Nakangu champions the rights of vulnerable girls

During her studies at Trinity Senior Academy, located in Entebbe town, Cynthia Martha Nakangu realised how some boys were found of perpetually bullying girls. Nakangu was at the Academy from 2017 to 2019, senior two to four.

“Sometimes, I would see some of such boys in my class, mocking girls. For example, a boy would just walk up to a girl and suddenly slap her for no absolute reason. The girl would then break down into tears and ask why she had been treated that way. The unrepentant boy would just walk away laughing,” she says.

Nakangu says these boys constantly attacked girls with certain character traits.

“For instance, they easily attacked those who exhibited quiet and shy behavioural tendencies because they knew that such girls were neither going to stand up for themselves nor run to the school administration to report,” she says.

When the boys were not physically attacking these girls, they were instead verbally attacking them.

Such incidents pained Nakangu, a lot. At times she would be moved to tears.

But, how about her? Wasn’t she ever teased?

“I was hard-headed. I often stood up for myself,” she says, adding, “Whenever any boy came provoking me, I would not keep quiet. I would tell him to either back off or threaten to report him to any teacher.”

So, how did she lend a hand to the vulnerable girls?

The start of the advocacy work

Nakangu thought of an idea of starting a club at the school. The aim was to address some of the challenges the school girls were facing. She shared the idea with a friend, Prisca*, who embraced it. The duo then matched to the head teacher’s office to seek further guidance on how to start the club.

“We shared with him reasons why it was important to start a club driven towards fighting for girls’ rights basing on the experiences I had seen at the school,” Nakangu says.

Abbey Ngobi, the school’s head teacher says he remembers the two girls walking to his office with their idea.

“I asked for the intention of the association and the girls responded by highlighting objectives like educating girls on their rights and sensitising them on hygiene matters,” Ngobi says.

He embraced the idea with the belief that such clubs can help improve the lives of students in different ways. At the end of their discussion, he directed them to the deputy head teacher to seek more guidance on how to open the association.

A few proposals were then drafted and signatures written hands before the association was eventually formed. It was given the name, Girls Club.

The challenges of being an advocate

From time to time, Nakangu would go and speak at the school assembly to sensitise the boys on the need for them to respect girls. This task was not an easy one.

“There were times I was either booed or told to get off the podium,” she says.

But this did not discourage Nakangu. She kept going with her advocacy work. Meanwhile, Prisca concentrated on counseling other girls. On occasions Nakangu was not addressing the boys at the assembly, she would be jotting down advocacy messages on girls’ rights and pinning them onto the school board. Some of these messages touched on the aspect of bullying and how it created a long lasting impact on girls, for instance, emotionally.

“From research, I learnt that bullying can cause effects like lowering one’s self esteem. In addition, one can also become sad or isolate themselves from other people. In the end, one may not perform well in class. These are the kind of messages I would write and pin on the school board,” she says.

It was this advocacy for girls’ rights at the school that got Nakangu noticed by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Uganda. The United Nations agency responsible for providing aid to children selected Nakangu as one of the panelists at last year’s media round table discussions to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the rights of children.

 “It was such a wonderful experience getting to speak not only about the rights of children but also girls. I remember towards the end of my address asking other participants not to forget the plight of the girl-child in school,” she says.

After this UNICEF event, Nakangu turned into some sort of celebrity at her school forcing even some boys to change their respective views towards her advocacy work.

She is currently in senior five at Katikamu SDA Secondary School, located in Wobulenzi, a town in Luweero district. Her plan was to open a similar club at the school but the idea was halted after students returned home during their first term due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A difficult childhood

As a child, Nakangu hardly spent time with her mother.

“I later learnt that she was always in and out of the family home because of some personal struggles she did not want to involve my father in. So, sometimes she would leave home for a long period of time to either clear her head or sort out the issues,” Nakangu says.

As a result, the little girl spent more time with her father.

“Daddy took great care of me during mummy’s absence. However, despite his overflowing love, I missed mummy a lot,” she says.

Nakangu says her mother’s frequent absenteeism away from home left a big hole in her heart.

“There were things I could not tell my father. I thought mummy was in a better position to hear them from me. Things like body changes, menstruation, among others,” she says.

So, sometimes, when Nakangu got problems, she kept quiet with them, a habit she regrets now.

“I feared sharing issues with my father and I suffered because of it. The problems kept piling until the day I completely broke down. I was in tears,” she says.

Upon realising his daughter’s distress, her father, Hannington Henry Mukasa, reached out to his friend, Robinah Sarah Naluwooza, founder of Set Her Free, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) that equips young vulnerable women with knowledge and skills to lead self-determined lives.

“I sold him the idea of allowing her to stay with me at least for a little while,” Naluwooza says.

Mukasa agreed to the arrangement. Nakangu went to stay with Naluwooza at the age of 10 years. Today she is 17 years. Her father visits or sends assistance including money for his daughter’s tuition and upkeep.

Naluwooza says that the agreement has benefitted Nakangu in all sorts of different ways.

“Today, she is more open and is not afraid to share any problem with either me or her father,” Naluwooza says, adding, “She has also been expressing a lot of interest in my work which rotates around empowering vulnerable girls with survival skills.”

Mukasa admits that raising Cynthia was sometimes tough but he did the best he could.

“Cynthia is my eldest child. She is the only child from me and her mother. My relationship with her mother was always on and off. She was often in and out of the house and the responsibility often fell on me to look after our daughter. And by then, I could hardly make ends meet. But I struggled and worked very hard to see to it that my little girl had all the essentials.

“I must also confess that it is not easy for men to singlehandedly raise daughters. I found it very tough. Sometimes, I did not know what to do in certain situations and wished Cynthia’s mother was around to come to the rescue. Then, there were those moments Cynthia cried endlessly because she missed her mother. I am happy that Robinah and my dear mother came to my aid. At least now, they are able to have those girly talks with her. I have noticed that Cynthia is now in a better place and is involved in championing for the rights of the girl-child.”

On how her current relationship is with her mother, Nakangu says they talk from time to time and she is open towards the idea of re-building their relationship.

“I don’t blame her now for the absenteeism. She is still my mother and I love her very much,” she says.

Her mother is currently out of the country on a work contract. 

Her plan for the future

Nakangu says she wants to be like Naluwooza in future.

“Her work inspires me a lot, and, it is for this reason that I also want to start an organisation one day that will aim at advocating for vulnerable girls in society,” she says.

To other young girls, Nakangu advises them to always stand up for themselves, and, when they get problems, they should open up to someone.

“To my dear girls, don’t die alone with your problems. Please, talk to someone you trust,” she emphasises.

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the person