Prutazio shares about the impact of ULA's inspiring program

Universal Love Alliance (ULA), an SIA Grant Partner in Uganda, provides "Men for Women's Empowerment" training programs, which aim to stop spousal abuse and encourage men and boys to be feminists.

Prutazio Muhirwe shared a bit about himself and the transformative effect ULA’s program had on him. Raised and educated Catholic, Prutazio is a catechist of a Catholic church in Kamwenge, Uganda. He attended one of the ULA’s workshops on women's rights and broader human rights, which he found relevant to African culture and embedded with Christian values.

What set this training apart, according to Prutazio, was the comprehensive approach that covered women’s empowerment, human rights, and responsibilities, as opposed to similar training from other organizations he attended, which teach either only women about women’s rights, but not men, or teach only about rights, but not responsibilities. Those previous, more focused trainings had caused issues at the church he leads. 

Rapt attention and lively discussion at ULA's workshop on women's rights, human rights, and empowerment

A profound example of transformation

The profound impact of the ULA training on Prutazio made him ask himself whether God was happy with how things were going in his family. He saw that there had been arguing and disharmony within his home.

Inspired by ULA’s training and the booklets Created in God’s Image, which resonate well with the Bible and his church’s teaching, Prutazio has created three groups for his church members: one group for young couples, a second one for adult men, and a third group for women.

These groups gather to discuss the topics in the booklets about human rights and inclusivity. And to consider messages such as the one from Samson: “The heaven we hope to live in starts in your family. Your family needs to not be violent and chaotic. Your family is your heaven on this earth. When you are happy and chaos-free, God is happy in heaven”. 

The core ideas in the group's discussions include teaching a husband and wife to live in harmony by helping each other and developing together. 

ULA demonstrated that one of the main causes of domestic violence is poverty, so the groups that Prutazio leads are also putting up a small amount of money to start income-generation projects at the household level, to help fight poverty.

Prutazio congruously concludes: HUMAN RIGHTS + RESPONSIBILITY lead to poverty ERADICATION.

The booklets used at Prutazio's church groups inspired by ULA's teachings

P.S. You can watch an additional testimony for ULA's program here.