Experience of "Abakangurambaga" in Gatonde and Kidaho communities of the Ruhengeri prefecture
Munyakazi, A.
Imbonezamuryango 15: 14-20
1989
PMID: 12342580 Document Number: 365529
A vast family planning IEC program planned by Rwanda's National Population Office will depend on the work of the Abakangurambaga, workers elected by their local communities to inform and motivate the population toward rational use of the maternal-child health and family planning services. A preliminary study was begun in 1988 in 3 communes of the prefecture of Ruhengeri each having about 30,000 inhabitants. 23 trained workers in Gatonde informed the population about maternal-child health and family planning services and referred couples to the Gatonde health center. 23 trained workers in Kidaho informed the population about services, made referrals, and also supplied some contraceptive products including condoms, spermicides, and pills after the initial prescription at a health center. The commune of Kinigi served as a control. A preliminary evaluation study was conducted in Gatonde and Kidaho in June 1988, 3 months after the project was launched. Community workers, homes, and sector meetings were found to be the favored channels of communication. Married women in households with 4-6 children were most likely to be contacted by the workers. The numbers of persons individually contacted in Gatonde and Kidaho respectively were 221 and 1022 in March 1988, 312 and 1175 in April 1988, and 155 and 71 in May 1988. The workers in Kidaho resupplied a total of 342 clients with condoms, 73 with spermicides, and 15 with oral contraceptives in the 3 months. The total numbers of women using contraceptives varied between March 1988, when the project began, and May 1988, from 184 to 223 in Kidaho and from 300 to 634 in Gatonde. There was little variation in Kinigi. The number of new acceptors was 47 in March, 114 in April, and 32 in May in Kidaho; 82 in March, 178 in April, and 170 in May in Gatonde, and 2 in March, 7 in April, and 8 in May in Kinigi. The total number of couples using contraception had increased by May 1989, a year after the preliminary evaluation, to 267 in Kidaho, 1021 in Gatonde, and 516 Kinigi, The service statistics indicated that the Abakangurambaga are very effective in motivating the population to family planning use.