Time to Train!

July 29, 2019

Aayush and Mariam’s Perspective: 

Back at the office this week, Aayush and Mariam got more experience with the logistical side of RAHU’s work. To start off the day, we started by sitting in on RAHU’s weekly meetings. Just like last week, each team had the opportunity to give their update, and communicate freely with the other teams. It was interesting to see how the smaller-person teams got all of their work done, while some of the bigger groups had discrepancies in their reports. From last week’s meeting, there was already some degree of progress made:

• The SautiPlus app will be coming to iOS very soon
• Peer Educator Academy in Yumbe is underway
• School Peer Learning Sessions are being managed

After the meeting, we sat down with Doreen, RAHU’s Communication Officer. With Bata, our supervisor, out in the field, she gave us our assignments. We were to report and write on what we saw and learned at last Friday’s visit to the Headteachers Forum in Jinja. This included the Headteachers Forum in general, as well as the National Sexuality Education Framework that defined how SRHR is taught in schools. The framework itself is conservative, preaching abstinence over any other form of HIV/pregnancy prevention. The statistics, however, tell a different story. Uganda’s youth population makes up 33% of the entire population. Furthermore, only 32% and 38% of young women and men respectively will never have had intercourse by the age of 15. In other words, 68% and 62% of girls and boys will have had intercourse before they turn 15! Clearly, preaching abstinence is not working. Hopefully RAHU and other activists can work with the Ugandan government to tackle the root of the problem, not just place a band-aid solution. 

After work, we headed over to Ponnus for dinner with Karis. As you may already know, this restaurant has treated us well. Aayush ordered a medium vegetable pizza, but they made it a large accidentally. Consequently, he had about half of it left over for the rest of the week. Mariam got biryani with lamb and Karis just got hummus and bread because she had leftovers back at her apartment. Feeling as if we didn’t get any exercise in a while, we walked home from the restaurant. We got back around 7:15, showered, and completed our nightly reflection with Rashmi and Lily in Yumbe. Feeling tired from the day, we went to bed early as we had to be up early again tomorrow.

Rashmi and Lily’s perspective: 

Phew, today was a long one! We were up bright and early at 7am to get ready to start the training at 8. After a quick breakfast of fresh chapati and coffee (we’re sticking to plain breads/grains until everyone’s stomach is settled), we headed over to the hotel where we are facilitating the training this week. 

Upon arrival, about 20 peer educators were in attendance in the training room, five less than we had called back for the training. Ibrah started the introductory session by asking everyone how they thought the interviews went, if they had any questions or concerns, and introduced the whole team. Yesterday, we spent an hour in the training room setting some small things up before everyone arrived including three large posters on the wall for values, expectations, and a parking lot (meant for questions). Today, Ibrah had everyone write down their expectations for the week of training and what they hoped to gain from it. It seemed like most people had the same general expectations with learning new things from RAHU, gaining the skills required for peer educators, and meeting new people. Afterwards, we participated in a small activity where everyone drew a picture on a sticky note that they felt like represented them in some way. Lily drew a bird because she feels like it represents her independence and reluctance to stay in one place (physically or mentally) for long periods of time. Rashmi drew a budding plant because she feels like she is getting to a point in her life where she is searching for a more concrete direction to take professionally, so she has not yet truly blossomed. Some of the peer educators drew things like a music note to represent how music has helped them through many life changes, both positive and negative. Another participant chose to draw a diamond because she believes that she sparkles as a person, and her goal in life is to make sure everyone else is sparkling too. At the end of the introductory session, they voted to choose the course leaders for the training session with positions like energizer, welfare, coordinator, time keeper, and secretary. 

