Speak out project is an initiative that establishes safe space where girls meet with peer mentors and share freely their experiences and training on violence and building self –confidence. You will be impressed with Brigitte’s journey to self-esteem and confidence.
Brigitte is a student at Kavumu Catholic primary school in Primary Six, and she is fifteen years old. She lives in Kibinja Cell,
Busasamana Sector, in Nyanza District with her mother and her niece. Her father
divorced her mother when Brigitte was young. She is her father’s fourth born
and her mother’s third born. Her mother provides her school materials. When
Brigitte is at home, she helps her mother with household chores.
In Brigitte’s community, girls in both school and out of school fear to share discussion regarding menstruation periods, although they do have to undergo the experience as a stage of body development. It is also considered as a taboo for most parents to hold discussions about sexual and reproductive health with their children. Even though Brigitte’s mother looked ways to train her on using sanitary pads, but still she was very shy to get involved in such discussions with other girls.
“My mother always advised me to keep away from boys
when I started menstruating period and she told me that when I have sex at that
stage, I could easily get pregnant,” Brigitte revealed.
Through Speak Out Project funded by UK Aid, ActionAid
Rwanda established safe spaces where girls meet with peer mentors and share
freely their experiences and opinions on violence in an attempt to build self
-confidence. Brigitte is among the girls who are trained in the safe space and discussions
shared are so many, but she appreciates to have improved in self- confidence
and self-esteem in terms of sharing her mind in her safe space.
“I feel comfortable telling my mentor or facilitator that
I am in menstruation period. Changing pads has become so easily because I go to
the girls’ room and get the sanitary pad to change when I am still at school,”
Brigitte added.
“We learnt different forms of violence which I did not
know about before. The way we share discussions in school clubs is quite
amazing. We are all given chance to share our opinions and speak in our
national language,” Brigitte further said.
“My mentor advises me a lot and keeps what I share
with her as a secret. She is a nice person and helps me a lot. From the
sessions on violence, we were taught to say a strong No and report all
incidences of violence that might happen to us or to other people. We were
taught that even touching on our body parts is violence, so no body just
touches me anyhow. I have learnt to avoid situations that can lead me to sexual
violence,” Brigitte disclosed.
Brigitte continued to reveal that in the safe space,
they are also trained on making friends through cycles of friendship and now
she has got a friend in whom she trusts, and her name is Seraphina.
Seraphina is Brigitte’s classmate in primary 6. The safe
space initiative has a set of life skills on leadership, building confidence
and financial literacy and this has brought about lots of transformation of
schoolgirls.
Brigitte shared a story about a man who burned his son’s fingers when he had stolen food. People in the household sought help from police and the father was imprisoned although he was released after he felt remorseful and asked for forgiveness. She therefore requests parents not to give severe punishments when a child has made a mistake.
About Speak out Project