OVERVIEW
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Youth learn life planning skills in a Kumasi classroom. |
AYA Ghana selected five project regions in which to focus,
concentrating its efforts in 20 districts: Dangbe West, Dangbe
East, Accra Metropolitan Area, Ga and Tem in Greater Accra Region;
Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Afigya Sekyere, Atwima Bosomtwi Atwima,
Kwanwoma, and Ejisu-Juabeng in the Ashanti Region; Wa and Nadowli
in the Upper West Region; Awutu Effutu Senya, Cape Coast, Assin,
KEEA, and Gomoa in the Central Region; and Akim East, Akwapim North,
and Kwahu South in the Eastern Region.
Ghanaian Peer Educators —
Their Experience, Their Words
Michael Tagoe
I am a peer educator in the Lartebiokorshie area of Accra. I have been doing
peer education for about two years now. What I basically do in a day is
to hold individual discussions with the young people who come to the youth centre
where I work. I talk to them about certain areas of sexual and reproductive health
according to the topic being treated in a particular month, and then in the later
hours of the day I hold general group discussions accompanied by the watching
of an ASRH-related video or a performance by the drama group. The discussion
centers on the video or the performance. I sometimes organize quizzes and debates
on the monthly topic and this is when the people come together to debate among
themselves. Apart from the centre-based activities, I direct the Young and
Wise drama group too. We organize outreach activities to schools, churches
and the communities that the centre works within. After the performance, I come
in to invite comments from the people in the community. After everything we make
referrals to the Young and Wise Centre, especially the clinic and counseling
units. In addition to all of these things, I get invitations to clubs in
the community as well as churches and schools to give talks as a resource person.
Eugene Kenny Ntreh
Being a Peer Educator can be described as a period in one’s life which
is so interesting filled with many mixed reactions and memories. The many
encounters that we meet each day of an outreach program bring a mixture of reactions — surprise,
shock, anxiety — from the same set of questions asked. On a day of
a planned outreach program, one is expected to be prepared for whatever comes
along in the form of strange and at times unnecessary questions, which sometimes
put the peer educator off. General questions about sexual and reproductive
health, information known by the majority, the peer educator expects to handle
and explain without any difficulty — but at times, responses are met with
anguish and shock, which can worry a peer educator. There are times when
one’s close peers are just not ready to listen to anything regarding their
sexual health, and the peer educator is sometimes greeted with insults and boos
upon entering a locality. All said and done, the joy, fun, and excitement
that comes with being a peer educator makes many of us continue to offer our
services to other youth. Being a peer educator has really had a positive
impact on me, which will stay with me till the end of time.
Gifty Matekor
I have been a youth facilitator at the Planned Parenthood of Ghana Young and
Wise Centre for one and a half years, and I was trained as a peer educator
by AYA. I learned so many things as a result of the training and it helped
to broaden my knowledge about ASRH issues. The training was extremely exciting
because those who facilitated the training were friendly and they made sure everyone
understood what was taught. Also those who were trained helped to make it successful
by cooperating. My training as a peer educator has helped me to be more
confident and assertive and that is something that I’m really proud of.
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