This targets girls to go and stay in school; provide alternative learning opportunities for those who have dropped out and skills training as well as livelihood options. Lack of access to basic education to girls is promoting the vicious cycle of poverty. The Mbale/Manafwa areas record some of the highest levels of illiteracy in the whole country and according to the statistics Manafwa and Namisindwa district are having the highest HIV/Aids prevalence rate amongst adolescents. This is in spite of the free government universal education.

Many can’t afford the basics like uniform and scholastic materials that are essential in schools. Children from poor households are forced to engage in various menial work, instead of schooling. Many of the children forced to drop of school, are engaged in negative practices, like early trial marriages or involvement in casual sex as a form of survival, especially by the girls. The situation is very aggravating that according to the research conducted many adolescent girls do not transit to the next school term due to the long holidays.

Due to the high levels of poverty and pressure from men these girls are coerced into early sex/marriage by both their parents for bride price or older men for financial gain and also their cohorts the boys who by the Bagisu cultures are declared men at the age of 16 after being circumcised (Initiated into manhood).

In2019 SACHARC implemented a GHTP (Girls Holiday Transition Program) where they equipped young girls with skills that empower them to resist the men’s orchestrated schemes intended of disempowering them. This program with the grant from Amplify Change London produced immeasurable success in Ririma-Namisindwa District;

• Bringing the deprived, dropped-out girls, working children under the net of part-time education that give them life sustaining skills.
• Awareness building to re-admit the dropped-out children from the school.
• Creating awareness to the community, including guardians, working children, adolescent drop outs on various issues like dropped-out from the school, children and women trafficking, early marriage prevention, child rights, HIV/AIDS, sanitation.
• Providing training to the earning children/girl drop out and their guardian regarding IGPs
• Building the habit of savings among the adolescents.
• Assisting the school dropouts to engage in home-gardening in order to make self-reliant and to meet-up the demand of nutrition and encourage them to plantation of forest and fruit trees in order to preserve the balance of environment.