Waving the Future second step: family planning

The second meeting of the three planned for the project Weaving the Future took place, focused on the themes of family planning and of children’s rights.

At the meeting were 175 people from 113 households, such a great participation of the community! Among the trainers, not only did James, a social worker and a Mama Lorenza’s Vocational Centre staff member take part, but also a nurse who answered the many questions of the men and women who participated, clarifying a lot of doubts, especially concerning contraceptive methods.

The theme of family planning and of contraception is an extremely sensitive issue in the context in which we work, namely rural villages in Kenya, where we often meet large and single-parent families, with a high rate of illiteracy, who live in contexts of extreme poverty, where it is sometimes difficult to find essential resources, like water, food and medical care. Although most of the population in Kenya is Christian, there is a large Muslim community that is concentrated in coastal areas, right where training courses of Weaving the Future take place.

Not only was the presence of the local nurse during the meeting to dispel popular beliefs that slow the spread of contraception methods crucial, but also the presence of both men and women, since cultural barriers often prevent women from making decisions about family planning without the consent of men.

The great community involvement is an excellent starting point to go on with the awareness path of individuals, and especially of women. Thanks to these meetings we had the possibility to plant a seed that will hopefully sprout and, as Children of Africa, we will keep on taking care of this seed through constant dialogue, to ensure that it bears fruit and that it can represent an incredible change for the whole community.

The next round of meetings held by Weaving the Future will be focused on team building, to foster mutual aid within the four major groupings. The groups we will propose to participate in the specific formation about weaving and colouring of vegetal fibres will be selected at the end of the meeting, and among the 50 participants of each training, 20 will be selected.

Translated by Aurora Marchetti