Just Like My Child (JLMC) awarded Grant

JLMC has been awarded a $20,000 grant.
JLMC’s mission is to empower vulnerable adolescent girls by enabling them
to create healthy, self-sustaining families who prosper without further aid. Since its inception in 2006, JLMC
has successfully delivered healthcare services, education, microenterprise, social justice, leadership, and
empowerment programs to over 200,000 individuals (primarily women and children) in 76 rural communities
in Central Uganda. In 2015, several of JLMC’s programs began graduating into self-sustainability and
independence from further financial assistance. As a result, JLMC made the decision to place its primary
focus on adolescent girls.
In response to the challenges adolescent girls face, and in the fulfillment of our mission, JLMC designed a
replicable curriculum and system of delivery for girls called The Girl Power Project (GPP). The GPP is a
transformational life-skills education program consisting of 60+ hours of workshops, camp, and club
sessions taught over the course of two years to girls aged 10-14 in rural primary schools in Central Uganda.
The GPP aims to empower adolescent girls to stay in school and avoid child marriage, disease, early
pregnancy, and violence by equipping them with critical assets they need to overcome these barriers and
navigate adolescence successfully.
The GPP is delivered by dynamic, highly educated Ugandan leaders who serve as positive role models to girl
participants. The program covers a range of important topics, including but not limited to puberty,
menstruation, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence (GBV), children’s rights, peer pressure, self-esteem and goal
setting through activities, songs, dances, videos and peer mentor development that fully engage girls to
participate.
JLMC employs Population Council’s Girl Roster toolkit to estimate how many adolescent girls live in the
areas where the GPP is introduced. JLMC aims to reach 50-80% of the adolescent girls in each community
with GPP programming, administering a “social vaccine” to disrupt harmful cultural norms that primarily
affect adolescent girls, permanently shifting attitudes, beliefs, and practices.
In order to create an enabling environment for girls, community members also receive, GPP programming.
The Girl Power Project begins by training parents in human rights (with an emphasis on women and
children’s rights), Ugandan laws, and how to refer rights violations and crimes to the appropriate authorities.
JLMC only works with girls after their parents and teachers sign a formal agreement to value the
empowerment of girls and commit to support their daughters. A portion of these adults are trained by JLMC
to be Girl Power Advocates, volunteers who support the girls during the Girl Power Project and beyond.
Additionally, boys aged 10-14, living in the same communities and attending the same schools where the GPP
is delivered receive a smaller dose of life skills education in puberty, sexual and gender based violence and
reproductive health, building assets they too need to successfully navigate adolescence. So not only will girls
benefit, but also the communities where they reside.
A contribution from the Kathryn B. McQuade Foundation will help JLMC to directly reach
more vulnerable girls ages 10-14 and adult advocates in Central Uganda, thereby getting JLMC closer to
achieving its strategic vision of reaching 20,000 girls with The Girl Power Project