Following a short morning tea break, Helen started her session on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). First, she explained what the Rise program is, the program that these peer educators will be participating in in Yumbe district. She said that Rise focuses on reduced fertility rates, teen pregnancy rates, family planning methods and family planning overall. What’s interesting about the Rise project is that the peer educators do most of the work on the ground as opposed to the RAHU office employees. They will be responsible to lead on this project; they see firsthand in their sub-counties how necessary this work is. She also gave a generalized overview of what RAHU does as well, mentioning that they were founded in 2010, currently work in over 40 districts in Uganda and have over 1,000 peer educators in those 40 districts! After giving the peer educators a solid foundation about the organization and project they will be representing, she moved on to ask what they understand about sexual reproductive health. Their answers included growth and development, person hygiene, STI’s, and health information about reproductive processes. Helen responded by saying that she asked the question because she knew everyone would have a different idea of what sexual reproductive health encompasses. She then gave her own definition: SRH or health is a state of complete well-being that is mental, emotional, physical, social, and economic. Next, she went over the appropriate age brackets for young people (10-24) and youth (18-35) in Uganda. The group split in half to complete a short poster presentation activity where one group crafted a list of stereotypes that adults have about young people, and vice versa. It was very interesting how traditional the stereotypes were, and how those same stereotypes are very common in the U.S. as well. They discussed the idea that young people are irresponsible and arrogant, require counseling and guidance, and are known for making poor decisions like abusing drugs or having sex. The session wrapped up with a discussion about the need for peer educators to challenge stereotypes in their work, but also acknowledge why they exist, and avoid disregarding people’s deeply rooted beliefs. 

The next session was Body Growth and Development with Peace facilitating. She started by asking the participants to identify the characteristics of body growth and development. Then, she had them to another poster activity where the group was split into men and women. The men were asked to write a list of body changes in females, and the women were asked to write a list of body changes in males. The men included widening of hips, development of breasts, beginning of menstruation, and growth of body and pubic hair. The women’s list was similar; they identified deepening of the voice, growth of facial and pubic hair, enlargement of the penis, and wet dreams. Honestly, not that we underestimated the group because we were involved in their interviews and knew how knowledgeable they are, but it was nice to see how much they already knew about SRHR and bodily development. Since we have heard so much about the lack of sex ed in schools in Uganda, and we know how high the dropout rate is, it is definitely a positive that there is still a large population of people who are relatively educated on these health processes and issues. They were next asked to identify common challenges faced by adolescents, and common myths and misconceptions about puberty. Some challenges they identified are early and unplanned pregnancy, high risk of STI’s, unwanted marriage, and high rate of school dropouts. The myths and misconceptions were things like infertility due to painful menstruation, small breasts produce less milk, and slow bodily development is a sign of abnormality or weirdness. This session was a sort of segue into the following session about menstruation and hygiene. 

Peace also lead the facilitation of the Menstrual Hygiene Management session. She first asked if the participants knew what menstruation was (many thought they did, but they all defined it as the passage of the unfertilized egg through the vagina), and then defining it herself. Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining through the vagina following a lack of fertilization of an egg after ovulation. Next, she discussed how menstruation can differ so much for everyone; some women bleed heavily for 7 days, some bleed only for 2 days. Some experience cramps and back pain, some have no other symptoms. It is important to know and acknowledge that these differences are completely normal, but if someone has an extreme menstrual symptom, it might be necessary for them to be referred to a health worker. Peace also had one of the peer educators come to the front and demonstrate how to properly put on and then dispose of a sanitary pad. She then discussed some of the common misconceptions about menstruation, especially those that are culturally specific to Uganda. One misconception is that menstruation makes you unclean, and that you must remain by yourself for the duration of your menstruation cycle. Both Peace and Helen talked about how in Karamoga, there is a practice that when a girl or woman is menstruating, they sit in a hut on a pile of sand and let the blood drain into the ground for the entire time they are bleeding. The implications of this practice often cause girls to miss essential time in school or time working because they are not allowed to participate in anything until the bleeding has stopped. To finish up, she also explained that menstruation is a completely normal bodily function and should not be shamed or stigmatized by anyone. She mentioned how a person’s cycle can even vary month to month without there being an internal problem. Lastly, Peace talked about how things like anxiety, depression, and diet can have an impact on someone’s menstrual cycle and cause it to change, both for short and long periods of time.   

To end the day, Ibrah returned to run a short session on how to give appropriate feedback while opening up the floor to the peer educators to share about their first day of training. The group identified key aspects of feedback as being positive and constructive, clear and concise, and be given in a timely manner. The group seemed to enjoy their first day of training very much, and had absorbed a lot of the information given to them. Although it was the longest day of the week, it was a great start to an exciting process for RAHU and for us as GlobeMed members to be able to take part in.

After the peer educators left for the night, Rashmi and Lily checked into the hotel where the training is being held for convenience and to be able to have some warmer showers (we’re spoiled, we know). The team returned to the same local restaurant for some yummy food (beans, matooke, rice, and greens) and then agreed that it was time to crash and prepare for another long day of training tomorrow.