Stories

Lisiane Messine is a CIFWA youth volunteer and formally the CIFWA Youth Representative for the East South East Asia and Oceania (ESEAOR) region of IPPF. She is also the Senior Probation Officer for the Cook Islands Government. Originally from the outer island of Aitutaki, she moved to New Zealand to complete her undergraduate studies. On return to Cook Islands, she became a CIFWA Youth Volunteer, and went on to become the first Cook Islands youth representative to gain a position on the ESEAOR Youth Executive Committee.  For International Volunteer Day, we are sharing part of Lisiane's story, in her own words. “I was born in Rarotonga (the main island of the Cook Islands) but raised in Aitutaki (a small outer island). I was raised by my auntie and uncle. I was given to them after they lost two of their children, one was an infant when it died, and one was a miscarriage due to my aunt’s job harvesting in the plantation the chemicals she was exposed to doing that. My biological mother was only 17 years old when she had me, so they decided that my auntie would raise me, and I am grateful and blessed she made that decision. I feel blessed to have two sets of parents. It’s quite normal in the Pacific for this practice to happen. We call them our ‘feeding family’.   Neither of my parents made it to university, they are both self-employed and sell vegetables for a living. My dad funded my university (Bachelor in Applied Social Worker) in New Zealand himself, all from selling vegetables. I’m just grateful. Living in NZ opened my eyes to talking openly about abuse in the family, sexual and reproductive health, relationships. My views changed.   I ran my first workshop for CIFWA at 15 years old. They had come to Aitutaki to run a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) workshop and I thought ‘Oh my gosh all these things I am not allowed to talk about with my parents’ so as soon as I moved to Rarotonga, I visited CIFWA to see how I could get involved. Now I am seeing the young ones I have seen growing up since they were in nappies having a different experience to me.   I have friends who experienced things that I didn’t know how to deal with, so I thought if I were to learn how to help, I can help my younger friends, family and children not deal with these things and be safer. I was always the ‘go-to’ person for my friends to talk about things so I wanted to learn how to approach it with them.   In 2018, after I became the Youth Rep for CIFWA, we travelled to Malaysia with the other youth reps from around the Pacific, some of whom had never travelled that far before. I took on the role of unofficial ‘mama’ for the group and taking care of the group. It was my first time travelling that far too, but my English was better, so I wanted to take on the responsibility to make sure they were okay. I miss all the other Youth Reps!   During this trip in 2018, we held an election, where nine of the youth reps were elected to the ESEAOR Youth Executive Committee, and I was elected. I felt privileged because I was new, just a girl from Cook Islands, and it made me feel good. I had doubts because I come from a small nation and doubted my experience in SRH and being a youth rep. But after talking to my fellow Pacific Island youth reps, I thought this is a perfect opportunity to put the Pacific on the map in IPPF. The top two positions were both awarded to Pacific Youth Representatives, and I was voted in as Deputy Chairman for the period of three years.   I admired the other youth reps from SE Asia so much, they were so vocal and outspoken. Over my three years in this position, we recommended that those of us that age over 25 should become mentors to the younger youth reps who come in. Our next trip was to the IPPF General Assembly in India, and I remember thinking ‘this is big, this is really big. There must be something that people recognise in me that I don’t even see in myself.’   That experience built my confidence and leadership skills so much’.  

It’s a scene like many others around the world: a loving family pour over childhood photos, giggling and reminiscing about the memories. This particular scene takes place amongst the swaying palm trees and soft breeze rolling over the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, and the child they are cooing over – then named Nathanial – is now a beautiful transgender woman, Natalia.   Born in New Zealand to Cook Islanders parents, 36-year-old Natalia (Talia) Lajpold, says she has always known she was female. Talia grew up in Australia and began her transitioning process at the age of 15. In the last year of her schooling, Talia decided to wear the girl’s uniform to school but was met with disapproval from the school authorities.   “A lot of people think [being transgender] is a choice but if I had a choice, I would choose for things to be normal, the way I was born. Because it’s really hard. High school was hard,” Talia recalls.

The Cook Islands has removed a law that criminalizes homosexuality, in a huge victory for the local LGBTI+ community.  Our local Member Association, the Cook Islands Family Welfare Association (CIFWA), has been integral to the advocacy around this law reform, which has faced many hurdles since the movement kicked off in 2017. Staff and volunteers at CIFWA have worked in step with Pride Cook Islands and the Te Tiare Association (TTA), two of the biggest LGBTI+ advocacy organizations in the country, to end discrimination and promote human rights. Meet some of the inspiring people behind this historic movement.

