The school and my health- (re)centering young women’s voices in peer-led sexual and reproductive health (srh) education in Machakos, Kenya.

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Development/NGOs

Proposal

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Advisor: Professor Jacqueline Mosselson

Young people in Kenya, as in many other developing countries, face many challenges in accessing social, political and economic opportunities (United Nations Population Fund, [UNFPA], 2017). Due to a combination of their large population, lack of access to education and poverty, those with limited life skills often engage in risky behavior that expose them to problems such as substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), crime and unintended pregnancies (Kenya Ministry of Health & FHI 360, 2011). In addition, prevailing gender and cultural norms in the society contribute to different vulnerabilities and unique experiences between young men and young women. While boys may be socialized into traditional masculine roles that promote risky activities such as drug abuse and multiple sexual partners, girls on the other hand may be pressured into early marriages, face other forms of sexual and physical violence and a host of other social and economic challenges due to a combination of their biological and gender-based inequalities. As a matter of fact, complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death in young women between the ages of 15-19 (World Health Organization, 2018; UNFPA, 2017). In Kenya, 15% of young women in this age group are already mothers while 3% are experiencing their first pregnancy (Kenya Demographic and Health Survey [KDHS], 2014).

To address SRH challenges of young people in low-resource countries like Kenya, peer education in schools has been hailed as a good intervention model for providing information and building life skills for decision-making on SRH issues (Adamchak, 2006; UNFPA, 2017; Crosier, Goodrich, McVey, Forrest and Dennison 2003). While many researchers and program implementers have noted the importance of peer education programs for improving healthy behaviors, there is a dearth of evidence about how school-based peer education programs work in developing countries (UNESCO, 2003). The limited research in sub Saharan Africa often only bases evidence from positivist quantitative methodologies such as randomized control trials and quasi-experimental designs that focus on numbers reached, incidences of STIs or reported use of condoms (Kim and Free, 2008). In addition, there are still many gaps in research that explores the symbiotic relationship between education and health as related to health education approaches for youth in and out of schools (UNESCO, 2016). In fact, global development and education efforts such as the Education for All (EFA) goals and the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) often place more focus on enrolment numbers in formal schooling and less attention on non-formal education as well as connections between health and education among other pertinent issues (Skinner, Blum and Bourn, 2013; Klees, 2017).

In light of the gaps in research this research is a phenomenological case study that employs a qualitative approach to capture young women’s personal experiences with a peer education program at a non-formal school in Machakos Kenya that is run by a local NGO called Jitegemee. As part of its Social Support Program, the organization is implementing a school-based peer education program for street and vulnerable youth that have (been) dropped out of the formal schooling system.

My dissertation is overall situated in postcolonial feminist theory. Postcolonial feminist educational theory engages with the critique of the representation of the third world woman in discourse as passive victims (Hesse-Biber, 2012). I extend educational knowledge about peer education by appreciating that young women in Machakos have agency on issues that affect them. They can tell their own stories and provide counternarratives in research where often, their voices are silenced in findings hinged only on quantitative data and statistics. As a specific guide for answering my research questions, I also adopt a theoretical framework that combines two of the several psychology and social behavioral theories that often guide peer education programs, namely (i) the Social Cognitive Theory and (ii) the Information, Motivation, Behavioral Skills and Resources Theory (IMBR model). The main research question guiding the study is; (How) re peer led education programs adaptable to local perceptions, needs and resources while responding to global education influences? The specific research questions are:
1. How do young women perceive and use the education they receive from the peer-led SRH program at Jitegemee? How has it shaped their experiences?
2. What are the synergies and/or challenges between the education they are receiving and access to resources in their community and how do they address them?

I am currently in the data collection stage and I am also doing some initial organization and analysis of data as I go.

Author

• Nyaradzai Changamire, University of Massachusetts Amherst