Normas

The organizations/programs in this category provide primarily sexuality and SRH education and information for adolescents at school and community levels, and to a lesser extent via the media.

Health and Family Life Education (HFLE)

HFLE is a program regionally mandated by CARICOM and is administered through the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the public school system. HFLE is a life skills-based curriculum guided by the 1998 HFLE policy. HFLE is described as:

...guided learning experiences [where children] develop attitudes, knowledge, skills and values which would empower them to develop healthy lifestyles and make choices and decisions which would impact positively on them, their homes and communities.

(GoG, 1998 p.8)

According to the policy, HFLE is implemented as part of schools core curriculum from Kindergarden to Form 3 in the secondary schools, omitting students in their final two years of secondary school. However, it was reported that HFLE program materials are made available to private schools and PAM, although the MoE is only responsible for monitoring public schools. Nonetheless, based on the school enrolment rate for this group (63%) it can be argued that HFLE reaches the largest amount of adolescents to provide sexuality and sexual health education, which is one of four modules within the HFLE curriculum. Based on the policy and review of the curriculum, each module is based on age appropriate lessons (Table 4-3 for topical examples of a sexual health module). The policy describes that teachers are to

be specially trained to deliver the curriculum. HFLE has implications for sex education both in-and out-of-school contexts, in-and also for help-seeking from teachers (chapter 7).

Table 4-3 Sample HFLE Curriculum: Sexuality & Sexual Health (Age 13-14) Source: (GoG, 2008)

Module 1: The concept of Human Sexuality

Unit 1 – Factors that Influence the Expression of Human Sexuality Unit 2 – Exploring Gender Issues

Module 2: Optimising Reproductive Health

Unit 1 – Factors and Risks Affecting Reproductive Health Unit 2 – Pregnancy and Child Rearing

Module 3: Cervical Cancer, STDs, and HIV/AIDS: Empowerment to Protect Unit 1 – Cervical Cancer, STDs, and HIV/AIDS Can Be Prevented and Controlled Unit 2 – The Human Side of HIV and AIDS

Module 4: Accessing Accurate Age-Appropriate Health Resources Unit 1 – Health Resources Related to Sexuality and Sexual Health

HIV Education Program

The MoE also has an HIV Education program, separate from that provided through HFLE and is available to schools upon request by teachers or principals.

GRENCODA

GRENCODA was established in 1985 “to provide guidance and support to rural individuals, families and communities to improve their quality of life” (GRENCODA, 2008).

GRENCODA’s programs are primarily located in the West and Northwest rural parishes of Grenada, but there are also national level activities. GRENCODA’s initiatives fall under the five areas of:

 Community development, mobilization and services;

 Education and training;

 Institutional strengthening;

 Small business and entrepreneurial development; and

 Advocacy and Research.

As reported in GRENCODA’s annual report for 2008, the organization’s strategic priorities for 2006-2010 included but were not limited to: (1) facilitating skills training and the acquisition of life skills for personal development to alleviate poverty and; (2) advocacy on policy issues that are impacting on the situation of marginalize persons/groups. ASRH can be seen to be addressed in both priority areas; however, the latter is achieved through a separate program – the Legal Aid and Counselling Centre (section 4.3.3). The annual report indicate that during the school holiday period GRENCODA conducts a Youth Development Program during July and August for ages 5 to 17 in rural communities. In the context of personal and life skills development, program participants gain, through the use of interactive methodologies, information on sexuality and sexual health topics such as STIs, including HIV/AIDS, abstinence, relationships, and so on (GRENCODA, 2008). Facilitators for the program include persons from Ministries of Education and Social Development including civil society. The rural community which participated in this study is also a recipient of the Youth Development Program.

GRENCODA’s role in the community has implications for engaging communities related to ASRH help-seeking.

The Agency for Rural Transformation (ART)

Like GRENCODA, ART is a non-profit, rural development NGO and has been in existence since 1981. ART’s mission is “to guide, focus and provide support to rural communities to accept responsibility and take action that will improve the quality of life in the communities on a continuing and independent basis” (ART, 2010). ART conducts rural youth development programs targeting children between the ages of 6-16, focusing on literacy enhancement, creative expressions, sport and basic life skills (ART, 2010).

