Darubini Project
Darubini Project aims to address Sexual and Reproductive Health issues facing adolescents such as puberty, early sexual activities, intergenerational sex, teenage pregnancy, child and forced marriage, gender-based violence (GBV) et.c. that prevent young people, especially girls from accessing education.
Project status: On going
The issue we addressing
Teenage pregnancy and other issues facing young girls during puberty are among the tremendous problems in Sub-Saharan African countries. Despite the Tanzanian government providing education for free to students however; the country is at a higher rate of 17th fertility rate in Africa (UNFPA 2013). According to the 2015-16 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS), approximately 1-in-4 adolescent girls had given birth to one or more children. Girls in rural areas are more likely to be pregnant at an early age with 32% of rural teenagers having been pregnant as compared to 19% of urban teenagers. Over 50% of teenagers with no education have given birth or are pregnant, as compared to only 10% of those with secondary or higher education (UNFPA 2013)
Schoolgirls in Tanzania are routinely forced to undergo mandatory pregnancy tests and are expelled from school if found to be pregnant. While the actual laws say that all adolescents should have equal access to education and privacy, there is a widespread belief that expulsion for pregnant girls is mandatory, and the practice of expulsion is extremely common. Not obtaining a sufficient level of education means that these young mothers will be unable to contribute to the economic development of Tanzania, and jeopardizes the ability to realize several of the SDGs, including SDG 4: Quality Education, SGD 5: Gender Equality, and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth (UNFPA 2013).
Therefore, the Darubini Project finds dialog about SRH to be very crucial to influence behavioral change among adolescents who are found within the school environment. Currently, less than 50% of government schools in Tanzania provide any sort of comprehensive sexuality education and only 25.8% of government schools have one or more teachers who are trained to provide health and reproductive education (the United Republic of Tanzania, 2017).
Our approach (Harakati za Lucy)
The project is implemented through the use of 3D animations series called Harakati za Lucy, here we explore 12 sensitive SRH topics including Puberty, Early sexual activities, Intergenerational relationships, early pregnancies and early marriage. ‘Harakati za Lucy’ means “The Struggles of Lucy.” In the series of episodes, the main character is Lucy and her friends are going through growing pains of being adolescents in our local communities where there is taboos and customs affecting them.
This multimedia effort seeks to raise the public’s awareness about the mentioned themes so as we create a society where girls are empowered and protected to reach their dreams. The overall goal of this approach is changing the way Sexual and Reproductive Health education is provided in schools, as we believe that students have to discuss and work in teams to learn more about themselves. The animation is used as a tool to spark dialogue and engage students in discussions.
Group discussion
We facilitate group discussion in order to involve students and make them reflect on the issues that are affecting them
Animation Videos
We use 3D animation video to disseminate educational materials to student so as to create an engaging learning environment
Debate contest
We organize debate contest on SRH topics, to raise awareness in secondary schools, and beyond.
Implementation
The Darubini project is implemented through human-centered design, whereas stories are collected from secondary school students from their real experiences. Thereafter our production unit will creatively produce a 5-7 minutes short 3D animated film about one issue (e.g. importance of seeking for right information during puberty) which is then brought back to the students to watch and have a dialogue through focused group discussion.
Essay writing competitions; The main essence is to provide the platform where students can express freely and share their knowledge and understanding on SRH.
A total of 71 (out of 100 targeted essays) which were submitted by students from 9 schools in 2019.
This is a platform whereby students from different secondary schools come together to discuss and debate with one another on SRH related topic, the topic is always related to the theme of the animation film. In 2019, 130 students participated for the teen platform (i.e. inter-school within municipal)
After Teen Platform we host Teen Summit, this is an event whereby the purpose is to create an arena where targeted district winners Example from Kinondoni and Temeke schools could come together to compete in the final round of the debate competition, with SRH as the topic.