were
DAY EIGHT
requested to finish up on payments. Today’s topic is about team dynamics - The facilitator from Roland Tayebwa from Bwongo taught lessons on achieving results that we hope for. He emphasized that you don’t have to rush to give answers and different methods can be used to achieve the same result. He explained that people work in teams in order accomplish tasks one person can’t accomplish. Session two was facilitated Ambrose Akanyihayo from Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) and it was on setting life goal setting and how to set smart goals. What is the difference between a dream and a goal? A dream is a fantasy, but it can only come to reality if you have made it into a goal. A goal makes purpose, so you have to work towards the dream. The importance of having goals; keeps you motivated, keeps you positive, keeps you focused, it allows you measure and evaluate what you have achieved and what you have not. Take your goals seriously and create no excuses. Be smart while setting life goals (specific, measurable, Attainable/achievable, relevant, time-bound) or smarter (Evaluate, Revise). Steps to goal setting – some people do not set goals so they just live lives as they are. A life without goals is purposeless. You have no direction so you flow where it flows. Goals must be realistic, make priorities. Attitude is the way we choose to look at things. Develop a positive attitude. The difference between an obstacle and opportunity is one’s attitude. #PEA2018 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
03
SAUTIPLUS TV MEETS THE PEER EDUCATORS ACADEMY! Sautiplus TV, the home of the freshest SRHR and life skills vibes for young people made its debut at the academy this week. Being manned by the Peer Educators, it is giving them a platform to master reporting skills, and confidence to reach out to their peers online. Just log onto www.facebook.com/sautiplusUganda and get in sync!
#PEA2018
CLOSING CEREMONY
9TH FEB. 18
For more information about the Peer Educators Academy 2018, please visit our websites www.reachahand.org and www.sautiplus.org or follow us on our social media platforms; on facebook at www.facebook.com/reachahandug or www.facebook.com/sautiplusuganda, Twitter @REACHAHAND & @sautiplus Instagram: reach_a_hand and join the hashtag #PEA2018