According to the information on the agency’s website, ART conducts an annual holiday youth program - Rural Youth Empowerment Program targeting children between the ages of 5-16 and engaging them in supervised activities during July and August. The website also states that the program commenced in 2002 and includes health education sessions on HIV/AIDS for participants, which is facilitated by resource persons drawn from the Health Promotion Department of the MoH and the Grenada Red Cross Society (GRCS). ART utilizes community theatre to promote HIV prevention, and in 2007 took its production titled A Sip of Red Wine to four (4) secondary schools and held panel discussions following each show. Although the website states that A Sip of Red Wine is broadcasted on local television networks as part of the networks local programming for public education (ART, 2010), it was unconfirmed whether

this is still happening. In contrast to GRENCODA, ART serves primarily rural communities in the Southeast and Eastern parishes (i.e. St. David and St. Andrew). ART’s role suggests that the organization may be useful in engaging communities and the media.

Grenada Red Cross Society (GRCS)

The GRCS was started in 1955 as a Branch of the British Red Cross following the devastation of the island by Hurricane Janet. The GRCS became an independent National Society in 1987 headquartered in St. George’s, Grenada’s capital city. The mission of the GRCS is to “serve humanity through the promotion of health and safety, disaster preparedness and response, social welfare and youth programs” (GRC, 2012). Through its social welfare and youth program, the GRCS offers its own HIV/AIDS education activities, but also functions as an HIV/AIDS education resource for schools, churches, and other NGOs across Grenada. Whereas other organizations are staffed by paid employees, based on my knowledge of GRCS, its activities are conducted through volunteerism of its membership. The GRCS has implications for HIV/AIDS information seeking particularly in urban communities, including the urban community in which this research was based. Furthermore, the concept of volunteerism may be useful in regards to the provision of ASRH services.

National Parenting Program (NPP)

The NPP is based in the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD). It was fully implemented in 2010 collaboratively between Government and NGOs through a Planning Committee to review and plan activities in relation to the NPP Strategic Plan (Glasgow, 2010).

The need for the NPP emerged as a recommendation from national consultations on the CARICOM Charter for Civil Society held in October 2001 and January 2002. It is reported that the consultation included a cross-section of participants representing professional bodies, political parties, NGOs and other activist organizations. Through discussions regarding social development in Grenada, participants suggested that there was a need for civil society to focus more on the family, and that a NPP would be appropriate (CARICOM, nd). Between 2006 and 2007, several local factors converged (i.e. high rates of teenage pregnancy and female-headed households, increase in crimes involving young people, especially boys) resulting in the development of the NPP (GoG, 2008b).

As stated in the strategic plan, the goal of the NPP is to provide overall direction to men, women, boys and girls for parenting. The Mission Statement of the NPP is:

To develop and implement non-formal, community-based parenting programmes geared toward building mature individuals, stronger families and integrated communities throughout the state of Grenada.

(GoG, 2008b)

According to the program’s 2010 annual report, during 2010 the NPP provided parenting education sessions to adolescent boys and girls, as well as adults in several communities, workplaces, schools and churches across Grenada. In addition, parenting sessions were also conducted by social partners including NGOs, CBOs, and FBOs. The NPP curriculum is also taught as part of the core curriculum for adolescent mothers attending PAM. Particularly interesting is that the NPP targets potential parents, which includes adolescents between ages 13 and 19 who may or may not be pregnant or expecting a baby, in the case of adolescent boys. Parenting information was disseminated via the Government Information Service (GIS) and other media stations, and a drama series titled Pelican Point was also aired on 3 television and 2 radio stations on the island as part of parenting education (Glasgow, 2010). Based on the NPP’s mission, there is scope to address parent-adolescent communication in various setting, including the workplace around sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, which has implications for SRH help-seeking. Furthermore, their use of the media for education is noteworthy.