Ours is a realistic project to reduce unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. We can achieve this through education as many of the youth of Rwanda are unfortunately ignorant about their own bodies and spreading HIV/AIDS due to these topics being a social taboo.
We initiate discussions at schools, youth and womens centres and cooperative associations to win their confidence to tackle these subject. We also use two teaching aids. These are an innovative birth control necklace and a 3D model of the female uterus that we call "Little Mum". We adapt our presentation and message for groups from different religious, social backgrounds and age groups.
Ultimately, we want to eliminate children who get abandoned on the streets. And to improve the value and quality of family life through education.

Problema

Ours is a realistic project to reduce unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. We can achieve this through education as many of the youth of Rwanda are unfortunately ignorant about their own bodies and spreading HIV/AIDS due to these topics being a social taboo. We initiate discussions at schools, youth and womens centres and cooperative associations to win their confidence to tackle these subject. We also use two teaching aids. These are an innovative birth control necklace and a 3D model of the female uterus that we call "Little Mum". We adapt our presentation and message for groups from different religious, social backgrounds and age groups. Ultimately, we want to eliminate children who get abandoned on the streets. And to improve the value and quality of family life through education.

Solución

We are the only organisation presenting this broad topic in an innovative new way. The main feature about our project is the use of the necklaces and other educational tools. The government and other NGO'S do not use our approach or methods. We use simplified comparisons between the different periods of the female menstrual cycle and the natural world that the youth see and understand around them. For example, when the season of the year is dry, the land is infertile. The comparison with the "dry" infertile period of the female cycle is then easier to understand when presented as a metaphor of nature. The necklaces have many funtions for the youth and all age groups. It's a tool for girls to understand their own menstruation. Secondly, it helps them to easily understand the internal and external functions of their bodies and the fertility cycle, e.g. the pain they experience in their breasts during menstration. Also during the infertile and fertile periods she can connect the feelings of her body with what she can see on the necklace and make the connection with what she has learnt from the debates, necklace and literature. Women and girls can then understand the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy too from discussions. It's also a tool for the parents to communicate with their children and helps the family communicate and educate each other about a taboo subject. The innovation of the necklace, when it is combined with the little mum and the promotional literature provides the tools for basic education and sensitisation for basic sexual health.

Ejemplo

The primary activities are to debate the message of sexual and reproductive health through orientation. A message that we want spread rather than teach. We encourage our specific audience to set the topics for discussions, so that the problems relate to that particular group we are addressing. We combine the discussions with the teaching aids: the necklace and "little mum" which are produced by the Centre Marembo youth using recycled paper from calenders. We also spread the message through promotional literature in the form of film, posters, leaflets, and books. After the sixth session with a particular group we organise a mobile unit that comes to test for HIV/AIDS and provide councilling and support for those who test positive. We change peoples attitudes towards sex and HIV, educate them about their own bodies and personal hygenine. The change is evident by the numbers of youth and people who keep coming back to our sessions and ultimately take the test for HIV.

Mercado

We engage with different groups within the community for example, groups of prostitutes require a different approach and understanding than a group of teenagers at school or a group of Muslim or Christian women. Each month there are community days where all the members come together for the collective benefit of their community and if the topic of reproductive or sexual health arrises i will teach to this disparate group of rich and poor, young and old. I travel into rural areas to reach the uneducated, poorer sections of society as well as teaching in the main towns and cities.