On the island of Rarotonga, the main island of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, a little white van makes its rounds on the palm-tree lined circular road. The van, run by the Cook Islands Family Welfare Association (CIFWA), stops off at condom distribution points along the way, refilling the condom stock.  Dean Tangata, a 26-year-old humanitarian focal point for CIFWA and a registered nurse, is behind the wheel.  "Our condom dispensers get emptied so quickly!” said Dean. “We refill them twice a week.”   On Rarotonga, the locals refer to a system called ‘coconut wireless’ - a local phrase meaning to communicate quickly by word-of-mouth. This means that discretion is key to encourage people to practise safe sex and use condoms.  According to the Cook Islands Ministry of Health 2014, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common in the Cook Islands. A study conducted in 2006 showed a 22% prevalence rate of chlamydia; 46% of these cases were in people between the ages of 15 and 29 years. After a robust intervention campaign, a repeat survey in 2012 showed a 50% decrease in prevalence. This is why CIFWA instigated a condom dispenser system, placing handmade dispensers (that an industrious staff member made from cutting holes in piping) inside bathrooms in restaurants around the island. “We’re the ‘sex people’ - the ‘sex workers’ who roll up in our condom car,” says Dean, smiling.

Aminata Sonogo listened intently to the group of young volunteers as they explained different types of contraception, and raised her hand with questions. Sitting at a wooden school desk at 22, Aminata is older than most of her classmates, but she shrugs off the looks and comments. She has fought hard to be here. Aminata is studying in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Just a quarter of Malian girls complete secondary school, according to UNICEF. But even if she will graduate later than most, Aminata is conscious of how far she has come. “I wanted to go to high school but I needed to pass some exams to get here. In the end, it took me three years,” she said. At the start of her final year of collège, or middle school, Aminata got pregnant. She is far from alone: 38% of Malian girls will be pregnant or a mother by the age of 18. Abortion is illegal in Mali except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother’s life, and even then it is difficult to obtain, according to medical professionals. Determined to take control of her life “I felt a lot of stigma from my classmates and even my teachers. I tried to ignore them and carry on going to school and studying. But I gave birth to my daughter just before my exams, so I couldn’t take them.” Aminata went through her pregnancy with little support, as the father of her daughter, Fatoumata, distanced himself from her after arguments about their situation. “I have had some problems with the father of the baby. We fought a lot and I didn’t see him for most of the pregnancy, right until the birth,” she recalled. The first year of her daughter’s life was a blur of doctors’ appointments, as Fatoumata was often ill. It seemed Aminata’s chances of finishing school were slipping away. But gradually her family began to take a more active role in caring for her daughter, and she began demanding more help from Fatoumata’s father too. She went back to school in the autumn, 18 months after Fatoumata’s birth and with more determination than ever. She no longer had time to hang out with friends after school, but attended classes, took care of her daughter and then studied more. At the end of the academic year, it paid off. “I did it. I passed my exams and now I am in high school,” Aminata said, smiling and relaxing her shoulders.  "Family planning protects girls" Aminata’s next goal is her high school diploma, and obtaining it while trying to navigate the difficult world of relationships and sex. “It’s something you can talk about with your close friends. I would be too ashamed to talk about this with my parents,” she said. She is guided by visits from the young volunteers of the Association Malienne pour la Protection et Promotion de la Famille (AMPPF), and shares her own story with classmates who she sees at risk. “The guys come up to you and tell you that you are beautiful, but if you don’t want to sleep with them they will rape you. That’s the choice. You can accept or you can refuse and they will rape you anyway,” she said. “Girls have to know their rights”. After listening to the volunteers talk about all the different options for contraception, she is reviewing her own choices. “Family planning protects girls,” Aminata said. “It means we can protect ourselves from pregnancies that we don’t want”.

