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Fadzayi Maposah-Correspondent
I am very fortunate that I am a trainer of various reproductive health programmes.
I say fortunate because being a trainer has afforded me so many opportunities and exposed me to so much.
By virtue of being a trainer, I have travelled to many a place, met and interacted with many people of diverse knowledge, values, norms and cultures. It has enabled me to have an open mind about many issues and that in itself is a great blessing.
I do not take anything for granted because what I may consider normal is not normal in another setting.
Exposure is good in that it allows one to see things from another perspective and in turn that makes one less judgemental. I am not perfect but as I always say, I do my best to learn from every situation.
I was at a Comprehensive Sexuality Education(CSE) training. Some could be cringing as they just read the name of the training.
Allow me to put you at ease by providing some information. Comprehensive sexuality education is defined as an age appropriate, culturally relevant approach to teaching about sex and relationships by providing scientifically accurate, non-judgemental information.
CSE provides opportunities to explore one`s own values and attitudes to build decision making skills about the many aspects of sexuality.
That said what CSE does not do is it does not encourage sexual activity, it does not promote promiscuity or demean values and culture.
Some participants to CSE trainings come all tensed up and defensive. In the case where they are funded by their employer, they just come with the intention of doing what the employer considers is important for their work. The attitude could be just attend the five-day training and get it over and done with.
Others come with an open mind, curious and eager to learn, wondering what is comprehensive about sexuality and why one needs the education.
So those two groups end up in the training. One group eager to throw themselves in and learn. The other group just wanting to sit by the pool side and observe. A bit of oil and water…
Now CSE is highly interactive.
There is a lot of group work.
There is a lot of movement and engagement.
Actually as trainers we encourage participants to dress comfortably because though done mainly indoors there is a lot of activity that will take them outside and back.
By the end of the week, all the participants at some point will have made a presentation on behalf of their group to the main group.
Since the groups keep changing for all participants to get to work with one another, by the time the training is over, one will probably not be sitting down with the same individuals during health breaks. New networks are created.
At a training that I was at recently, the participants were very eager to learn.
After a de-roling exercise they were like school children in a highly competitive class. Session after session, the groups seemed determined to out-do one another.
The groups were competitive across all lines and divisions.
When they were asked to name their groups they were highly creative, they did not just name their groups one two or three, they put on their thinking caps! This group was a pleasure to train!
This group of participants was on fire and highly self-driven and motivated.
What was especially awesome about this group is that these individuals are high ranking in the organisations that they work.
For the sake of learning, they de-roled to just become simple participants and that alone was very humbling. It reminded me of something that I read, I cannot remember where though now (blame menopause!) A chicken will make so much noise when it lays an egg which can only feed one, yet a cow which can feed an entire village is not so noisy. Lesson, be humble.
One of the group activities was to draw and label the male and female reproductive systems.
This is a session that will leave both participants and trainers in stitches.
At times as trainers you actually think that the flip chart has been put upside down! If the body parts were as they are drawn by some of the participants that I have interacted with, I really doubt that they would work as efficiently as they do.
After the discussions and the many corrections to the pictures, straightening what had been crooked, putting curves on what was too straight, closing what had been left open, opening essential places, the correct pictures with labels were shared.
The sessions that would then follow would be a follow up to the pictures. How can one understand menstruation without knowing the parts that make up the female reproductive system?
What does getting pregnant entail? Which parts are affected by sexually transmitted infections? Knowing the parts will enable one to visualise and understand what happens during the processes.
So as the topics built on the basic foundation of drawing the body parts, as more work was assigned, one group as it begun to give their group work, one presenter would use common street lingo saying “Chigame ichi chereproductive health tachimaster,” meaning that we have mastered reproductive health issues.
That alone was enough to have the whole group`s attention and the group would deliver what they had shared as a group.
The question beckons though. Can one be sure that they have mastered reproductive health just because they can draw the body parts?
What about the feelings that come with the presence or the absence of menstrual flow? How is one affected by various processes not just physically but mentally or even socially? In it all as we come to the end of 2022, aim to master what your body goes through. Embrace all aspects and celebrate the journey of womanhood with all its twists and turns, where it flows and where the flows cease.
Online Reporter