Girls and women making responsible decisions for themselves and their families

Fri, 18 December 2009

“The Rural Eco-warrior training was very beneficial for me, as it provided all of us with skills to chair and facilitate some aspects of the training without much pre-planning from our side,” – Rural eco-warrior from North West province.

REPORT 1: “Having the clinic right here makes it possible for me to get my family planning injection when I need it. They also help me understand how to look after myself “, Fundiswe – beneficiary

This project will enable the Hantam Community Education Trust to run an intensive family planning programme for 92 girls in the rural communities within a 150km radius of Hantam in the Northern Cape. As part of a larger programme located at the local clinic established by the organisation in 2002, Hantam health workers will conduct approximately 22 pregnancy tests and offer family planning information over the year. Because there is no government healthcare in the area, the women and girls would otherwise have no access to these services.

The project runs from May 2009 to July 2010.

Outputs and impact

Hantam Community Education Trust’ family planning programme has been implemented as part of a more holistic intervention in the community, which includes education on hygiene and healthy living, effective parenting, growing vegetable gardens, preventing and addressing alcohol abuse and encouraging HIV testing. Specific outputs of the family planning intervention are the following:

• Contraceptive injections were administered to 118 women, seven of whom are under the age of 18. No teenage pregnancies were recorded.

• Eighty-seven women took pregnancy tests, the results of which were all negative.

• Health workers conducted 44 parenting training visits to 28 local farms. At the visits, 54 mothers were involved in workshops to support and enhance the quality of care and education they provide to their children (nutrition, developmental phases, stimulation materials, etc.). These workshops include a close monitoring of 52 babies and toddlers.

• The clinic is now open twice a week and receives an average of 53 visitors. The extra day is dedicated to monitor physical and psychological condition of 220 school-going children.

• The clinic has collected R16,479 in fees since the beginning of the year, which is approximately 27% of the total cost of medicines used per year. This income contributes to the sustainability of the organisation as well as proving community buy-in.

Expenditure

The cost of the project was R 23, 860 with R 7, 385 still to be paid. This budget is a portion of a larger intervention, which is funded with additional funding from other donors.

Monitoring and evaluation

Hantam follows well-structured monitoring, reporting and evaluation systems in order to maintain the quality of their programmes and identify arising issues in need of special intervention.

Health workers compile weekly reports including a detailed description of home visits, family situations, challenges faced and required follow-up steps. Counselling and testing sessions are recorded in individual’s file, together with home and farm visit reports.

Health workers and clinic staff meet weekly to monitor the progress of the project and to outline the next steps for individual cases. The meeting also provides staff with an opportunity to highlight and worrying health developments or need for referrals. The project manager responsible for coordinating outreach activities prepares and monitors projected weekly planning. She is also responsible for compiling quarterly reports, which serve to assess programme progress over time.

Clinical staff record and track their activities, including statistics on medicines provided, number of patients visited, cash-flow status, and so on. The clinical manager compiles these weekly reports into a monthly report which is then submitted to Hantam Director.

Conclusions

Hantam provides a holistic health service to a very isolated farming community, which is tailored to the needs of the families living on farms. They are meticulous in the monitoring of their various programmes.

Hantam educates women, from younger ages, about their essential body functions and enables them to take responsible decisions around their sexual and reproductive health and planning. This support is carried through to families in order to be able to better care, raise and educate their children.