- Award Entered:
Best New Project
- Parent Organisation:
MIFUMI
- Project Host Nation:
Uganda
- Overview of Project:
This project reaches girls (11-17years) turning them into gender and sports champions in their communities. Training takes place within school grounds where girls can receive moral support and encouragement by developing their skills in avoiding situations of domestic violence, child abuse and actively participating in important community events to raise awareness and increase exposure.
Many girls still lack choices and options mainly because of deep-rooted inequalities that are often gender based. For most, domestic violence and early marriage leads them to drop out of school while several others suffer in silence due to lack of knowledge and awareness of their rights to protection from violence and abuse and lack opportunities for recreation and life skills development (UNICEF, 2000).
By letting girls take part in male dominated sports, while convincing local leaders, duty bearers and parents that sports is a positive thing for girls, negative perceptions in and out of school about women and girls are changed to increase their freedom. Through participation in martial arts and gender training, girls are inspired, acquire self esteem, and develop confidence and determination necessary to stay in school, resist unwanted pressures that lead to forced/early marriage, HIV infection, and girls dropping out of school.
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Comments
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Debora from Arua Uganda: 30 Sep 2010 - 07:50 BST
Bravo for Mifumi for the sure start karate sports. Big up for the organisation funding the project.
Charles from Tororo, Uganda: 28 Sep 2010 - 12:19 BST
Please Mifumi and the funders keep this up!!! I wish you could operate throughout Tororo district and beyond to the whole of Eastern region of Uganda. Wish youthe best
Brenda from Lira Uganda: 27 Sep 2010 - 08:27 BST
The sure start karate sports is a very good sports for the girl child because it will also expose them to the outside world. It is very great that the world is now focusing on the girl child too. Good work for Mifumi for initiating this sports in Uganda.
Barbara from Mbale Uganda: 24 Sep 2010 - 14:20 BST
It's so amazing, karate for girls in Tororo? Oh my God i love this.Honestly i support karate for girls so much. Girls are raped in the name of being shy, recently in Uganda a girl of 14 years confidently stoned a man of 40 years to death,this man wanted to rape her. I thank God for MIFUMI and Sure Start that is spreading the confidence with the karate sports. I wish we could have a sure start programme in Mbale District.....Surely MIFUMI is started something for an African girl and woman. God bless every single step you take in helping women and children.SURE START OYEE!
Racheal from Mbarara: 24 Sep 2010 - 14:17 BST
For sure this is a unique sport! and thank God for MIFUMI this is a very good sport for girls and this will help them to become confident and protective for their lives. Hire in Western Uganda girls are so much a bused most especially those who travel long distances coming from schools, Western Uganda being known for cattle keeping most cattle keepers harass those girls by raping them,biting them and some times force them to fetch water for their animals!Poor girls cannot defend them selves. I was of the view that, if such a sport can be extended to most regions in Uganda so that we can save our girls from being abused.
Awor Sarah from Tororo Uganda: 24 Sep 2010 - 13:58 BST
Nobody approved my joining karate at first; not my family or friends. I did not blame them, they had not been to my karate class and it was the first time they were hearing of such a sport. It was not long before my friends and family anxiously awaited my return to tell them about the new things I had learnt in my karate class. A few weeks later my father confessed he had seen a transformation in both my grades and personality. I was a much happier person and I spoke to him freely about almost everything. Karate has taught various disciplines from self control, confidence to self defense skills. I have become more assertive with the boys who have a tendency of bullying young girls. I am more involved in all other school activities and I have realized I have so much potential in me to be what I want to be. I appreciate the team of MIFUMI for introducing this sport in UGANDA and I encourage all the girls in my school to join Karate
Nicholas from Netherland: 23 Sep 2010 - 09:21 BST
Gender being one of the Millennium Development Goals, I think sure start program of training the girls across the world and especially Uganda one of the developing country. I think MIFUMI in Uganda is making a big step forward in achieving this goal. Karate sport for the girls will also make them stay longer in schools and thus creating for them a bright future.
Tasha in makerere University Uganda: 22 Sep 2010 - 10:01 BST
Basing on the fact that we have very many NGOs in Uganda, with the karate program for the girls,I give credit to MIFUMI AND WOMEN WIN for launching sure start program especially to tap the talents in the girls. It is very true that we girls stand high risks ranging from rape, child sacrifice defilement and many other forms of abuse just because we are a weak sex. Excitingly i think all girls should come up to support this sport. Big up to Mifumi and women win.
