Gizani
Gizani
This weekend we were invited to join the Egmont Trust, a funding body for NASIO, as they assessed the impact of the projects currently undertaken by the charity. Amongst many interesting insights into prospective plans, we were most overwhelmed by the peer education system, nutured by the charity for the last 6 months. This programme is run by a number of young people who attend school in the area. The idea is that these 'Peer educators' provide education, support and advice to other young people in the area and work to promote responsible attitudes to sexual health.
The subject of sexual health and gender based attitudes are ones we have found particularly difficult to accept and navigate. Sex is an impossibly taboo subject and cultural opinions can seriously impede education as well as have severe psychosocial implications for both individuals and families. During a health club we attended, peer educators were making headway with teaching classes about the signs and symptoms of common sexually transmitted diseases - unfortunately, talking about practising safe sex was met with much embarrassment and the main message being delivered boiled down to practising abstinence or risking shame on the family. On asking about condom use, we were met with a number of awkward laughs!
Unfortunately, despite what is preached - lack of education and understanding in this area can have profound and devastating consequences. HIV and other STI's aside, many young girls in the area end up having sexual relationships with much older men in order to earn money for sanitary products. These girls often end up dropping out of school because of pregnancy as a result. Many of the deliveries and antenatal checks we have been performing have been on adolescent girls without the support of a partner and often their family. Even more difficult to negotiate are the situations where young girls have been raped (often by a family member) and the situation has been hushed up by the family to avoid scandal. Our aim and hope is that we (alongside peer educators and the charity) can begin to open up a supportive dialogue around these issues, not only concerning sexual health but also healthy relationships.
In the past week we have treated two women who have attended with probable fractures due to domestic violence and whilst these cases are investigated by the police, it is not always clear whether the vulnerable woman in question has a safe place in which to return to. We have found these cases very difficult to come to terms with and are still trying to understand the limits we are given as medics in truly supporting these women. Perhaps most heartbreaking is that these presentations are rarely much of a shock to anybody and happen with tragic frequency.
We were looking forward to visiting a number of schools this week to talk about these issues as well as the HPV vaccine which has become one of our key projects whilst over here. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has caused school closures and bans on gatherings over here and so we will be continuing to focus on the medical centre until the situation changes. Hopefully the children who rely on St Irene's and other centres around the country for food everyday will not be too affected by the drastic measures taken- we know the charity are doing their best to mitigate the effects.
This weekend we were invited to join the Egmont Trust, a funding body for NASIO, as they assessed the impact of the projects currently undertaken by the charity. Amongst many interesting insights into prospective plans, we were most overwhelmed by the peer education system, nutured by the charity for the last 6 months. This programme is run by a number of young people who attend school in the area. The idea is that these 'Peer educators' provide education, support and advice to other young people in the area and work to promote responsible attitudes to sexual health.
The subject of sexual health and gender based attitudes are ones we have found particularly difficult to accept and navigate. Sex is an impossibly taboo subject and cultural opinions can seriously impede education as well as have severe psychosocial implications for both individuals and families. During a health club we attended, peer educators were making headway with teaching classes about the signs and symptoms of common sexually transmitted diseases - unfortunately, talking about practising safe sex was met with much embarrassment and the main message being delivered boiled down to practising abstinence or risking shame on the family. On asking about condom use, we were met with a number of awkward laughs!
Unfortunately, despite what is preached - lack of education and understanding in this area can have profound and devastating consequences. HIV and other STI's aside, many young girls in the area end up having sexual relationships with much older men in order to earn money for sanitary products. These girls often end up dropping out of school because of pregnancy as a result. Many of the deliveries and antenatal checks we have been performing have been on adolescent girls without the support of a partner and often their family. Even more difficult to negotiate are the situations where young girls have been raped (often by a family member) and the situation has been hushed up by the family to avoid scandal. Our aim and hope is that we (alongside peer educators and the charity) can begin to open up a supportive dialogue around these issues, not only concerning sexual health but also healthy relationships.
In the past week we have treated two women who have attended with probable fractures due to domestic violence and whilst these cases are investigated by the police, it is not always clear whether the vulnerable woman in question has a safe place in which to return to. We have found these cases very difficult to come to terms with and are still trying to understand the limits we are given as medics in truly supporting these women. Perhaps most heartbreaking is that these presentations are rarely much of a shock to anybody and happen with tragic frequency.
We were looking forward to visiting a number of schools this week to talk about these issues as well as the HPV vaccine which has become one of our key projects whilst over here. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has caused school closures and bans on gatherings over here and so we will be continuing to focus on the medical centre until the situation changes. Hopefully the children who rely on St Irene's and other centres around the country for food everyday will not be too affected by the drastic measures taken- we know the charity are doing their best to mitigate the effects.
Can't begin to express how proud I am of you guys. x
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