Crown The Woman-South Sudan (CREW) joined the rest of the world to celebrate International Women’s Day through her mentorship program in schools. Since Women’s Day is only a one day affair 8th March, CREW decided to extend the celebration to one week so as to spend more time with their younger sisters in three different schools through a mentorship program under the them “I AM MY SISTER’S KEEPER”. Teenage pregnancy was the key topic 

Busulwa addressing girls at Promised Land Secondary School.

To give the students and pupils a clearer understanding of the matter, CREW brought in Mr. Busulwa Gabriel Walta; a Ugandan social change film maker who is also an advocate against child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Mr. Busulwa screened his 18minute film “AKELLO”. Akello is about teenage pregnancy; in the movie, a schoolgirl is introduced to an older man by her friend, out of peer pressure she accepts financial gains from the older man in exchange for her body. she later gets pregnant and is sent away from home by her mother. left with no option, she goes to live with the man responsible for her pregnancy. while staying with him she undergoes domestic violence and eventually runs to her maternal uncle who takes her in and gives her a second chance to go back to school a few months after she gives birth and later reconciled her with her mother.

Pupils at Dr. John Garang Primary School watching Akello

with this movie, Mr. Busulwa was able to reach out to 288 girls in only 3 schools (two secondary schools and one primary school) during his 5days stay in Juba due to the fact that he arrived in Juba on Monday and Friday of that same week was a public holiday (National Prayer Day). He also had the chance to go to two radio stations (Miraya and Radio One FM) alongside two CREW team members to share the impact of his film in the schools that he visited. Screening the film gave a fresh twist to our usual mentorship sessions that are characterized by conversations between CREW and the students/pupils.

Busulwa with two CREW members at Miraya FM.

Watching the girls get so emotional during the film was quite a moment for all of us. After watching the film, the girls had a rich discussion with Mr. Busulwa and the CREW team where some girls shared similar personal experiences at the end of which they made a commitment to stay in school as their bold decision for change. CREW has pledged to screen this film every school she conducts her mentorship in.

Apart from Mr. Busulwa, Dr. Ayak Chol Deng was also present at the program, she too shared her experiences with the girls and encouraged them to stay in school as school is the only insurance a woman can have. Dr. Ayak promised to come back and share tips on menstrual hygiene with girls.

After a mentorship session at Don Bosco Secondary School

As the CREW Team we cannot possibly express our gratitude enough to Mr. Busulwa for taking time out to chat with our girls and share his insightful film with them.

As usual, the fight goes on here at CREW, we continue to pledge to be “OUR SISTERS’ KEEPERS”