Nixon Ochatre is a crusader who looks to help young mothers and teenage mothers, and also works hard to stop the practice of child marriages and associated teenage pregnancy. Here's his story in his own words:
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| Nixon (Founder -Amani carrying baby Patience) with Gloria (Patience's mother) and Pastor at Busega Community School for the Deaf |
I was born on November 11, 1989 in a small village in Yivu , Maracha
District to a mother who dropped out of school
due to pregnancy. I am the second born in a family of eight siblings. I
am a professional accountant, entrepreneur and community worker who is
passionate about ending child marriage and teenage pregnancy. I started my first community project in high
school where I along with a few others raised money for a piggery project for
an elderly lady to enable her to look after her orphaned grandchildren.
I graduated
from Makerere University with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, specializing in
accounting. My passion for humanity drove me to start a nonprofit organization
that empowers community to come up with community led solutions against teenage
pregnancy and child marriage. I have grown to become a passionate young man on
issues concerning the youth and children with a special focus on teenage
pregnancy and child marriage and social entrepreneurship. I have been
recognized by the Tumaini Awards, Future Africa Awards, the Royal Commonwealth
Society, and am also a Global Shaper and an Associate Fellow of the Royal
Commonwealth Society.
I have always dreamt of making a positive difference at
whichever task I attach myself to. I was
born to a mother who dropped out of school due to pregnancy as well as in a
community with one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Uganda which
notably also has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world.
This experience shaped my dreams of taking lead in the fight against the vice
in my community.
I realized that most of the friends I started school with
dropped out due to pregnancy, seeing most of
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| Patrick ( Amani Initiative Maracha Program
Coordinator) visiting the parents of Ocituru to inform them about the school fees program for Ocituru seated in a yellow top and next to her is her baby boy in a blue sweater. |
Amani Initiative is spearheading the fight against teenage
pregnancy and child marriage through community based interventions
categorized under four program areas:
·
Education:- “Education is
the greatest weapon against poverty, child marriage, teenage pregnancy
and most of the most demanding issues affecting the existence of humanity.”
To be in position to achieve the vision and mission of the
organization, this thematic area concentrates on projects which
promote an equal and quality education opportunities for both boys and
girls with priority given to keeping children in school and enabling their
completion of the full education cycle. Amani Initiative is currently
implementing the Keep Me In School campaign in 10 primary schools in some of
the most vulnerable communities. The Keep Me In School campaign also has a
school fees program which supports victims of teenage pregnancy and child
marriage back to school.
·
Adolescent Sexual
& Reproductive Health:- This thematic area aims at creating programs and
projects that address the issues of sexual & reproductive health amongst
adolescents that could lead to teenage pregnancy & early marriage and
impact. The activities that are implemented under this program include:-
- Empowering young people to be in
position to make positive decisions about sex and marriage
- Promoting
menstrual hygiene through sensitization and removal of taboos associated
to menstruation in most communities.
- Reducing
impacts of teenage pregnancy such as infant & mortality rate,
obstetric fistula.
- Accessing
to comprehensive Adolescent Sexual & Reproductive Health
information
·
Youths
Entrepreneurship Skills Development & Empowerment:- Poverty is one of
the key causes to teenage pregnancy & early marriage amongst most
communities in Uganda since it denies many children education and is also used
as a source of income. Through livelihoods development amongst vulnerable
families and youth’s empowerment through social entrepreneurship & leadership
skills, this thematic area facilitates a sustainable solution to the problem of
teenage pregnancy & early marriage in the community.
Some of the activities that Amani Initiative is implementing
under this program include:-
·
Promoting social entrepreneurship & leadership skills
amongst partner schools. Currently we are working with 30 secondary schools
·
Youths empowerment through networking and linking them to
various income generating opportunities under the Ama Ecora teenage parents
project.
·
Supporting income generating activities amongst OVCs in
target communities
·
Child Protection
& Advocacy:- This thematic area concentrates at forms of sexual abuse
directed towards children and also establishing structures that facilitate
child protection and justice for child sexual abuse. Forms of sexual abuse
include child marriage, defilement, child prostitution, rape, and child
pornography.
This thematic area heads all the policy advocacy
interventions at the local, national and international level so as to come up
with sustainable solutions to teenage pregnancy and early marriage. We have successfully
worked with Girls Not Brides to develop the National Strategic plan for ending
teenage pregnancy and child marriage in Uganda (2014/15-2019/20) with a vision
of a society free from child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
Some of our key challenges have involved having limited funds to facilitate some of the
programs given that the target community highly depends on what we have to
offer. Community responsibility to ending teenage pregnancy and child marriage
is still lacking. Teenage pregnancy and child marriage is an issue that is
bigger than Amani Initiative. The solution to issues related to child marriage
can best be solved if the community and families take up the responsibility.
This same community is still facing a lot of challenges in owning the responsibility.
Some communities are still justifying child marriage and teenage pregnancy to
the rampant poverty levels or their cultures which is a challenge to the
organization.
We have adopted use of the community structures such as
schools, hospitals, churches, leadership and members which has led to low- cost
and high impact interventions. We are
also carrying out aggressive community sensitization to inform the communities
that teenage pregnancy and child marriage is a serious challenge to the
development of their communities. A happy and united community inspires me.
I’d like to tell you a success story, the story of Patience. Patience
is only 4 years and blind; she was born to a 18 year old Gloria who was raped
when still 14. Being disabled (deaf). The culprit used Gloria’s inability to
protect herself to abuse her sexually hence making her pregnant. The program is currently supporting the
schools fees for Patience who is enrolled at Busega Community School for the
Deaf. Another story that I count on as powerful and memorable is the story of
Ocituru. Ocitiru now in Primary Five at Yivu Primary School dropped out in
Primary Five 5 years ago due to pregnancy. Now a mother of a 5 year old boy,
Ocituru has been motivated to return to school to provide a good future for her
child and herself. Ocituru was enrolled into the Amani Initiative Ama Ecora
teenage parents support program which uses entrepreneurship and life skills to
empower teenage parents into a second opportunity for a successful life. Through the program Ocituru was inspired to
go back to school after 7 years of dropping out due to pregnancy.
Through the School fees program for teenage mothers and child
mothers, Amani Initiative aims at encouraging more teenage parents to go back
to school and use the education to improve their lifestyles and that of their
children.