Evelyn Nakimera is a 24 years old Young Community Health Promoter (YCHP) of Mabanda village, Uganda. She was chosen by the Local Council and trained by BRAC in February 2020 to become a youth community health promoter in charge of educating young women and girls about family planning.
However, her work was not that easy in the beginning. “Before this project, these family planning services were inaccessible to the youth in this community. After I was trained, I started moving out to the communities to try and sensitise people about family planning, but they were very unwelcoming,” she says. The parents were not keen on the idea of teaching their children about family planning as social norms stigmatised it as immoral.
With time, Evelyn eventually was able to convince them that this was the right way to go. It has been smooth sailing for her since then. “Initially, I wanted nothing to do with it. But now I get an injection every three months, and so far I have not had any issues at all,” said Hamidah Jamada, a 23 years old mother who benefited from the programme. “Evelyn (YCHP) does not ask us for any money. She extensively explains our options and then administers the contraceptive depending on what we have chosen without charging us a single penny,” she added. As Evelyn is a member of their own community, they are more comfortable coming to her with their problems than going to a distant hospital that requires spending a lot of time and money. The number of early and unwanted pregnancies in Mabanda has declined significantly with the efforts of YCHPs like Evelyn.
