Effectively communicate to him and let him know and understand that you are not interested in him as a boyfriend not even as a friend and tell him to stay away from you. Try hard enough to speak to him with confidence and respect. Avoid hostile and abusive language because that could work against you by making him violent at you.

You could tell him something like: “You are a nice person, and I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I am not interested.”

Hopefully, he will leave you alone. If he does not, tell a teacher or an adult person to talk to him. It may seem embarrassing to you to talk to the adult person but you have got to stop him as soon as possible otherwise things could get worse.

Female Genital mutilation (FGM) is the practice of cutting any part of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is sometimes called female circumcision. It is a cultural practice well ingrained in certain cultures and is carried out by traditional circumcisers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around the world between 100 and 132 million girls and women have been subjected to FGM and each year a further 2 million girls are at risk. Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Africa. In Uganda, female genital mutilation is most prevalent in Kapchorwa, Bukwo and Karamoja.

The most common form of female genital mutilation involves the cutting or removal of the clitoris and other vaginal tissues. The reasons for carrying out FGM varies from culture to culture with some believing that FGM reduces a woman’s desire for sex and in doing so reduces the chances of having sex outside marriage.

Internationally, female genital mutilation is considered as a violation of the human rights of girls and women as it involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue and interferes with the natural functions of girls’ and women’s bodies.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has no health benefits for girls and women. FGM harms women’s psychological, sexual and reproductive health. Immediate consequences of FGM can include severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, tetanus, urine retention and injury to nearby genital tissues. Long-term consequences of FGM can include recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, infertility, increased risk to childbirth complications and newborn deaths and increased vulnerability to HIV.

Self-esteem is the value and respect you have for yourself and how you think others think of you. Your self-esteem affects how you think, act, behave, relate to other people and even affects your potential to be successful.

With a high or healthy self-esteem you will be confident, happy, highly motivated and have the right attitude to succeed.
Low self- esteem means poor confidence and that also causes negative thoughts about yourself which means that you are likely to give up easily rather than face challenges.

Below are some of the things you can do to boost your self-esteem:

• Think positive thoughts about yourself. Focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses.
• Value yourself, your ability and your contribution in the world because you are unique.
• Set yourself realistic goals that are not too high or too low and thereafter always strive to do better than your goals.
• Give yourself credit when you reach your goal and praise yourself when you have done well.
• Don’t compare yourself to others. Remember you are fine the way you are.
• Learn to be assertive. Express your thoughts, opinions, needs and feelings openly at the same time respecting those of others.
• Forget your past mistakes and focus on your successes encouraging yourself to greater achievements in the future.

Thank you for inquiring. Both reasons given to you for sex by this boy are wrong. The fact that you are in puberty, means that you grew from conception to infancy, childhood and now puberty, all without having sex to help you grow.
Breast size just like growth is also not determined by playing sex. At puberty, a hormone (substance that regulates body processes) called oestrogen, produced by the ovaries stimulates all major parts of your breasts to grow including the fatty tissue which makes the breasts grow bigger.
It is therefore not true that sex would make you grow or make you breasts bigger. Don’t be fooled by the boy who may even be having other intentions.
Your breasts may be smaller than those of your colleagues. This is normal because we all grow at different rates.

I am sorry about your sister who has got pregnant at the age of 15. At that age, she is still physically and mentally not ready to have a baby. There are a number of health risks of getting pregnant at an early age.

Most severe among the dangers of early childbearing are:

• Increased risk of both maternal and infant mortality due to the pelvic size not fully developed for delivery.
• The childbirth is likely to be more difficult.
• The baby is likely to be born too early and to weigh too little.
• Poor nutrition of mother and child.
• Increased vulnerability to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) including HIV which carry serious health risks for the mother and baby.

Pregnancy-related complications are the main cause of death in 15-19 year old girls worldwide; girls in this age range are twice likely to die from childbirth or related complications than young women aged 20-24.

You should advice your sister, first and foremost to tell your parents about her pregnancy. It may not be easy but she needs to do it as parental care and support is extremely necessary during pregnancy of a young girl.

Secondly, your sister needs to visit the health centre regularly for checkups during pregnancy to avoid many of the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth. A health worker will help to ensure a safe birth and a healthy baby by:

• Checking the progress of the pregnancy so that if problems are likely, the woman can be moved to a hospital for birth.
• Checking for high blood pressure, which is a danger to both mother and child.
• Giving the two injections which will prevent the mother and her newborn baby from tetanus.
• Giving iron tablets to prevent anaemia.
• Checking that the baby is growing properly inside the mother.
• Giving anti-malarial tablets where necessary.
• Advising on where to go or how to get help if problems arise during the childbirth.

Lastly, advise your sister to think of going back to school after pregnancy. She needs to apologize to her parents for them to support her again with school fees.

The onset and degree of pregnancy symptoms vary within women. Some women experience them within days of conception others take much longer. Some of the common pregnancy symptoms include:

(i) Nausea and vomiting: Many women experience illness in the morning (morning sickness) and others feel nausea throughout the day.

(ii) Breast tenderness:  Due to the increasing amount of HCG hormone that begins at implantation, the breasts may become very tender to touch and may start to enlarge.  The veins in the breasts may become more visible. The nipples may start to darken in colour, become more erect and extremely sensitive. This sensitivity is due to rising levels of hormones.

(iii) Feeling tired/Sluggish/Fatigue
During pregnancy, the body goes through major hormonal changes. The temperature becomes higher due to the amount of progesterone circulating through the body making the pregnant woman feel sluggish. Fatigue is a result of high levels of the hormone progesterone.

(iv) Frequent urination: Pregnancy causes the uterus to swell and to start enlarging for the growing fetus. The uterus puts pressure on the bladder causing the feel for the need for more frequent urination. The need for urinating more frequently becomes worse throughout pregnancy for some women.

(v) Missed periods: There is no ovulation during pregnancy therefore a pregnant woman misses her menstrual periods. Missing your period is not a definitive sign of pregnancy, as stress or other factors may cause irregular periods.

(vi) Irritability: Many pregnant women as easily irritated as a result of the hormonal changes and the need to put up with all the pregnancy symptoms. Many women experience mood swings — feel angry, sad, or happy for no reason when they pregnant.

(vii) Heartburn: Pregnancy hormones will slow down bowel functions to give maximum absorption time of vitamins and nutrients. The stomach may not empty as fast which increases the stomach acid.

(viii) Enhanced sensitivity to smells: Some women become turned off by foods and smells they previously enjoyed. Likewise, some may become suddenly attracted to odors they previously repelled.

At your age of 16, just missing your period for 2 month does not necessarily mean you are pregnant.  It is normal for young girls not to menstruate regularly as their bodies are still growing. Menstruation is affected by so many factors like stress, emotional ups and downs, sickness, nutrition, fear, anxiety to mention but a few.
However, if you have a number of the above symptoms, you need to go to a health centre for a pregnancy test.