05 Nov Florence breaks stereotypes, supports her family through bricklaying
Under the agonising heat and clear skies in Mayuge District, Florence (NOT HER REAL NAME) is bespattered with mud. She scoops a pile of wet mud, throws it with a bang into a brick mould and dashes to a levelled ground to layout the brick. This is what normally consumes Florence’s portion of the day, an activity she picked interest in after attending livelihood training sessions provided to adolescent mothers by Act4Africa. As a teenage mother with two children, Florence 23 said her life was hard before joining Act4Africa, sighting abject poverty and other family-related issues.
Her story relates with over a hundred other stories from adolescent mothers currently benefiting from livelihood programs provided by Act4Africa to boost women’s economic participation and security, and their ability to participate in enterprise and trade. Although many girls choose tailoring or catering, the organisation provides skills in various fields to help in breaking the stereotypes in the job sector which is a common subject in the Ugandan setting. These adolescent mothers go through psychosocial support in addition to training on various skills including tailoring and garment cutting, knitting, bricklaying, and basic agricultural practices among others.
Please donate to support this program as we look forward to continuing to support several teenage mothers in Uganda undergoing both mental and social challenges.
By Vincent De Paul Ogwang, Communications Officer Act4Africa.