Manual and Toolkit Design for Training on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights
Client
Ambedkar University
Role
Social Designer (1st Semester)
Area of Work
Sexual and
Reproductive Health
Rights
Duration of Project
July to November 2019
About the Project
"Jai Hind Camp", one of the many "jhuggi-jhopdi" (JJ) clusters of New Delhi, is located in Vasant Vihar, part of the posh South of the city. With the majority of the residents consisting of migrant population hailing from a place called Cooch-Behar in West Bengal, this cluster has been in the middle of land disputes and possible evictions for many years now. While housing and living conditions are grave in the camp, other pertinent issues like early marriage of young girls and lack of access to health facilities are prevalent, impacting ambitions and aspirations of young girls towards a healthy future.
As part of the 1st Semester Studio, a manual and toolkit was imagined as one of the interventions to create a space for dialogue around one's sexual and reproductive health and their rights, bringing both the girls and the parents on a common platform. Looking at this project from a multiple stakeholder perspective, this manual is for trainers or organizations who work on issues of SRHR with young people from marginalized communities.
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Process
Arriving at this idea took rigourous field and desk research; the aim was to understand the community and think of interventions based on the data collected and analyzed.
Through conversations and group discussions with women and young girls in the designated space within Jai Hind Camp, the idea of this particular intervention came to light. While there are several manuals that address issues of Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, they currently lack a multi-media approach towards the process of facilitation and dialogue-creation of different stakeholders.
The manual is a blueprint of what can be imagined, along with a curated toolkit with audio-video material that aid facilitators to pass on information through different formats.
A detailed write-up of the entire process can be found below.
WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER MANUAL?
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Many manuals, many approaches: While there are various manuals that address issues around Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, each manual has a different approach. Many consist of difficult exercises that would possibly confuse the reader (most likely the facilitator) making it difficult to execute the activities.
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Use of other media: Most manuals are stand-alone and do not incorporate other media like films, videos or audio stories, which can make the facilitation easy and accessible.
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One Stakeholder Group: Most manuals are targeted towards a single stakeholder group only. They do not consist of exercises that can bring different stakeholders into the conversation.
DESIGN RESEARCH - JOURNEY AND ANALYSIS
Using data available online in the form of news clippings and a few research papers, we were able to collect the following information about our site, Jai Hind Camp.
Jai Hind Camp (also popularly known as ‘Bengali Basti’) is an unauthorized colony or a JJ cluster in Masoodpur Village in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The first residents of this cluster came here about 27-30 years ago, migrating from ‘Cooch Behar’, a district in West Bengal, looking for better livelihood opportunities. Currently, there is an estimated population of 5000 residents in this cluster who are from Cooch Behar, with some from Assam, UP and Bihar.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
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PRIMARY RESEARCH - Group Processes
With the entire camp divided into different sections, the initial research was conducted as part of a group. Through our observations, we found the following things -
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Built Structures: The site of study consists of semi-permanent built structures which were homes of the residents of Jai Hind Camp. They were made of corrugated tin, bamboo and re-used fabric and flex. The only permanent built structures were a school created by Srishti (NGO) and a community toilet built by the Delhi Development Authority.
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Spatial Movements: Most women use the main street to commute to their working spaces. The inner streets of the site are least active in terms of movements. There is a high presence of street vendors who occupy that space. Structures like boundary walls are occupied by men for their leisure activities.
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Resource Mapping: The residents receive electricity mediated by Temple and Mosque of the community through sub-meters. They pay Rs. 9-10 per unit, amounting to a total bill of Rs. 2000-3000 every month. Water is a scarce resource, mostly obtained through water tankers provided by Delhi Jal Board. Each family is able to get water 3 times in a month, leading to a less per capita of water for each family member. Other infrastructure includes Satellite Dish TV that can be seen on the roof of almost every household.
Spatial Mapping
Resource Mapping
PRIMARY RESEARCH and ANALYSIS - Individual Process
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Group Discussion with Mothers and Daughters
Participatory Focused Group Discussion with Adolescent Girls
Participatory Focused Group Discussion with Adolescent Girls
Participatory Focused Group Discussion with Adolescent Girls
Through focused group discussions with a select group of women and young adolescent girls, it was clear that -
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there are no conversations around healthcare in the household, or in the institutions that they access (like schools), especially around reproductive health
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this is a taboo subject, muddled with existing beliefs that "the girls would run away with a boy if they are not married early", leading to decisions that impact the futures of the young girls of this community
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access to media through the internet becomes a source of information as well as misinformation for the young girls and boys, as well as their parents, leading to creation of misconceptions and fear
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A Stakeholder Map and User Personas were created to highlight the various stakeholders that become an important part of the design process of the manual and toolkit. As the decision was to take a multi-stakeholder approach towards dialogue creation, these design tools become helpful in imagining the manual itself.
The next step was to create a basic structure of the manual, with a list of different activities for different stakeholders. The manual also consisted of a prototype of an engagement plan that facilitators could use to plan and strategize their sessions. Given below are examples of the activities developed for the manual. This was imagined as the basis from which the entire manual could later be developed.
The toolkit has been imagined as a resource pool consisting of different types of material curated through the various subjects covered in the manual. This would become a good aid to the facilitator to open conversations about difficult subjects.
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