My name is Mariame Doumbia, I am a midwife with the Association Malienne pour la Protection et la Promotion de la Famille (AMPPF), providing family planning and sexual health services to Malians in and around the capital, Bamako. I have worked with AMPPF for almost six years in total, but there was a break two years ago when American funding stopped due to the Global Gag Rule. I was able to come back to work with Canadian funding for the project SheDecides, and they have paid my salary for the last two years. I work at fixed and mobile clinics in Bamako. In the neighbourhood of Kalabancoro, which is on the outskirts of the capital, I receive clients at the clinic who would not be able to afford travel to somewhere farther away. It’s a poor neighbourhood. Providing the correct information The women come with their ideas about sex, sometimes with lots of rumours, but we go through it all with them to explain what sexual health is and how to maintain it. We clarify things for them. More and more they come with their mothers, or their boyfriends or husbands. The youngest ones come to ask about their periods and how they can count their menstrual cycle. Then they start to ask about sex. These days the price of sanitary pads is going down, so they are using bits of fabric less often, which is what I used to see.  Seeing the impact of our work  We see cases of early pregnancy here in Kalabancoro, but the numbers are definitely going down. Most are from 14 years old upwards, though occasionally they are younger. SheDecides has brought so much to this clinic, starting with the fact that before the project’s arrival there was no one here at all for a prolonged period of time. Now the community has the right to information and I try my best to answer all their questions.

My name is Fatoumata Yehiya Maiga. I’m 23-years-old, and I’m an IT specialist. I joined the Youth Action Movement at the end of 2018. The head of the movement in Mali is a friend of mine, and I met her before I knew she was the president. She invited me to their events and over time persuaded me to join. I watched them raising awareness about sexual and reproductive health, using sketches and speeches. I learnt a lot. Overcoming taboos I went home and talked about what I had seen and learnt with my family. In Africa, and even more so in the village where I come from in Gao, northern Mali, people don’t talk about these things. I wanted to take my sisters to the events, but every time I spoke about them my relatives would just say it was to teach girls to have sex, and that it’s taboo. That’s not what I believe. I think the movement helps girls, most of all, to know their sexual rights, their bodies, what to do and what not to do to stay healthy and safe. They don’t understand this concept. My family would say it was just a smokescreen to convince girls to get involved in something dirty.  I have had to tell my younger cousins about their periods, for example, when they came from the village to live in the city. One of my cousins was so scared, and told me she was bleeding from her vagina and didn’t know why. We talk about managing periods in the Youth Action Movement, as well as how to manage cramps and feel better. The devastating impact of FGM But there was a much more important reason for me to join the movement. My parents are educated, so me and my sisters were never cut. I learned about female genital mutilation at a conference I attended in 2016. I didn’t know that there were different types of severity and ways that girls could be cut. I hadn’t understood quite how dangerous this practice is. Then, two years ago, I lost my friend Aïssata. She got married young, at 17. She struggled to conceive until she was 23. The day she gave birth, there were complications and she died. The doctors said that the excision was botched and that’s what killed her. From that day on, I decided I needed to teach all the girls in my community about how harmful this practice is for their health. I was so horrified by the way she died. Normally, girls in Mali are cut when they are three or four years old, though for some it’s done at birth. When they are older and get pregnant, I know they face the same challenges as every woman does giving birth, but they also live with the dangerous consequences of this unhealthy practice.  The importance of talking openly  The problem lies with the families. I want us, as a movement, to talk with the parents and explain to them how they can contribute to their children’s sexual health. I wish it were no longer a taboo between parents and their girls. But if we talk in such direct terms, they only see disobedience, and say that we are encouraging promiscuity. We need to talk to teenagers because they are already parents in many cases. They are the ones who decide to go through with cutting their daughters, or not. A lot of Mali is hard to reach though. We need travelling groups to go to those isolated rural areas and talk to people about sexual health. Pregnancy is the girl’s decision, and girls have a right to be healthy, and to choose their future.

