Fhi 360 Aids2012 Traditional Initiation Presentation 19 July 2012 Final

8/13/2019 Fhi 360 Aids2012 Traditional Initiation Presentation 19 July 2012 Final

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AIDS 2012 - Turning the Tide Together

Promoting sexual and reproductive health(SRH) in adolescent girls through traditional

initiation in the Coast region of Tanzania

Aziz Itaka, Program OfficerMaende Makokha, Senior Technical Advisor

FHI 360/Tanzania UJANA Project

XIX International AIDS Conference, 22-27 July 2012Washington DC, USA


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Introduction


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UJANA

UJANA is Swahili forYouthfulness

Six year project (July 2006 September 2012) facilitated byFHI 360

Funded by U.S. PresidentsEmergency Plan for AIDS Relief(PEPFAR) via USAID

Aims to reduce HIV infection

among youth ages 10-24 years Traditional initiation is 1 of 4

UJANA adult-led programs


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Unyago is a three -stage rite of passage for girls (10-18years) triggered by onset of menstruation Done at parents request by respected mature women

( manyakanga )

Uses local values, rituals, art forms and idiom to preparegirls for womanhood Critics think unyago is outdated, and encourages:

early sexual debut

forced/arranged teenage marriage teenage pregnancy and early child-bearing multiple sexual and concurrent partners

Traditional Initiation (Unyago)


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Girls entering puberty are at greater risk of unfavorableSRH outcomes than their male peers

Negative social norms encouraged by the initiation mayhave lifelong impact on girls SRH and well-being

Intervening with girls at the point they make the socialtransition to womanhood is critical

Unyago provides a locally -appropriate vehicle topromote SRH information and rights

As custodians of tradition, initiators are more powerfulthan parents and can be change agents for girls

Rationale for Interventions Targeting Unyago


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Methods


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With Partnership for Youth Development (PAYODE), acommunity-based organization, we explored: traditional initiators SRH knowledge

potential to serve as SRH promoters and use unyago as anavenue for promoting SRH

parents and male community leaders attitudes towardsincorporating new themes into unyago

how to introduce new themes into unyago mindful of theimportant social role of the practice

Participatory Learning and Action (PLA):2008-2009


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Trained initiators conducted unyago with 450 girls;~35% of all unyago ceremonies in project areas

Incorporated new themes in each of three stages of

unyago PAYODE conducted 42 observations of public activities

and eight monthly forums with initiator

FHI 360 provided 28 person-days of on-site technicalassistance to PAYODE

Implementation and Technical Assistance:2010-2011


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Objective is to recognize and congratulate girl onbecoming a woman Focuses on girls roles as a woman and what it means to

be a good woman Trained initiators intervene by:

introducing themes around value of delaying sex andstaying in school to improve ones prospects of good familylife

conducting small groups discussion/one-to-one talks withother participants

using testimonies or local stories of girls who exemplifythemes

distributing IEC/BCC materials

Stage 1: Mkole Theory


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Objective is to teach girl secrets of womanhood, andbeing a good wife

Focuses on values, norms and skills required to start andmaintain a family, including how to sexually oneshusband

Trained initiators intervene by introducing themesaround: sexual abstinence until marriage and fidelity effective communication between couples and mutual

sexual pleasure to avoid infidelity risks of having multiple sexual and concurrent

partners, especially older partners

Stage 2: Fundo Practical


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Results


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Initiators Pre - and Post-Training Assessment

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

50% 100%

N u m

b e r o

f P a r t i c i p a n t s

Level of SRH Knowledge, Attitudes and Skill

Pre-training test Post-training tet


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Now I am aware of the risk of having many partnersespecially fataki (older men who use their resources tolure young girls into sex) . 19 year-old girl whoseparents and initiators say was transformed after herinitiation in 2009

She changed after initiation. Up to this day! We hadgiven up on her . mother and sister of above girl duringinterview in 2012 for a success story on her; The two

considered burning girl to death because of her behavior

Improved Individual Risk Perception


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No girl initiated by trained initiators has dropped out of orbeen withdrawn from school

Not a single case of forced marriage and unintendedpregnancy has been reported amongst them

Some of our peers who were initiated by othermanyakanga dropped out of school after initiationsaying they had graduated into women, some havebecome pregnant because they say initiation gave thema license to engage in sex In conversation with girlswho have benefited from program (n=5)

Decrease in School Drop-Out and UnintendedPregnancy


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The parents come to us and say: girls initiated by youare well-behaved as compared to those initiated byother manyakanga, please come and officiate my girlsceremony. In conversation with trained initiators(n=8)

Trained manyakanga are so popular. Before therewas suspicion that they wanted to spoil our culture.Now we receive requests to expand activities to otherareas. In conversation with local government officialsin one project area (n=4)

Increased Demand for Trained Initiators


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Parents are heeding initiators advice not to hold nightlongdances I understood them. When my daughter was presented, we

stopped her dance at dusk and allowed it to continue thenext day. Father of initiated girl

In some project areas, local government authorities havestopped issuing permits for night-long dances

Some dance artists modified songs used in dances fromencouraging sexual experimentation to HIV prevention

Before: I am going to bare it all, nobody knows me here. After: If I bare it all now, HIV will finish me and my

family.

Increased Parental and Other InfluentialAdults Involvement


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Harmful aspects of a traditional practice can be modifiedto promote positive behavior

Training and advocacy that involves community leadersand influential adults (such as traditional initiators ) canproduce a sustainable system of effective change agents

To be effective in modifying a traditional practice, theintervention should:

be locally appropriate be led by custodians of that practice incorporate the purpose and beneficial aspects of a

practice demonstrate added value

Conclusion


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Mama Blandina Mbaji, Chairperson of group of trainedmanyakanga and her team

Salum Mbaruku, PAYODE Executive Director, and his teamoperating in Coast region of Tanzania

Mo Schroeder-Sanai UJANA Project Director, FHI360/Tanzania

Dr Doris Macharia Senior Regional Technical Advisor,

FHI 360 Regional Office, Kenya U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Acknowledgments


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Welcome to Tanzania, home to Kilimanjaro

Ahsante kwa kunisikiliza (Thank you foryour attention) Contact: [email protected]

Documents

Fhi 360 Aids2012 Traditional Initiation Presentation 19 July 2012 Final