By Anuradha Chatterji | Director, Resource Development
It’s My Body: Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Adolescent Girls through Sports
(A community-based programme led by CREA and co-implemented with 12 partner CBOs* in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand)
The period of December 2016 to February 2017 was marked by important activities for adolescent girls and partner organisations of the It’s My Body (IMB) programme. Building on the process of review and reflection of the IMB programme, various activities were organised to further strengthen the programme. Major highlights of this period were:
SELF Academy, 2016 - SELF which stands for Sports, Empowerment, Leadership and Freedom is a 10-day long residential leadership and skills-building academy for adolescent girls that uses sports, art, media and technology to help them realise their full potential. The second SELF Academy was organised by CREA from 1-11 December 2016 in Patna, Bihar. 44 girls and 3 trainers from partner CBOs (Gaurav Gramin, Aakanksha Sewa Sadan and Nari Nidhi) participated in this academy. The SELF Academy included courses in computer, football, film and media, art and dance. The idea behind using a variety of media was to not only introduce the girls to certain ‘skills’ but to also allow them to choose from various forms and languages of expression, and to eventually help them develop their own. These courses were designed with the faculty members to encourage and enable the participants to think, reflect and share their thoughts and opinions about issues related to their body, well being, desire, mobility and rights.
“The film making class has been a wonderful experience. I had never even imagined I would get to hold a camera of this kind! After the class, I have gained confidence and I feel like I could be a filmmaker if I wanted to.” - Bhavna Mishra, Nari Nidhi, Bihar.
“I had not touched a computer before this in my life even though I had seen it from afar. Just getting to use it felt surreal. I will go back and teach the girls in my village how to use it. My neighbour has a computer, which I could use for this.” - Ranju, Gaurav Grameen Mahila Vikas Munch, Bihar
New batch of girls (batch 4) added to the IMB programme - During this reporting period, CREA and its 12 partner organisations have added 1583 adolescent girls (batch 4) to the IMB programme. Out of these 1583 girls, 197 girls are not enrolled in any form of formal education and 18 girls with disabilities. These 1583 girls will attend a ten-month long curriculum based training to build their knowledge, understanding and skills on issues of Gender, Sexuality and Rights, Life Skills and Leadership through sports.
Sports Camps with batch 4 of the IMB Programme - In December and January, CREA and its partner organisations from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar had organised 6 sports camps with 300 girls (of batch 4) of the IMB programme. Sports Camps were organised to strengthen the skills of adolescent girls on football and also increase the visibility of girls playing football in the village. As a part of the programme, the young girls, get continuous inputs, over a period of ten months, on playing football and technicalities related to the sport. In addition to these inputs, a three day sports coaching camp is organised in collaboration with each partner organisation wherein professional football coaches (from Soccer Foundation) travel to the villages and train a selective cohort of 40 girls on football. The first day of the camp aims at providing focused technical inputs to girls around playing football. An all-girls football tournament is organised on the third day of the camp. Participating in these camps has not only increased the confidence level of these young girls but by involving community members, it has resulted creating an enabling environment for these young girls. Some girls have now started thinking of pursuing sports as a career and they have expressed the desire to get professional training to play football.
*List of IMB partners:
Bihar:
Jharkhand:
Uttar Pradesh:
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