• Savelugu, Tamale

Working with the Savelugu School For The Deaf

Like everyone else, Young Persons Living with Disability (YPWDs) need Sexual and Reproductive Health information, education and services so that they can make informed SRHR decisions for themselves and live healthily. However, many young persons living with impairments face numerous barriers to SRHR information and services. For those even in school, existing education materials do not fully cover SRH information.

HFFG prioritizes the inclusiveness of Young Persons Living with Disability in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in all our programme implementations. As a member of the Ghana Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance for Young People, HFFG is working with the Savelugu School  for the Deaf in the Northern Region of Ghana, under the Get Up, Speak Out (GUSO) project, which is empowering young people to voice out and stand up for their sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Through the project, HFFG as an implementing partner of Simavi has empowered five peer educators in the school to provide SRHR information and education to their peers. An SRH club has also been formed in the school to offer students an opportunity to discuss Sexual and Reproductive Health issues that prevent young persons from achieving their potential.

Menstrual Hygiene was one of the topics for discussion when the Savelugu GUSO SRHR School club met on September 29, 2019. This is because aside inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructures in schools, young girls living with disabilities often find it difficult to manage their monthly periods safely, hygienically and with dignity. Some of them even face further discrimination and stigma during that time of the month.

Through an interactive session led by project officers from HFFG, club members were taken through steps through which they can manage menstrual periods and still actively take part in academic activities. Members of the club were given information on how to use sanitary pads through demonstrations and how to dispose off sanitary pads after usage.

Additionally, male members of the club were also empowered with information on menstrual hygiene to prevent them from stigmatizing against their young girls during their menstrual periods. Female club members were presented with free sanitary pads after the meeting.

“Today’s discussions on menstruation has enlightened me more on how I can go by my daily activities during menstruation. Some of my peers find it difficult to come to school when they are menstruating; I am empowered to teach them how they can handle menstruation better. We are grateful to the GUSO project,” said Kassim Zuweira, a 16-year old member of the club.

“I have leant many things about menstruation. Some of the boys in my school used to laugh at the girls. I am empowered to stop the stigma attached to menstruation. I will educate my peers when I go home,” Abdulai Musah, a 21- year old member of the club said.

There are ten of such clubs established in various schools under the project. Resource persons from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) occasionally participate in their club meetings to let them know about their existing SRH rights, and where to seek redress if any of them are abused.

The long-term objective of the GUSO project being closely supervised by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affair is for all young people, especially girls and women, to be empowered to realize their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in societies that are positive towards young people’s sexuality. Cumulatively, HFFG has reached 3,852 young people with comprehensive SRHR education through the GUSO project since 2016