By Fatou Sanyang
The Community of Mamuda were engaged in Family Planning Methods by the Njaboute Foundation at the Mamuda Children’s Health Centre in West Coast District over the weekend of 28th January 2023. Njaboute Foundation is a newly established foundation with volunteers in The Gambia and Sweden.
Njaboute focuses on health promotion and education with an emphasis on Social Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC). The foundation aims to enhance the public’s appreciation of comprehensive sexuality education, including the vices of female genital mutilation/cutting, the right to contraceptives and all other forms of sexual and reproductive health (SRH).
In The Gambian and African context, SRH is often impacted negatively by socio-cultural undertones often justified by religious and cultural practices. It’s not uncommon for communities to reject Family Planning Techniques based on religious and cultural reasons. This ultimately affects numerous homes and leads to violations of SRH of mostly women and girls.
Clarifying some misconceptions about Family Planning, Njaboute’s Country Coordinator, Mr Abdoulie Baldeh explained that family planning is not meant to bring chaos within families but rather to bring peace within them.
“Family Planning means how to plan your family which is favourable for both husbands and wives. Family planning is here to make a peaceful home, not to bring chaos and even Islam is not against that,” said Mr Baldeh.
Although Mr Baldeh noted that he wouldn’t condemn the traditional methods of family planning, however, the conventional methods have been shown to have lower success rates which can often lead to unwanted pregnancies.
Health Practitioner Mr Peter O Mendy who volunteers for Njaboute discussed the various types of Family Planning and their implementation which include birth control mechanisms. Mr Mendy noted that some of the options available for Family Planning include “the Pill, the Condom, the Oral Contraceptive Pill, Intrauterine Device (IUD), the Contraceptive Implant and the Contraceptive Injection”.
In addition to this, he stressed that mothers who have recently delivered should seek nurses’ advice on the most suitable forms of birth control method to utilise. The Health Practitioner explained that getting the most suitable form of birth control is important because women have different reproductive systems, so choosing the right option of family planning will reduce the risk of side effects and enhance the effectiveness of the medicine.
Catherine, a Liberian residing in Sweden who also volunteers for Njaboute Foundation sponsored the event and delivered a speech on the welfare of women. She believes that “Family Planning is very important because it helps women from having health complications, it will also help women to take care of their children properly”.
She noted that taking care of children requires significant resources and the use of family planning techniques helps women to plan better.
Isatou Jallow a trainee who benefitted from the engagement noted that she learnt the importance of women taking utmost care of their health. She learned about some of the risks associated with having another child while a toddler is still breastfeeding.
The engagement included a quiz where members of the Mamuda community were gifted items such as baskets, bowls, washing hand basins, cooking pots, cups and laundry items for answering questions on an SRH quiz.
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