My name is Gai Yai, and I am 18 years old female from South Sudan living in Uganda. When we left South Sudan for Uganda in 2014, we were settled in Rhino Camp Settlement, Abili Village – Madi Okollo District. I live with my aunt and my three brothers and a sister.

Because of competing needs at home, using of sanitary pads is a luxury. I was using pieces of clothes as my menstrual towel, which I would wash daily – every evening.

“An opportunity for me and other girls came when Oxfam team visited our school. The head teacher and our matron registered the girls who had started menstruating and we later received many items from Oxfam, which I later learnt were menstruation hygiene kits.”

Gai Yai
Pupil, Tika Primary School

The hygiene kit comprised of a 10 litre plastic bucket, a bar of soap, three packets of knickers, a Lesu, tooth brush and paste, comb (Hair brush), a mirror, one packet of reusable pads and vaseline. For the first time, I was able to feel I have everything a girl should have.

Since then, I have been attending school daily and I have never missed classes. I used to miss school every month for two days because I feared to have a stain on my uniform.

This was not good for my dream of getting good results at Primary Leaving Examinations and join secondary school and achieve my dream of becoming a doctor.

I want to be a doctor because when I was at home in South Sudan during the war, I saw many people dying because there were few/no doctors. I want to go back to my country, treat and help sick people in communities.

I am now in my primary seven vacation and I am always supporting my aunt with cooking, mudding the house, collecting fire wood and fetching water.

I appreciate Oxfam for the support given to me and other girls at Tiika Primary School. Since they started supporting us, I haven’t missed any day at school.

I am sure I will pass my PLE and join secondary school. I am saving some of these items so that I use them once I am in secondary school like the bucket , Lesu, Pads and knickers.

I wish Oxfam would continue with the project next year because my young sister, Tiel and other girls at school who were below 13 years old missed the kit.

There are other girls in the village from other schools who also need these items, if they could also receive them, it could help them to stay in school and complete their studies.

The WASH in Schools Project – funded by Oxfam Hong Kong, is implemented in West Nile. The project aims to enhance the community’s ability to create child-friendly school spaces, prevent and protect themselves against WASH-related diseases as well enhance community participation.

The project further contributes to “Equal Opportunity to Girls’ Education (EOGE)” initiative that brings together actors for positive change in girls’ education by challenging policy, practices, and barriers to access to education.

The project is expected to reach a total 13,000 individuals (9,293 school going children/pupils in 5 schools and 3,707 persons from both refugee and host community through public health outreaches and community engagement.