Micheal in Gulu Uganda: 22 Sep 2010 - 09:48 BST
What a beautiful and exciting sports for girls. The first time i had about mifumi was when they filed a petition in the constitutional court about bride price banning as it cause a lot of domestic violence on the women and children. The next thing that i saw again was Karate girls sports funded by sure start women win on their website.The way these children are confident and sharp, i have always had a dream that if this sure start program would be extended in the North especially because of what the region has passed through. Because after Kony/LRA rebel insurgency many girl are still being raped and abused in many ways by the boys and men.I think they can use defense skills from this program to protect them selves
Mr.John from kampala: 22 Sep 2010 - 09:27 BST
As a parent of a girl child i think the karate sport initiate by Mifumi is very beneficial to girls.Although some parents are negative about this sports, i think all the children have equal rights to explore all avenues of opportunities. Some people still think that karate trains girls to be violent and also have feelings that they shall be beating their husbands in future which is not true but instead the children are trained to be more disciplined just like any other martial art.All girls in Uganda would benefit from this program if it would be expanded country wide in both primary and secondary schools.
Ochwo Emmanuel from Uganda: 14 Sep 2010 - 10:02 BST
When women suffer from violence one should first look at the causes like 1 women lack confidence to report their cases when their rights are abused so they suffer in silence, they are weak partners, and for this matter i think this is why MIFUMI thought of having sure start project coming in to train the girls karate sports and gender for future protection from the perpetrators and also to have the confidence to stop suffering in silence.
Emmanuel from Tororo Uganda: 14 Sep 2010 - 09:44 BST
Originally in my community girls where not allowed to participate in any kind of sports because they were only meant for the boys .This time round sure start having a sport initiated for the girls has instilled in them lots of confidence and self defense skills especially protecting them from rapists and this is making the girls to stay longer in schools. Thumbs up for sure start sports programs.
Julius from Kampala: 06 Jul 2010 - 09:33 BST
It is amazing what sports can do. We were brought up thinking sports were some physical exercise or play time.
mimi, Uganda: 05 Jul 2010 - 14:19 BST
Most girls in Uganda's villages are brought up to be timid, they are told not look directly at a man when talking to them, bow their heads when talking them because it is viewed as disrespectful to do otherwise. So when they come to school, they carry this timidity along and rarely participate in class leaving it to the boys who they believe are better than them. I have read about the sure start Project of MIFUMI and what they are doing with the girls and i think they deserve this award. Thank you beyond sports for recognising such girl focused initiatives.
Gladys: 05 Jul 2010 - 13:37 BST
After school, I got onto my bicycle and started riding home. A few meters from the trading centre, a group of boys emerged from the nearby shrub and blocked my way. They demanded I get off my bicycle and hand them my books so they can see what I had learned at school. I refused and asked them to get out of my way. I started to get away when one of the boys grabbed me from the back and the other snatched my books. I have no idea where I got the strength to fight off the boys but I definitely have an idea where the moves came from; my karate class. In less than 10 seconds, I had one of the boys on the ground literally begging me to let go. I did. I got onto my bicycle and rode away as fast as I could. The next day I thought they would show up and beat me up so I waited for the older boys in school to walk home. They (the bullies) did not show up. Word must have reached their friends because nobody calls me names anymore. Now i can walked alone through the trading centre and all the boys just looked on. some dare to greet me, in a nice way.
Lydia: 05 Jul 2010 - 13:30 BST
I am 15 years old. I joined tae-kwondo club while at Pasindi Primary School Uganda as a consolation, a place to run away from my academic woes hoping I could get good at something since I was not the brightest girl in my class. This probably was the right decision I has ever made because my life was totally transformed in all aspects. First this club introduced me to new caring friends, then the discipline brought out skills I never knew I possessed. My grades started improving. I was surprised when all my friends in the club elected me as the chairperson of the taekwondo club of Pasindi. Taekwondo brought out my leadership skills, confidence and self esteem. I am grateful to MIFUMI for starting up such a project focussing on the girl child and my trainer Bongomin Carol (RIP).
Sylvia: 05 Jul 2010 - 13:22 BST
Karate did not only teach me the physical exercise, it taught me many other disciplines that totally transformed my life. During the karate training we were taught self discipline, self defence and a few weeks later, my confidence started to manifest. Even though I loved sports, I was shy around boys. Now I can challenge both boys and girls in both sports and academics. I have gained respect from the girls that I now train in my school. I am determined to stay in school so that I can help other girls. I thank MIFUMI and Women Win for your continued support to my school and our Karate club.
MARY: 18 Jun 2010 - 08:52 BST
We parents in Uganda who previously were negative about our girls being involved in Karate and Tae-kwondo have discovered that girls need confidence and skills to fight off abuse on their own and this is what the Sure Start project has done to our girls. We are not worried when our girls go to school on their own they can protect themselves.