Rafiki Program - trainer-to-trainer workshop and poverty

Mapping of problems is one of the first exercises in our two-to-five-day long workshop that prepares and educate Rafiki’s to have the knowledge, methods and teaching techniques they need to support and educate adolescent girls and boys in school. The mapping is important as it places and bases the training in the reality and the now. What is happening to girls in your area? What is happening to the boys? What can be done, and most of all, what can you do about it?

To be culturally specific and establish what the issues are in an area, school, city, slum, or country is standard procedure before planning and designing any humanitarian intervention. When it comes to youths the challenges have proven to be almost the same wherever we have been. Whether in Ivory Coast, South Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya or Gambia - in a rural or an urban area – the trainees have shared similar-to-almost the same challenges. The main ones have been rape, dropout of school, unsafe abortions, infections, incest, HIV and STI′s, drugs, teenage pregnancy and other forms of abuse that at times are connected to negative cultural practices.

After establishing the problems of the girls in our workshop, we continue to discuss the boy’s situation. Also, in this case the challenges have usually been the same; drugs, crime, neglect, dropout of school, rape, sodomy, violence etc. Since the future Rafiki’s come from the same or similar background as the girls and the boys, they have firsthand knowledge and experience what the situation is like. This usually makes them engaged following the law of proximity, meaning that most humans are interested in things that are close to them and of their concern. Trying to find actions to assist or prevent all challenges together is key in this exercise that is based on discussion. What can be done, and what can you do as a Rafiki supporter and trainer?

Our methodology has developed since the inception of the Cup Foundation. When we started off in Nairobi in 2015 the focus was mostly on menstrual cups and ensuring girls stay in school, but it soon became obvious this was just one of many problems girls were experiencing in the classrooms we entered that could prohibit them from attending or concentrating in school. Asking the adolescents to write anonymous questions has given us clues to what they want and need and how to best prepare our trainers. ?

There are some baseline problems and challenges that can be called root causes and one of them is poverty that has connected the places and situations where we performed our trainer-to-trainer workshop up until now. Poverty is a situation that is hard to solve or rather escape and it is almost like being born in a prison. Lack of money means that it is difficult for parents to provide their children with the necessities they need in life. ??

One is care and love. Underprivileged children often suffer from neglect and are unprotected and therefore at great risk for different forms of abuse. Not because their parents are worse than others but because they lack time and the energy to be present mentally and physically. It is tough to put food on the table, buy water, pay rent, school fees, have mobile phones etc. when you don’t have a steady job and income. In many informal settlements parents are forced to leave home before their children wake up and go to school and often, they arrive home after dinner just in time to say good night.

Another necessity that parents who are poor often are unable to provide is good schooling. The schools that poor children attend usually have teachers with low pay and with little to no education for their role. Overcrowded classrooms with small windows and light are common creating a difficult learning environment. I once visited a mini classroom where two teachers were teaching at the same time simultaneously – half of the students were turned to the right and the rest were facing the other teacher writing and speaking on a blackboard on the opposite wall. Children might also lack time to do their homework properly as they have to help their parents perform chores after school leaving only late evenings for studying when proper lighting might be a problem.

Lack of necessities might also have serious effect on children’s health and possibility to concentrate in school. Lack of food and being hungry is one. Another issue is the lack of sanitation and clean water that might lead to parasites in the stomach and the need of regular deworming to avoid stunting. If a child is stunted it means it grows up without enough nutrients to develop properly – both physically and mentally – leaving them slightly handicapped. ??

The Rafiki trainers and program can’t solve poverty - of course- but by being present regularly in schools and be the grown-up adolescents feel comfortable to turn to for advice and support can help break the negative cycle of poverty that is inherited from generation to generation. Providing menstrual solutions to underprivileged girls can also help keep girls going in school and support them to better concentrate. Not having pads or enough pads for a cycle is a common problem among underprivileged girls and since a cup can be reused for 10 years it is a sustainable choice. The Rafiki Programs overall goal is to ensure youths are informed, supported and at peace so they can prosper and develop to their full potential and empowering especially girls has proven to be one of the best remedies for poverty.

In the next coming blogs, I will continue sharing what more our trainer-to-trainer workshop entails and what other solutions we have found can solve and support the very complex life and situation adolescent girls and boys growing up in poverty face. For more information or questions about the Rafiki Program please write me a message or email [email protected]