Meet Merida This is Merida. She is 12 years old and lives in Uganda. We are going to get an insight into her life. Your task is to think about similarities and differences between how you live and how Merida lives?

Can you find Uganda? It is a small, landlocked country in Eastern Africa. The capital of Uganda is Kampala.

Merida and her Grandmother Merida lives in rural Uganda, just under 100 miles East of Kampala City. She lives at her Grandmother’s house with her Mother, 6 brothers and sisters, and 5 cousins. Her parents split up four years ago, when her Mother left her Father for beating her in front of the children.

Family Photo – in Merida’s household there are 12 children and 2 adults. How does this compare to yours?

Merida’s Mother owns a roadside stall. It is worth 20,000 Ugandan shillings – which equates to £5. Merida’s Mother struggles to stretch her income from the stall to feed and educate her 7 children, however she says it is better than staying in an abusive relationship.

We are now going to go through Merida’s Daily Routine. As we do, try and think about how it differs to yours…

Getting Ready Merida is pictured here in her ‘daily dress’. She has been wearing it for the last seven days. It is caked to the touch; testament to the fact that it has not been washed in a long time. Merida has a ‘youth smell’ about her known as ‘Kavubuka’. It is common among young teens with hygiene challenges. Merida has another dress for special occasions like going to church. The family can’t afford soap, and water for washing is a ‘luxury’.

School Time Merida studies at Kayunga Mixed primary School. The school is a long way from Merida’s house, she has to trek 10km each day without shoes. This doesn’t bother Merida who told us “I am lucky because my best friend at school Shamim has a lot of story books. She shares them with me. I like to read”. Merida was no. 15 out of 72 pupils in her class last year.

What do you do at break time? Merida and her best friend Shamim love to play dodge ball. She also likes the “Public Van” game where the main player counts up to 15 while jumping the string, saluting the Queen and the bench of the King. As you can see from the photos, in schools like Merida’s the students get creative with making games with the materials available to them. Break Time

After School Merida’s evenings are structured around helping at home. Her daily chores include fetching water, gathering wood and building a fire. Some of it she enjoys, like fetching water from the village well. She also likes grazing the three family goats with her grandmother. “Merida go fetch water, Merida go collect firewood, Merida go peel bananas for lunch, Merida go this, Merida go that, Merida, Merida….

Dinner Time With schooling a priority and income a constant challenge, Merida’s family is struggling to put together a single meal. The family usually has one meal a day at 5pm. This kind of meal is called Kisala budde (a meal that cuts the meal times). Merida likes eating bananas with fish and oranges. She does not eat meat. Have you spotted the main thing that’s been missing from Merida’s day so far?

Bed Time Merida shares the equivalent of a bed (soft grasses packed in a nylon bag) with her two young sisters. They have to wait until their Grandmother has gone to bed before they can, because they use their mother’s gomesi (a wide and long flowing dress) as their cover. Their grandmother uses the same as her day dress.

Merida’s Aspirations… Long Term… Merida wants to be a teacher. She wants to be like Miss Betty, her English language and Social Studies teacher. “Teacher Betty has nice clothes. She has shoes”. Short Term… Merida’s major worry is if she will get a new dress for Christmas. “I want a nice dress. I want a dress with yellow flowers. I also want knickers”.

The Challenges Merida is facing… Merida states her major concern as wanting a new dress for Christmas, but now that she is 12 years old she is approaching puberty. Can you imagine the challenges this will pose for a young woman in Merida’s situation? Merida’s Mother can: “My daughter is growing too fast and becoming beautiful. This scares me stiffly…I don’t want men to entice her with small things. You see, in about a year, Merida will start to experience her monthly periods. I dread the day when that happens. I hope I will have the money to buy her sanitary towels”. Over 40% of teenagers in Merida’s area are sexually active by the age of 16 and 30% of the girls become pregnant before they are 18 years.

The other big problem facing Merida is the social pressure in Ugandan society for girls to stop school to help around the household. “I am only 12 but I know my dream is to be a teacher. But right now we barely eat and we can’t always pay the school fees.”

So, how does your life differ from Merida’s? And how is it similar? How will these change as you both grow up?

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