Being a Sexual and Reproductive Health Trainer isn’t easy. Many of them face issues and challenges in their communities and with the people they work on a daily basis.
What kind of challenges do they face?
Find out for yourself!
“Once there was a young woman in my area who wanted to remove a subdermal contraceptive she had as she was getting married. She went to a local hospital in the area but a doctor there gave her a lot of false information and sent her back without removing it. It was here that I mediated and gave her the correct information she required. We also contacted the doctor and clarified the correct information and convinced him to remove the contraceptive.
Similarly we always face challenges when the officers of certain organizations (where we conduct trainings) have a very little knowledge on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Due to their inadequate knowledge we once had to conduct training to the officers of an organization before we conducted the training to the young people there” – PASAN BHAGYA NANAYAKKARA- 23 YEARS. HAMBANTOTA
“We once faced trouble obtaining permission from some parents in the Galle district whose children we were meant to train. They told us off and asked us not to teach ‘filthy stuff’ to their children” – HIMARA GUNAWARDANA – 28 YEARS. GALLE
“In Batticaloa, most of the young people don’t have Sexual and Reproductive Health knowledge. A few who have the knowledge don’t like to discuss the topic or share their knowledge because they think they should not talk about it in public. We get resistance from parents, teachers and event from students” – ANGEL G.- 22 YEARS- BATTICALOA
“I have faced difficulties in taking sexual and reproductive health knowledge to rural areas, but that has not stopped me in my goal to carry my knowledge to the rural women in my district”– T.M.G. SUMEDHANI – 26 YEARS. KURUNEGALA
“Working with the youth community in my area has made me realize the lack of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) knowledge they have. Many of them have a fear for SRH because it includes the word ‘sex’. As a result, I have had to face hardships in getting the consent to conduct my trainings” – B.A. Dammika Prasad– 29 years. Rathnapura