Whitney Goldman
As a Health volunteer in Rwanda, the world is youroyster. While we are often paired withHealth Centers and have official counterparts, our time is largely ourown. This is both a blessing and a curseas deciding on project ideas can be overwhelming. There are potential projects and projectpartners everywhere. Not to mention that serving at a new post (Rwanda &site), it’s difficult to connect with existing PCV programs and projects. I think a good place to start with the Peace Corps RwandaGAD blog is with the concrete. As acommittee, what information can we provide to make our meetings and ideasrelevant to others serving in this beautiful country? So today, I want to share some potentialproject ideas that PCVs can potentially implement at their sites.
1. Work with your sector to add an education component to current SGBV punishments
Our site is close to the sector office and we have sectorofficials coming and going fairly often. The Social Affairs person is part of the steering committee for thecommunity health worker cooperative, the education secretary is working with anoutside NGO to provide Mutuelle toprimary school students. Basically, wesee the sector folks a lot. Working withlocal officials is a great way to partner with community stakeholders outsideyour health center or school. Realizingthis, we came to think about how we could develop a partnership. We started asking about things that we saw.
In our sector, the current punishment for any SGBV offenderis a monetary one. There is littleincentive to report family members, as we live in a rural, impoverishedarea. If you were a subsistence farmerwith little to no income, would you report your spouse?
Ideally, we’d love to create a multi-pronged interventionincluding education across age and gender, behavior change communication, and lawenforcement. We know that a comprehensiveapproach is best. However, by includingan educational component to the current system, we can help illustrate adifferent method of dealing with SGBV offenders, and begin a discussion abouthow to integrate a more comprehensive approach.
2. Integratefamily planning services into general consultation at your local health center
For any number of reasons, women might not want others toknow they have come to the health center to receive family planningservices. One way to secureconfidentiality is to work with health center staff to provide family planningin the general consultation room. Thisintegration of services allows for discretion and may offer health center staffthe opportunity to enroll women on the spot. Speak with the health center director and head nurse of family planningto get the conversation started. It’s a fairlysimple process. All you need to do ismove the required forms to the consultation room and let your community knowthat a change has been made (Community Health Workers and village chiefs aregreat at spreading the word).
3. Connectwith community members that work on SGBV
There are many organizations that have worked / are workingon SGBV in Rwanda. Community membershave been elected and trained in collaborating with the local government officeon SGBV issues. From my understanding,each village has 4 people working on SGBV in their community. You can find out who these people are byasking the social affairs and civil service folks at your sector. You can conduct a needs and assets assessmentwith members of each village. What dothey do? What do they know? What obstacles do they see? How can you work together? They are a great community-based resource andcould benefit from both the soft and technical skills PCVs often possess.
4. Starta girls’ activity or club at your school
GLOW clubs, girls’ soccer games, dance groups, running clubs(you could bring your runners to the Kigali marathon) – the possibilities areendless! Don’t forget about the LifeSkills Manual, now in Kinyarwanda. It’sa great resource with pre-made lesson plans spanning a range of topicsincluding peer pressure, communication, HIV/AIDS, and sexual health. There is a soft copy that many PCVs have andyou can ask your program manager for a copy, too. Don’t forget to ask around for other general cluband activity ideas - people are doing some great things.
5. Connectwith initiatives happening in Rwanda
Ask well-connected people about what’s happening inRwanda. It seems everyday there is a newprogram rolling out in our district. Keepup-to-date by engaging other PCVs about their projects, asking PC staff (all ofthem) about programs they’ve heard about, independently researching buddingNGOs in Rwanda.
i.e.: We just read about an awesome project helping women,Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE). They make feminine products from locally available materials and have anoffice in Kigali. We’ve contacted theorganization and are waiting to hear back. I promise to let you know what we find out.
6. Work on an income generating activity (IGA) with a community group
Volunteers are implementing some great IGAs that you caneasily replicate at your site. Animalhusbandry projects with cows, rabbits, or chickens, for example. At our site, we’re processing soymilk to sellat the local market with a youth club. SPA grants are a great way to coverstart-up costs and are straightforward to apply for. Plus, the money usually arrives sooner than withother grants available to PCVs. Reliablesources of income are often difficult to find in areas with limited workopportunities. Even a small IGA can allowthe beneficiaries to pay for things such as health insurance, school fees, andnutritious foods.
7. Invitean organization to do a training at your work-site regarding appropriate workrelationships and sexual harassment
GIZ (a German NGO working in Rwanda) has some resourcesavailable and Rwandan facilitators trained to discuss this topic. It could be a great secondary project or away to kick off a larger SGBV program.
This is just a sampling of a long list of ideas. Be sure to check in with your favorite GADrepresentative about new project ideas as we move along. There is a GAD manual currently indevelopment that we hope to be able to share with you soon. We’re here to be a resource for you!
Whitney
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