Pathways Out of Poverty for Youth in Africa

Since we introduced the Sexual reproductive health and basic well-being training, we have since trained a total of 119 participants from three different communities, namely: Linda, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Clinic – Dambwa, and Nakatindi. These groups have had both women and men trained.

Every time we go to a new location to introduce the program, the participants are always eager and excited to gain more knowledge about their reproductive health and the use of the LETS Bracelet as a tool to track their menstrual cycle.

The LETS program covers several topics, such as; Making educated decisions creates opportunity, sex & trafficking, respect, understanding your body, the Menstrual cycle, how pregnancy happens, Women's & Men's fertility, menopause and Contraception, the LETS lunar bracelet, menstrual calendars. The LETS- Lunar bracelet.  

During one of the LETS sessions, the topic 'WHEN TO HAVE A BABY' was taught; the case in detail was about what is the right to have a baby. Financial support, education, and where the baby will stay are needed; the child also needs love and support from both parents. After the explanation supported by the lets learning teaching aid, many asked questions on the topic, such as what can you do if the father of the child doesn't support the child financially, and how can you improve your child's behavior who feels one of the parents doesn't love them, furthermore, some participants mentioned that how they wish they had this knowledge before they started having children of which they are not regretting that because this will help them become responsible parents because they have felt enlightened with the knowledge they have now, and to those who haven't yet started having children have said information is beneficial because they now know when to have a baby before conceiving what is needed and after the child is born.

One of the participants during the graduation ceremony said, “I’m very grateful for this opportunity to be part of this great program. I have learned a lot of things from understanding my body and knowing my menstrual calendar and the stages involved in a woman's cycle. I'm now confident I can teach other women about what I have learned from this program.”