Feature Stories

People we work with - Sakina
GoN/UNFPA Community Based Programme in Kapilbastu District

Kapilbastu, December 2008

Sakina has three sons and four daughters. Like her own mother and her mother's mother before, she had never planned the number of her children neither had she ever given a thought about when to have them. She never knew that she could do so.

Sakina lives in Manpur VDC (Village Development Committee), Kapilbastu, and belongs to the Muslim community. She lives an average life like her relatives and most of her neighbors. Sakina runs the household and looks after everyone in the family. She has been following the religious and social rules of her community.

In the year 2007 Manpur VDC was included into Government of Nepal/UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) Population and Reproductive Health Integrated Community Based Programme (PARHI CBP) as one of the focal VDCs. The programme was specifically designed to support the government in improving the access to reproductive health services. Those services include for example, sexual and reproductive health education, access to contraceptives, counseling on planning the number and time for children and availability of the skilled birth attendants. At the heart of the programme is the belief that everyone in any circumstances has a right to decent health services and especially mothers' health should not be put at risk while they give new life or are the guardians of their children.

After the programme had begun in the VDC, Sakina joined the Neighborhood Health Committee and had a chance to attend several meetings and discussions on the reproductive health issues such as: family planning, safe pregnancy and delivery, prevention and treatment of uterine prolapse. Above all, Sakina has learnt about various modern contraceptives and this added a whole new dimension to the way she takes care of her health. 'I love my children; however had I known before what I do now I would plan how many of them we would like to have. I have learnt the hard way what does it mean to raise seven kids and I understand very well what being able to use contraceptives can mean for a woman. I go and talk about it with my neighbors and relatives, with women in my village.' In Kapilbastu many women like Sakina have learnt about using contraceptives to the benefit of their families and their health.

In villages similar to Manpur it is not a rarity to meet people who are not aware about the use of contraceptives and for whom the whole idea of family planning is still a taboo as there is no one to talk to freely about misconceptions, like for example, alleged negative side effects of IUD (intrauterine devise) or hormonal pills. Yet, the understanding about one's own reproductive system and how to take care of own reproductive health has been improving. Meetings and discussions within groups like pregnant or lactating mothers' groups, reproductive health education and advocacy in the villages of the district are slowly bringing a positive change to the lives of women of Kapilbastu and their families.

By Manju Shrestha - Rai
Translated by Sudarshan Neupane and Shweta Rijal

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