A team of over 40 traditional marriage counsellors locally known as Ssengas in Makindye and Lubaga divisions closely work with CEDOVIP. The Ssengas have taken on personal initiatives to inspire men and women to make their homes and relationships safer. This is what the Ssengas are doing:
- Talking to their partners, relatives, neighbours, and community members about benefits of respect, fairness, safety in relationships and joint decision making in relationships.
- Conducting community activities and to enable them talk to women experiencing violence in their communities.
Ssengas testify that the work is positively impacting their lives as two of them remarked that;
“Every morning I look up to myself and believe I can make my life better. I have learned to make my own decisions. I feel proud. I talked to my husband about respect and fairness in a relationship. He kept asking me more questions and we discussed different ways to show respect.
My husband surprised me by starting to take his bathing water to the bathroom yet for the past 30 years in marriage he had never carried his bathing water to the bathroom, it was my obligation. I believe change can happen” Ssenga- Kibuli
“I used to ignore neighbours that were experiencing violence. I would close my door or walk away. After the first training I recognized that silence increases violence against women. Now I talk to and support my neighbours to help them understand different forms of violence and how it affects us all. Ssenga- Najja
So far the Ssengas have reached out to 400 community members: 249 women and 74 men and 14 youth. Many of the community members reached confess that the sengas work is making positive changes in their lives.