[Bukaigo] A Succesful Family Planning Event

BUKAIGO TEAM- Blog Post 2

During the third week of the internship, our team conducted a baselinesurvey for the village of Bukaigo. The survey gathered data regarding hygiene and sanitation around the home (latrines, plate stands, tippy
taps and shower rooms) as well as malaria. We found that the majority of people in the village lack basic knowledge about the symptoms of malaria and the best way to treat malaria. We have a malaria
sensitization planned in the upcoming week and hope to sell all of our bed nets while educating our community.

Our surveys also showed our team how great the need for better sanitation is in the village. While we enjoyed being able to get to know our community better, conducting the baseline survey was difficult for our team because we saw the areas of our village that were suffering from poverty the most. While at times we may have felt helpless being surrounded by such extreme poverty, we celebrated the success of our family planning day.

On July 17th, 2013, our team conducted a sensitization about family planning in our village. There were over 50 people in attendance! We are thankful to our Village Health Team who helped us mobilize this event.
Our main reason for educating our community about family planning was to encourage families to space their children in order to better provide for the children they already have. At the meeting, both short
and long term methods of family planning were presented. These methods include condoms (male and female,) pills, implants, vasectomies and tubal ligations, IUDs, and Depo shots. Myths and misconceptions the community had about family planning were also addressed. Other questions were answered by a nurse. At the end of the session, people had a chance to get started on methods such as pills and shots and free condoms were given out. Our team was glad to see that all of our hard work and preparation paid off for our first big event!