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Let Us Fight
Ignorance
Grant amount: $2860
Team size: 10 members
Launched December
2008
Social impact: 300 families
ISSUE:
Approximately
40% of families in Byimana have a young
person who have had an illegitimate child. The root cause of this problem
is the lack of knowledge about reproductive and sexual health. One of the
primary causes is the culture of silence around sex, which prevents
parents from talking to their children or a lack knowledge about
reproductive health issues among parents.
There are many negative effects: unwanted pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, STDs,
women having many children, husbands who blame their wives when a daughter
gets pregnant which can also be a trigger for family tension and domestic
violence, the rejection of daughters by their fathers, grandmothers taking
on responsibility for child care, and single-parent households. All of
these consequences exacerbate poverty.
SOLUTION:
Let Us Fight Ignorance aims to
increase the understanding of reproductive and sexual health among
children and parents by holding trainings, debates and plays to encourage
parents to talk to their children about sex. Their goals are to:
-
Reduce by 75% the
number of illegitimate children born in the health center after 1 year
-
Reduce family
conflicts caused by these problems by 80%
-
Measured through
interviews, 100% of people who attend the training and 80% of people who
attend the theaters will know how to protect themselves from HIV and
STDs
-
80% of parents
talk to their children about sex after 1 year
IMPACT:
The team is working to host training programs and debates with 300 parents and children and
will perform three plays in 9 cellules within Byimana Sector over their first
year of operations. |
Invincible Vision 20/20
Grant amount: $2800
Team size: 8 men & women
Launched June 2008
Social impact: 1270 women
ISSUE:
In the Byimana Sector of rural Kigali,
62.4% of the female population is illiterate, and lack adequate
reading and writing skills to inform their knowledge of laws that protect
them and their families. Without these skills, these women are
essentially excluded from development and are unable to participate fully
in society.
Solution: Invincible
Vision 20/20
is
providing training for these women in reading, writing and basic math
skills so that they feel empowered to become active participants in
society and take charge of their own development. As a creative resourcing
strategy to cover their ongoing operating costs, the team has encouraged
local school children and their participants to collect rocks, broken
bricks and firewood from the side of the road. After about 1-2 weeks, the team
collects enough to sell a truckload to construction companies.
Impact:
This
project team enrolled 1,260 women in their classes during their first year of operations,
765 of whom attended regularly.
The team uses examinations
and surveys to measure its progress in teaching women to read, write, open
bank accounts, perform financial tasks on their own, participate in local
government and develop the courage to approach local authorities and
police to report
violations of the rights of other women.
With literacy and basic mathematical
instruction, these women will be better equipped to bring change for the
future generations of Byimana. |
