birth control conversation
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Sterling Severns
Aug 17, 2009, 12:53:18 PM8/17/09
to karen-ko...@googlegroups.com
Friends,
I'm wondering if any of you have any guidance on birth control
education among the Karen, Karenni, and/or Chin community? Any
resources you recommend? Is there someone really good at this that we
need to speak with?
Thanks for any guidance you might be able to offer.
Sterling W. Severns
Pastor
Tabernacle Baptist Church
1925 Grove Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23220
Claire
Aug 17, 2009, 1:28:02 PM8/17/09
to Karen Konnection
Hello Pastor Severns,
There are some great handouts at this site:
http://refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1834&rid=2084&subm=178&area=Participate
They have handouts in Burmese and Karen about family planning and many
other health topics.
I've been working with the Karen for about 3 years and have found them
generally to be very open to discussing and using birth control. It
seems that they were introduced to condoms in the camp and we've even
had them ask us where to get them. Many of them have some basic
education but also misconceptions about the topic. An example is that
they may think a vasectomy causes the man to be weak for the a long
time and he can't do manual labor any more. We also really emphasized
that different methods will work for different couples. Many of the
women have heard stories of problems of other women and it has made
them fearful.
We've held a couple sessions where nursing students came in and
provided very basic education. It has been a good partnership and
gives the students exposure to this population and using
interpreters. The first time we had both men and women (because we
had nursing students of both genders) and separated them. The second
time was women only. After their initial shyness, they had some very
good questions. We started with basic education about their bodies
(many questions there, too!) and moved on to birth control. A
representative from Planned Parenthood was happy to come talk about
the different types. The more visuals you can use, the better. It
was also a little challenging for the interpreter because some of the
words were new to her and we had to help her figure out how to
interpret them.
I've only worked a little with the Karenni, but I'm guessing their
level of knowledge may be lower due to their lower levels of education
and literacy. I know that many of the Karenni also identify as
Catholic, so that may be a factor.
I hope this was helpful and I'd be glad to try and answer any other
questions!
Claire
There are some great handouts at this site:
http://refugees.org/article.aspx?id=1834&rid=2084&subm=178&area=Participate
They have handouts in Burmese and Karen about family planning and many
other health topics.
I've been working with the Karen for about 3 years and have found them
generally to be very open to discussing and using birth control. It
seems that they were introduced to condoms in the camp and we've even
had them ask us where to get them. Many of them have some basic
education but also misconceptions about the topic. An example is that
they may think a vasectomy causes the man to be weak for the a long
time and he can't do manual labor any more. We also really emphasized
that different methods will work for different couples. Many of the
women have heard stories of problems of other women and it has made
them fearful.
We've held a couple sessions where nursing students came in and
provided very basic education. It has been a good partnership and
gives the students exposure to this population and using
interpreters. The first time we had both men and women (because we
had nursing students of both genders) and separated them. The second
time was women only. After their initial shyness, they had some very
good questions. We started with basic education about their bodies
(many questions there, too!) and moved on to birth control. A
representative from Planned Parenthood was happy to come talk about
the different types. The more visuals you can use, the better. It
was also a little challenging for the interpreter because some of the
words were new to her and we had to help her figure out how to
interpret them.
I've only worked a little with the Karenni, but I'm guessing their
level of knowledge may be lower due to their lower levels of education
and literacy. I know that many of the Karenni also identify as
Catholic, so that may be a factor.
I hope this was helpful and I'd be glad to try and answer any other
questions!
Claire
Sterling Severns
Aug 18, 2009, 8:27:34 PM8/18/09
to karen-ko...@googlegroups.com
Claire,
Thank you! This is exactly what we needed as we begin to move forward
with this conversation. I'll forward your e-mail along to our team and
we'll go from there. I'm grateful for the work you are doing and look
forward to working together with you in the future.
Sterling W. Severns
Pastor
Tabernacle Baptist Church
1925 Grove Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23220
www.tbcrichmond.org
804.355.0134
Thank you! This is exactly what we needed as we begin to move forward
with this conversation. I'll forward your e-mail along to our team and
we'll go from there. I'm grateful for the work you are doing and look
forward to working together with you in the future.
Sterling W. Severns
Pastor
Tabernacle Baptist Church
1925 Grove Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23220
www.tbcrichmond.org
804.355.0134
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