Ugandan Educator Elizabeth Kalemera’s Journey to Teaching Boys How to Support Girls Through School
Elizabeth Kalemera to the left, with her daughter Sanyu in 2016. Kalemera excelled through her education and became a successful educator in Uganda despite being told she didn’t belong in school as a teen mother.
Educator and social development worker Elizabeth Kalemera, 36, works for Anthill Foundation, a non-profit promoting gender responsiveness in education and health. In education, this means understanding and responding to the gender specific needs in teaching and learning processes. Many girls in Uganda face obstacles in completing school, such as teen pregnancy or not having the proper sanitary equipment. Kalemera teaches boys how to make sanitary towels, which helps them be more supportive towards girls and feel like accomplished brothers and fellow classmates.
Although Elizabeth Kalemera grew up when significant advancements were being made in education in Uganda, the nation still has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Universal Primary Education was introduced in Uganda in 1997. A year later, Kalemera found out she was pregnant. She was fifteen. Upon discovering this, she attempted suicide and dropped out of school. “Those nine months were torture”, she says. Today, she laughs at this.
In 2016, one in four teenage girls between 15-19 were pregnant or had a child in Uganda. 40.4% of women between the ages of 20-49 were married by the age of 18. 12% of underage girls were married by the age of fifteen. (UDHS) Girls who have children and get married early often assume responsibilities in the home rather than finishing school (UNICEF, 2020).
Excelling in school whilst raising her daughter
Kalemera with students during the FAWE Rwanda Gender Responsive School Girls’ Training Camp. Photo: Neema Kitainda/ FAWE Tanzania
Kalemera beat the odds. Her parents considered marrying her off - she refused. She gave birth to her daughter Sanyu in 1999 and went back to school whilst her mother looked after Sanyu. Kalemera completed secondary school four years before Universal Secondary Education came into effect. Her role as deputy head prefect taught her leadership and time management skills that helped her raise her daughter whilst completing her bachelor’s degree and volunteering on the side.
Whilst studying Adult and Community Education at university, she learned how to map out ways education can be improved in Uganda’s communities. Volunteering in local primary and secondary schools widened her professional network and led to her first full-time job at Forum for African Women Educationalists Uganda (FAWE). She worked there for four years adopting a gender responsive pedagogy model across Uganda and in Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.
Investing in boys can help empower girls
Although more girls are completing education at all levels today in Uganda, their attendance rates are still lower than boys. Kalemera sees teaching boys skills to help encourage girls to stay in school as an important solution. She wants to see boys grow into responsible young men who support their female family members and classmates and inspire other boys to do the same. “It is not up to girls alone to empower themselves. If we do not design programs that involve boys, we will not build a strong support system for girls”
Kalemera planting a memory tree in 2019 after a girls parliament session hosted by a school in the Jinja district.
Photo: Mukiibi Adam.
Menstrual health education is a way for boys to better understand the challenges that girls face. In many Ugandan communities, girls have to make their own sanitary towels as manufactured ones are too costly. Without access to proper sanitary equipment girls often skip school during their periods. “Nobody is prepared for puberty. We need to help both girls and boys feel more comfortable as they mature.”
When Kalemera visits schools, boys get the opportunity to learn how to make sanitary towels for girls. She then has them share their experiences and feelings of accomplishment through writing to show other boys the value of supporting girls through their actions. Kalemera wrote a menstrual compendium with a team of fellow educators whilst working with Uganda’s Ministry of Education. Schools and NGOs across Uganda use it as a guide to further educate students in order to prevent girls from skipping school during menstruation.
Kalemera speaks to students at St. Katherine Girls’ School in Lira district, Uganda. Photo: Mwenya Nshitima, FAWE Uganda 2018.
Quality education - a better future for all
Policy reform has contributed to increased enrolments and access to education for girls in Uganda. Over the years, Kalemera has worked closely with the Ministry of Education to teach parents, district leaders, school administrators nationally on the ministry’s education policies within areas like gender and education, inclusion and sexual and reproductive health and rights. A good understanding of the policies helps duty bearers to be better positioned to empower younger generations. Kalemera often reminds them that by ensuring girls and boys’ quality education the whole community and economy will thrive because more people will be prepared to enter the workforce. “Men who understand women’s pain and visions for the future humble me. I applaud them. Without men also pushing for the rights of women, we cannot fully empower women.”
Kalemera and colleagues at the Menstrual Health Symposium in Uganda hosted by the Ministry of Education.
Facts about Elizabeth Kalemera:
Born: 1983
Family: Husband Adam (whom she met at university). Daughter Sanyu, 21. Sons Ejaz, 7, Ethan, 4, and Tahir, 3. Family dog Patty, German shepherd.
Lives in: Kasangati, Wakiso District, Uganda
Men who have made her feel empowered:
Her husband (her number one supporter)
Her uncle (pushed her to keep learning when she was expecting Sanyu)
Deputy head teacher, O Level Mr. Kajura Sancho (saw and acknowledged her potential as a student leader in high school)
Commissioner Secondary Education Mr. Yusuf Nsubuga (always push for the girls' education agenda)
Nelson Mandela & Barack Obama
Accolades:
Inclusive Education Advocate and Resource Person on Disability, Mobility International USA, 2010
Inspirational Woman Promoting Girls’ Education, Vital Voices Women’s Mentoring Walk Uganda, 2012
Alumni of Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), 2016
Greatest achievement: Seeing her daughter go to university.
Related articles:
'Gender assumptions that challenge a quality education for girls in Uganda' by Hawah Nabbuye, Brookings, July 24, 2018