WUNRN
Soul Beat Africa - http://www.comminit.com/africa/node/134530
CAMEROON - "AUNTIES"
PROJECT TO SUPPORT & MENTOR TEEN MOTHERS
Nombuso - March 21, 2011 - 1:16pm
The Aunties
Project is a peer reproductive health programme supported by Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and Internationale Weiterbildung und
Entwicklung gGmbH (InWEnt). The programme trains young adolescent mothers to
become "aunties" who offer support and advice to other teenage
mothers. They also give talks to young people about their experiences in an
effort to prevent teenage pregnancies. The project uses a self-help and a peer
approach and aims to bridge the gap between parents and teenage girls by
reconstructing the character of the traditional aunt to guide and mentor youth.
Communication
Strategies:
A baseline study conducted in
2000 by the GTZ-supported health programme in
The programme recruits teenage
mothers from all over
In capitalising on the experience
and the commitment of teenage mothers who suffered and struggled for their own
and their child's survival, the project encourages a self-help as well as a
peer approach. Organisers contend that not only do the adolescents who receive
this counselling and advice benefit, but the teenage mothers benefit as well.
The involvement of "victims" in prevention campaigns is considered by
the project as a valuable concept if handled with respect, sensibility, and
responsibility. The victims become empowered by sharing their knowledge and
experiences and by helping others. In addition, the Aunties are encouraged to
form their own association, which they name, and for which they develop the
rules of
collaboration. These associations are reportedly recognised and valued by local
authorities and community members.
The project philosophy of
self-help is also the reason why all the teenage mothers who participate in the
programme are volunteers. They receive neither a salary nor an allowance for
their activities. The strict adherence to this concept is considered one of the
keys to success of the project. The trained teenage mothers have to understand
that they participate for themselves, not for anybody else. The organisers
believe that motivation to be an Auntie comes from the empowerment and the fact
that they are being valued in the community after having been marginalised.
All teenage mothers who
participate in the programme take part in a 3-day basic training. The training
aims to give the teenage mothers basic knowledge and skills in sexual and
reproductive health, as well as the skills for speaking in public and
encouraging a vision of a local self-help group. The Ministry of Health and the
Ministry for Women's Empowerment supported the training sessions by sending
trainers. The training programme gradually developed in a participatory manner
as project staff, trainers, and trained teenage mothers regularly discussed
progress and improved the training programme accordingly.
The steps to the programme include: