Razia's Story: How BRAC is providing vital health education to adolescent girls

Dr. Shamsher Ali Khan and Dr. Munir Ahmed from BRAC's health program in Bangladesh wrote the following article, which was published on YouthNet, about a special initiative to provide health education to girls in Bangladesh.

At the age of 11, Razia was nervous on her first day of school. Almost three years later, she sits comfortably with her friends in the after-school library. One of the top students in her class, Razia will enter the formal schooling system as a 5th grader in a few months. "I plan to go to college and be a teacher!" Razia vows. Her mother, married at 13, agrees. "Even though she’s already had suitors, I won’t let Razia to marry until she’s at least 18. I don’t want her life to be a repeat of my own."

Razia is one adolescent whose life has been changed by BRAC. In Sherpur, the village she is from in Bangladesh, most adolescents have never attended school. Girls may marry as early as 12, and many start childbearing before they are 18. A BRAC survey found low levels of understanding about anatomy and reproduction, personal hygiene, fertility and pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among youth age 10-15.

In response, in 1995 BRAC developed a reproductive health Rural Service Delivery Program (RSDP) with a special focus on poor youth, ages 10-15, 70% of whom are girls. The RSDP establishes informal schools that provide 3 years of primary schooling to adolescents who have never attended school. After graduation, students can join Grade 5 in the formal schooling system. Monthly reproductive health sessions are integrated into the regular school curriculum and include topics such as adolescence, reproduction and menstruation, marriage and pregnancy, STIs, family planning and contraception, smoking and substance abuse, and gender issues.

Click here to read the full article.

All in the Family

At the mothers’ forum for the adolescent girls clubs, I met Martha (center), who is the leader of her girls club. As the leader, Martha received special training to educate other members on important issues, including early marriage, menstruation and HIV/AIDS, and is in charge of all of the club’s activities.

Martha’s mother, Sophia, was also at the mother’s forum. She is a community health volunteer who visits more than 150 households every month providing vital health information, identifying common diseases such as Tuberculosis and Malaria, and selling health related products such as soap, saline and sanitary napkins. Her best sellers are soap and iodized salt, which helps prevent thyroid problems and mental retardation in children.

Seeing two strong women leaders in the same family made me confident that women in Tanzania really can be pathways out of poverty for their families and communities.
And maybe President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will not be the only woman president in Africa for much longer!

New Partnership Jumpstarts Development in Sierra Leone and Liberia

BRAC leads anti-poverty effort in post-conflict countries

NEW YORK, July 22, 2009 – BRAC is leading a $15 million initiative to rebuild war-torn communities in West Africa, four organizations supporting the effort announced today.

The Soros Economic Development Fund, Open Society Initiative for West Africa, Omidyar Network, and Humanity United are funding this groundbreaking initiative to support families and prevent renewed conflict.

“This investment in the people of West Africa comes at a critical time,” said Stewart Paperin, president of the Soros Economic Development Fund. “With their countries emerging from devastating civil wars, this support gives people the tools to rebuild.”

BRAC, one of the world’s largest anti-poverty groups, is providing microfinance, health, and agricultural support in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It anticipates that over 500,000 people will benefit from these programs.

Click here to read the full press release.

Making Sure Mother Knows Best

Parental involvement is an essential part of BRAC’s programs for adolescent girls. We want the important lessons that the girls learn in the clubs to be reinforced at home, and we also want parents to be aware of the issues that are important to their daughters.

Every month, BRAC holds parents’ or mothers’ forums specifically for the parents of the girls in BRAC’s adolescent clubs. I had the opportunity to visit a mothers’ forum while I was in Tanzania.
Beatrice, who is the Area Coordinator, and Hildi, who is the Adolescent Club Coordinator, conducted the meeting. The mothers were very animated and interested in what their girls were learning in the club.

The main issue of this forum was gender equality. Girls in Tanzania are often given lower priority when it comes to education and even food. When there is a food shortage, it is often the women who give up or take smaller meals. And while primary education in Tanzania is free, school supplies like notebooks and pencils are not. These necessities are prioritized for boys, but not for girls.

All of the mothers agreed that this was an issue they would enforce at home by discussing it with their entire family. Hildi stressed the importance of also bringing up their sons to respect girls and treat them as equals. The women recommended bringing this issue up in the following month’s parents’ forum, as it is important that fathers also hear about and stress gender equality in the home.

Some of the girl club members were also at the meeting, and it was inspiring to see them bringing up issues with their mothers without fear. They talked about early marriage and the problems of early pregnancy. They expressed their desire to continue their secondary education, but found the school books and materials to be too expensive.

Medhabikash: BRAC's College Prep Program For Meritorious Students from Economically Disadvantaged Homes

On a recent trip to Bangladesh, I met with a group of young people who had just successfully enrolled in university after completing a special college prep program run by BRAC. All 7 of these students had been able to attend high school because of BRAC scholarships. They are all meritorious students from economically disadvantaged homes in rural communities. All had lost their fathers when they were young. Their mothers struggled to ensure that they got an education. Some of them were members of BRAC or Grameen microfinance groups. The three young women had just started BRAC University with full scholarships from the Ford Foundation. The four young men were cobbling together tuition and living expenses by working part-time jobs and taking loans from family. Unfortunately, the time working was time away from studying. For just $50 a month, each of them would be able to devote themselves to study full-time. And they all had big dreams: they wanted to become doctors, engineers, teachers, journalists and government officials.

Shafiqul Islam, Director of the Education Program, along with two of his colleagues, came in on a weekend to listen to the students share their stories and give feedback on the Medabikash Program. This important initiative for meritorious students from economically poor households is a relatively small program but one that is highly effective in defeating poverty. Joined by Sarwat Abed from BRAC University Center for Languages, the group discussed various ways to improve and scale up the program if more funding were available.

Sharmin went to primary school in one of BRAC's special schools for those who never enrolled or who had dropped out. She recalled, "It was so much fun; we sang and danced and learned so much about the world." Sharmin said that "BRAC opened the door to my dreams."

She spoke about how she fell in love with English in Class 9. "The other kids would call me 'dictionary' because I knew so many words and could help them solve their problems in school" she said. "Now I want to become an English teacher because I want other villagers to have a chance like me. English opens the door to so many opportunities."

Sharmin talked about how BRAC gave her the first chance of her life to use a computer. Now she said on the way out, "I need a laptop," as she got my email address.

I was so inspired. I immediately wanted to figure out how to raise money to give more scholarships and support. These young people were so intelligent, articulate and passionate. They had big dreams and such desire - not just to help themselves but to contribute to their country's development. They want to provide electricity to the countryside because they know what it is like to grow up without it. They want to provide good medical care in the villages because they know the acute pain of losing a loved one because care was not available. They want to open doors for other kids because they know the joy that results. Education is the best route out of poverty. This generation of Bangladeshis are changing their world.

--Susan Davis

Meet BRAC International

BRAC USA President Susan Davis visited Bangladesh in early June and met with staff in the head office of BRAC International. Along with Executive Director Aminul Alam, these are the people who support and oversee BRAC's work in a growing number of countries outside of Bangladesh.

Having begun as a small relief organization in Bangladesh in 1972, BRAC spent the next 30 years organizing communities and expanding services throughout the country, building its knowledge base, and developing innovative new solutions to fight poverty and injustice. Then in 2002 BRAC was invited to start operations in Afghanistan, an action that has spurred further growth in other parts of South Asia as well as Africa. BRAC now operates local development programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and provides technical assistance in Haiti and Indonesia, among others.