In 2017, the Association Malienne pour la Protection et la Promotion de la Famille (AMPPF), was hit hard by the reinstatement of the Global Gag Rule (GGR). The impact was swift and devastating – depleted budgets meant that AMPPF had to cut back on key staff and suspend education activities and community healthcare provision. The situation turned around with funding from the Canadian Government supporting the SheDecides project, filling the gap left by GGR. AMPPF has been able to employ staff ensuring their team can reach the most vulnerable clients who would otherwise be left without access to sexual healthcare and increase their outreach to youth. Putting communities first Mama Keita Sy Diallo, midwife The SheDecides project has allowed AMPPF to maintain three mobile clinics, travelling to more remote areas where transportation costs and huge distances separate women from access to health and contraceptive care.“SheDecides has helped us a lot, above all in our work outside our own permanent clinics. When we go out in the community we have a lot of clients, and many women come to us who would otherwise not have the means to obtain advice or contraception,” explained Mama Keita Sy Diallo, a midwife and AMPPF board member. She runs consultations at community health centers in underserved areas of the Malian capital. “Everything is free for the women in these sessions.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email SheDecides projects ensures free access to healthcare and contraception Fatoumata Dramé, client By 9am at the Asaco Sekasi community health center in Bamako, its wooden benches are full of clients waiting their turn at a SheDecides outreach session. Fatoumata Dramé, 30, got here early and has already been fitted for a new implant. “I came here for family planning, and it’s my first time. I’ve just moved to the area so I came because it’s close to home,” she said. Bouncing two-month-old Tiemoko on her knee, Dramé said her main motivation was to space the births of her children. “I am a mum of three now. My first child is 7 years old. I try to leave three years between each child. It helps with my health,” she explained. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Targeting youth Mamadou Bah, Youth Action Movement “After the arrival of SheDecides, we intensified our targeting of vulnerable groups with activities in the evening, when domestic workers and those working during the day could attend,” said Mariam Modibo Tandina, who heads the national committee of the Youth Action Movement in Mali. “That means that young people in precarious situations could learn more about safer sex and family planning. Now they know how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Speaking out against FGM Fatoumata Yehiya Maiga, youth volunteer Fatoumata’s decision to join the Youth Action Movement was fueled by a personal loss. “My parents are educated, so me and my sisters were never cut. I learned about female genital mutilation at a conference I attended in 2016. I didn’t know that there were different types of severity and ways that girls could be cut. I hadn’t understood quite how dangerous this practice is. Two years ago, I lost my friend Aïssata. She got married young, at 17. She struggled to conceive until she was 23. The day she gave birth, there were complications and she died. The doctors said that the excision was botched and that’s what killed her. From that day on, I decided I needed to teach all the girls in my community about how harmful this practice is for their health. I was so horrified by the way she died.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Using dance and comedy to talk about sex Abdoulaye Camara, Head of AMPPF dance troupe Abdoulaye’s moves are not just for fun. He is head of the dance troupe of the AMPPF’s Youth Action Movement, which uses dance and comedy sketches to talk about sex. It’s a canny way to deliver messages about everything from using condoms to taking counterfeit antibiotics, to an audience who are often confused and ashamed about such topics. “We distract them with dance and humour and then we transmit those important messages about sex without offending them,” explained Abdoulaye. “We show them that it’s not to insult them or show them up, but just to explain how these things happen.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Determination to graduate Aminata Sonogo, student Sitting at a wooden school desk at 22, Sonogo is older than most of her classmates, but she shrugs off the looks and comments. She has fought hard to be here. “I wanted to go to high school but I needed to pass some exams to get here. In the end, it took me three years,” she said.At the start of her final year of collège, or middle school, Sonogo got pregnant. She went back to school in the autumn, 18 months after Fatoumata’s birth and with more determination than ever. At the end of the academic year, it paid off. “I did it. I passed my exams and now I am in high school,” Sonogo said, smiling and relaxing her shoulders. She is guided by visits from the AMPPF youth volunteers and shares her own story with classmates who she sees at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email AMPPF’s mobile clinic offers a lifeline to remote communities Mariame Doumbia, midwife “I work at a mobile clinic. It’s important for accessibility, so that the women living in poorly serviced areas can access sexual and reproductive health services, and reliable information.I like what I do. I like helping people, especially the young ones. They know I am always on call to help them, and even if I don’t know the answer at that moment, I will find out. I like everything about my work. Actually, it’s not just work for me, and I became a midwife for that reason. I’ve always been an educator on these issues in my community.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Trust underpins the relationship between AMPPF’s mobile team and the village of Missala Adama Samaké, village elder and chief of the Missala Health Center Adama Samaké, chief of the Missala Health Center, oversees the proceedings as a village elder with deep trust from his community. When the mobile clinic isn’t around, his center offers maternity services and treats the many cases of malaria that are diagnosed in the community. “Given the distance between here and Bamako, most of the villagers around here rely on us for treatment,” he said. “But when we announce that the mobile clinic is coming, the women make sure they are here.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Contraceptive choice Kadidiatou Sogoba, client Kadidiatou Sogoba, a mother of seven, waited nervously for her turn. “I came today because I keep getting ill and I have felt very weak, just not myself, since I had a Caesarean section three years ago. I lost a lot of blood,” she said. “I have been very afraid since the birth of my last child. We have been using condoms and we were getting a bit tired of them, so I am looking for another longer-term type of contraception.”After emerging half an hour later, Sogoba clutched a packet of the contraceptive pill, and said next time she would go for a cervical screening.Photos ©IPPF/Xaume Olleros/Mali Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email