FOOTBALL4GOOD MAGAZINE | MARCH 2020

I WANT TO BE A ROLE MODEL FOR OTHER YOUNG GIRLS WHOMAY BE IN A SIMILAR SITUATION AS ME.” Dorcas, coach at YES, Uganda “I couldn’t speak up for my rights against sexual advances because I didn’t know I had rights.” Recognition of sex education’s necessity, how- ever, means acknowledging that young people are sexually active, which remains challenging in a society in which men are granted sexual lib- erties, while women’s bodies are both guarded and policed. “In the environment I was in,” Dorcas explains, “it was normal for women to be used as a bet for customers in the bar.” It was on the pitch, surrounded by others who were in the same situation, where for the first time she felt she had a support network. Dorcas took part in games and exercises com- bining educational content and discussions. With the emphasis on open communication, the once shy victim of stigmatisation, felt safe and her worries gradually eased. She realised she was not alone, also discovering through YES’ Adolescent Girls Empowerment (AGE) pro- gramme, that Busia has the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Uganda at 29%. Now 22, Dorcas is a full-time coach at YES, trav- elling regularly to over 40 schools in the district. She also runs her own restaurant and pays for her daughter’s boarding school education, while studying for a diploma in accounting at the Uganda College of Commerce on weekends. “The image people have of me in the communi- ty has changed. Some parents now look at me as a point of reference for other girls,” Dorcas says with a warm smile. “I feel empowered and my wish is to help others. I want to be a role model for other young girls who may be in a similar situation as me.” The positive impact on Dorcas’s life is tangible, yet if it wasn’t for a chance knock at the door, her sto- ry could have taken another more sinister route. The reality lies within the roadmap around which YES built their Maternal and Child Health programmes, as explained by Executive Director Ongatai Amosiah, “to accelerate the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity.” Ongatai’s vision “to have women in Uganda go through pregnancy, childbirth and the post- partum period safely and their babies born alive and healthy”, is forged by a pragmatism missing institutionally. Uganda’s infant mortality rate stands at 19 deaths per 1000 births, while maternal mortality rates remain significantly higher. As a result of complications in maternity 440 of every 1,000 mothers die according to UNICEF, one of every 49 women. And when mothers die, statistics show that the likelihood of their babies dying before the age of two is signifi- cantly increased. 24 25 FOOTBALL4GOODMAGAZINE | MARCH2020 FOOTBALL4GOOD&PHOTOGRAPHY