Young Mothers Project 2017 - Lautoka Series - Part 1
Phase 1: Reproductive Health and Empowerment
18th January 2017 (Korotu Community Hall, Namoli Village)
Participants: 15 young mothers
Stakeholders: 3 Zone Nurses
The first workshop was facilitated by VSHC and CCOHSI team members.
These included:
- Dr Swaran Naidu
- Professor Gyaneshwar
- Mosese Baseisei (Project Manager)
- Seremaia Koroi (Health Promotion Officer)
- Amelia Ake (Project Nurse)
- Jenny Naidu (Research Officer)
- Rusiate Sovasova (Social Worker)
The facilitators introduced topics on sexual and reproductive health, family planning, healthy relationships, empowerment, self-awareness and child feeding/nutrition. The VSHC team also presented to the group, the results of the needs assessments conducted prior to the workshop.
The women were divided into small focus groups to discuss the following topics:
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Cervical cancer
- Family planning
The groups then stood up and presented their topic to the rest of the audience. Overall the participants had good understanding of sexually transmitted diseases, how they are spread, prevention methods, treatment options and where to seek treatment. They also had adequate knowledge of family planning methods and their associated advantages and disadvantages. Participants also now know that cervical cancer can be prevented.
The next round of group discussions covered social issues and groups were asked to answer the following questions:
- What does a healthy relationship look like?
- What does an unhealthy relationship look like?
The group had a good understanding of what healthy and unhealthy relationships look like stating that healthy relationships involve happiness, love, communication, no-violence and respect. Unhealthy relationships involve violence, disagreement, distrust, too many children, possession, attitude problems and unemployment.
Notable challenges from the day were that some participants tended to shy away from group discussion and were hesitant to participate. Shy participants were encouraged to speak up and that it was supposed to be an open and interactive forum.