At four years old, Lizza Marie Kawooya witnessed how easily a woman’s rights could be erased. That memory now drives her, at 28, to empower girls through her community organization, the Dwona Initiative.
In her words:
“When I was four years old, my father passed away. My mother, a housewife and mother of seven children, suddenly found herself in the middle of a storm. That night, the compound was filled with men, some familiar, some strangers, sitting in circles, discussing the properties that my mother and father had built together. In that moment, my tiny self could tell we were threatened with homelessness. My brother, at eight years old, was too young to support her in the fight. My mother received threats, even death threats, until she surrendered some of the land titles and all the family businesses we had relied upon. Her voice was silenced.
With no income and seven children to look after, she carried on. But I carried that story inside me. For the first time, I understood how a woman’s dignity can be stripped away, not in a dramatic spectacle, but in silent negotiations.”
Lizza teaches sexual health and reproductive rights in her community programs.
As a university student, Lizza volunteered for an organization in Northern Uganda, serving a village where over 50% of the girls were missing school — not because they didn’t want to learn, but because of menstruation. A local headteacher refused to accept this. She opened her hut for girls to change and used her modest resources to help them manage their periods.
Witnessing this generosity planted the seed for Dwona Initiative, a community organization Lizza founded and runs alongside her day job at a nonprofit.
“We decided that no girl should miss school simply because of her period; no girl’s dignity should be stifled by silence.”
Accelerating Her Impact with She’s the First
In 2023, Lizza earned a coveted spot in our Girl-Centered Incubator, a fellowship that helps young female founders to structure their new organizations for long-term sustainability and impact.
As a result of training and coaching from She’s the First, Lizza took a new approach to running Dwona in rural communities. She turned surface-level engagement with large groups of girls into deeper conversations. As a result, everything changed.
Designing With Girls, Instead of For Them
In focus groups with girls, Lizza and her team learned girls were using soil, feathers, banana leaves, old clothes, and even cut-up mattresses to manage their periods. Many stayed home from school during menstruation, and some dropped out entirely, choosing early relationships as a way to access basic supplies. The conversations also showed parents were lacking information, leaving girls isolated and unsupported.
One story stood out. A Primary 6 girl from Budondo Village, Uganda, living with her father, was too afraid to tell him when she got her first period. She remembered other girls mentioning using a mattress sponge, so she cut hers and used it. Lacking soap to clean it, this led to infections.
During the focus group, this girl shared that she wished for parents, teachers, and leaders to be trained on menstrual health and suggested creative tools—such as a cheerful book—to help start that first conversation.
Her voice became the spark. With She’s the First’s support in 2024, the Dwona team co-created a book, Rasbombie’s First Period—a journey to understanding. Out of the same dialogue came the idea of Period Giving Corners in classrooms: safe spaces where girls can access pads and information without shame. Girls asked for storage units for pads, colorful pink-painted walls, and corners designed to feel welcoming rather than hidden.
a Period Giving corner!
All of these initiatives — mentorship groups, Period Corners, reading material — continue to grow through programs like our Girl-Centered Incubator.
This holiday season, can you invest in community-level change, driven by young, visionary leaders like Lizza?
Your dollars give girls something that doesn’t have a price tag: dignity.