Sexual Health and Family Planning session

In attendance from CFC/BWEF and to conduct the session were: Christiane, Safia, myself, Michel Komi (a nurse) and Christine – and Djeneba Ouedraogo, who spent 15 years working at ABBEF (similar to Planned Parenthood in Burkina Faso).

The students present were: Josiane, Diane Kabore, Helene, Madeleine, Rita, Jaqueline Yameogo, Rajaa and Benedicte. Sonia also stopped by with her brand new baby, a 3 week old girl!

It was, in my opinion, a huge success. Michel had a fantastic presentation prepared and Safia was an inspirational leader. She spoke a lot about women’s empowerment and the ability to make one’s own choices, with statements like “You can be ambitious as girls. You can be free to make your own choices. It’s you who gets to decide.”  Between Michel and Mme. Ouedraogo the medical discussion and explanations were clear and very relevant. The discussion centered around the different options for birth control and their pros and cons and other sexual health tools. At the end, Jacqueline expressed her gratitude and that she thought it had been a success.

Beyond the discussion around sexual health, Safia and Christiane stressed to the the girls how important it is that they form their own resilient network amongst themselves and build on the networks they are forming from their internships and studies, and that this is essential to CFC/BWEF’s future.. They collected numbers and names to form a WhatsApp texting group. They also stressed how important it is that they be in communication with us to give us materials as needed, regardless of whether they get busy. Safia stressed how hard Fred works and his dedication to the group.

-Nora