International Women’s Day - what role can we play to help #BreakTheBias ?
On International Women’s Day, here at the Huracan Foundation, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate all of our female Project Leaders and our girls’ football team players and their achievements past and present! Over the years we have witnessed first-hand the transformative power of investing in grassroot football projects that keep girls in school because we know that investing in girls’ education can transform communities, countries and the entire world. However, we also know that keeping girls in school is not easy. Winnie Laker and Denise Mirembe are two of our newest Project Leads who are taking on this challenge in their Ugandan communities…
State of Play
Denise Mirembe is a teacher in a community where most girls drop out of school before finishing their primary education due to the constraints of the society they live in, “Girls are withheld from attending school to attend to house chores, tend to their sick family members and farming.”
In the community where Winnie Laker teaches many of the children work on sugarcane plantations to support their families leading to 5 in 10 children missing school every day and half of those who do attend having to leave before the school day ends. School absenteeism is also highest on Fridays forcing the school to close on that day. “Learning isn’t a priority when presented with money-making activities. As a result, there is poor academic performance and only two children qualify for secondary education every year.”
Uniting Communities
For Winnie and Denise, football provides a universal language that has the power to unite everyone within a community. Denise puts it simply,
“Football as a sport has the power to unite different people for one purpose, always winning a match.”
Winnie adds, “Football is a sport everyone in the community is willing to do anything to advance. Football is a universal language and brings honour to the children.”
Childhood fans of the beautiful game
Football has had a huge influence on both Denise’s and Winnie’s lives. They both started playing for their school football team which allowed them to build friendships, experience new opportunities and gain vital skills beyond their academic ones. Now they want their students to have the same experience and opportunities.
Denise started playing football as a child providing her a chance to build much needed friendships and a reason to attend school, “I joined our school's football club and I was able to make friends, which made me feel confident and love going to school. I was able to excel and go to another level because of the self-esteem I got for playing football on the school team. My favourite football team, Manchester United and the players there have inspired me to encourage my students to boost their passions and talents as they can turn into a career for them in future.”
As a child Winnie also found her school football club to be a place of refuge, “Football pushed me through school, the school football team is where I felt like I belonged. I played in primary school and in secondary school I became the football captain of the team and led them to a district tournament in 2015. In my Advanced level at a different school, I became the games and sports prefect, leading all sports activities at the school. Using my passion, I want to also help my children succeed.”
Working with the community to invest in Girls’ Education
Keeping girls in school requires engagement with the entire community and both Denise and Winnie have already been involved in successful projects that have improved attendance and with the support of the Huracan Foundation they want to be able to invest in more girls.
Denise highlights that children have many reasons not to go to school so it is critical to engage with children, their parents and other teachers. “When I arrived in my community many school age children were working on sugarcane plantations and not going to school. Through home visits, I was able to engage with parents and children about the importance of education.”
When Winnie introduced football as a way to improve education outcomes rather than just for playtime, four children continued to secondary school compared to just one in the previous year, demonstrating the power football has to change the story of her local community. She wants to build on what she has learnt so far to provide her students with the confidence, self-esteem and opportunities they need to both continue their education and potentially continue playing professionally. “My entire school life, I have been a sports lady and would love to put the skills gained at the peak of my career to set up a national football and education organisation that empowers children in underprivileged communities with life skills as they play football and receive a quality education.”
Denise highlights the importance of investing in girls’ education now and in the future, “It is a no no for girls playing football but we know women can do anything. We want to motivate the community to send their girls to school and see that they are capable of developing their talents and different skills as they study. Through the support of the Huracan Foundation we want to create a sustainable programme that won’t only benefit the girls who need support now but for many others in the years to come.”
Please join us as we celebrate women's achievement around the world, raise awareness against bias and take action for equality so that collectively, we can all #BreakTheBias.