Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Education

Kadiatu is 18 years old; she lives with her husband and daughter of 4 months old. As a young girl, Kadiatu showed great promise at school. She graduated from primary school but when she entered junior secondary school (JSS1), there were some costs that her parents could not afford. She entered into a relationship with a boy who was one year ahead of her (JSS2) “There were some small basic needs I couldn’t meet and he used to give me a little money to buy things like bread and other food stuff. We had a relationship and I got pregnant,” she said.

At the time, family planning was an unfamiliar concept. “I didn’t know anything about condoms. I didn’t know I could go to the health centre and get help,” she said. She learned about family planning for the first time during our SRHR School health club and at antenatal check-up. Kadiatu moved in with her husband and his parents, who regarded them as a married couple even though no bride price had been paid. Due to her pregnancy, she dropped out of school but her husband continued with schooling until the end of JSS3. As farmers, Kadiatu and her husband Ware struggling to make ends meet. She regrets that she couldn’t continue with school but things were tight and there simply was no money for the fees. When she heard about the WCCT Project; and she expressed her wish to enroll her husband with the hope that it would help them out of poverty; but he did not foresee the multiple ways in which they would benefit. It was after she attended a session on family planning and discussed with him what she had learnt that he agreed to use modern contraceptive methods. Had she known about it earlier, she would have been able to manage her fertility, she said

Today, she is pleased that she is better informed about her sexual and reproductive health and rights. “I am so thankful for the training I have received. I now know about spacing children and about how to use condoms, pills and the loop. I also know I can get pregnant when breastfeeding,” she said. For the time being, both have agreed to start using condoms to delay having more children. “My situation is hard, so I don’t want another child soon, not for another 10 years!” she laughs. Kadiatu would like to learn skills at the vocational training centre along with SRHR education, such as how to make batiks, catering and soap making, or to use a sewing machine, so that she can improve her family’s economic opportunities. Nevertheless, she extols the virtues of belonging to the project and is brimming with ideas to promote it. She suggests that T-shirts be printed to encourage other girls to sign up, in the hope that they, too, will become more empowered. She said that she like to be WCCT Champion in her community to better empower young girls

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