1. FGD with WOMEN & MENusers of FP (ARBEF clients, voluntary saving and loans group, Batwa community, CARE staff)

1.0. Introduction

It will concern generalities, and creates smooth mood to start real discussions or interviews. Moderators will among others introduce objectives and the purpose of the research, and explain approaches to be used. There will be also negotiation of free consent to participate, and make sure the participants are really the ones targeted by the subject, and according to the sampling and research plan.

1.1. Participatory assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on FP among target group and CARE staff, including participatory identification of socio-cultural barriers and of girls/women and boys/men’s respective role in FP/SRH. Assess positive and negative forces that must be addressed or that can be built on in future programming;

  1. What types of FP methods do you know?
  2. How and when did you know them?
  3. What kind of FP methods are you using?
  4. For how long have you been using FP?
  5. Why have you decided to use FP?
  6. Why are you using that specific method and not others?
  7. What advises could you provide to the new users of FP in general and to the specific method in particular?
  8. What do you think of FP in general
  9. What are the advantages of FP have you met so far?
  10. what are the disadvantages have you faced so far
  11. What do you appreciate more in FP
  12. What don’t you like in FP?
  13. What is the importance of FP
  14. For the individuals
  15. The families;
  16. The country?

1.2. Gain knowledge on resisting and supporting socio-cultural factors and on factors associated with power relations between men and women that influence use of Family Planning services by women in general and vulnerable women in particular (WLWA, Batwa) and CARE staff;

  1. Tell us how you begin the use of FP?
  2. Why did you decide?/What exact event happened to help you decide?
  3. In general who decided first to go for FP among you and your spouse?
  4. What precise actions did you take personally in that way?
  5. What precise actions did he take in that way?
  6. How the spouse did he react in the beginning?
  7. What are his reactions nowadays?
  1. Who is more involved in FP in your couple?
  2. Why do you think so?
  3. What can be done to encourage the other partner (or you) to be “more” involved (or at the same level)?
  1. What are the barriers/challenges did you face to access to FP?(In the beginning and now). Probe to explore barriers related to:
  2. men position & power in the couple;
  3. women submissiveness
  4. Relatives and close friends influence;
  5. Unavailability of services/Health centers and/orproviders’ incompetenceand willingness;
  6. Traditional belief and Rwandan “pro-nativity” culture;
  7. What could be the role of cultural factors in encouraging or discouraging the use of FP?
  8. religious beliefs;
  1. What have you done to overcome those challenges /barriers?
  1. Would you know relatives, friends or neighbors that want FP but don’t actually go to search for that at clinics? If so,
  2. What are the reasons they tell you (or you think) why they don’t go to clinics?
  3. How do you appreciate those reasons?
  4. If it was your case, what could you do?
  1. What categories of women do you think are more vulnerable to be refused FP services while they want them?
  2. What could be the reasons?
  3. What are your advices to deal with those reasons?

1.3. Assess the feasibility of using community interactive theatre and other participatory knowledge sharing and sensitization methods to collect sensitive information on RH and FP and to change behavior (to be used as a BCC strategy);

Now, based on what we have been discussing, some of us are going to role-play and we will continue our discussions after:

  • (2 actors (among the moderators) will role play key issues raised by the participants in the previous step for around 10 minutes, emphasizing on socio-cultural factors and on factors associated with power relations between men and women that influence use of Family Planning services by women.The cameraman will record the role play and participants’ behaviors during the performance
  • Participants will be asked the following questions):
  1. What do you think of the role play?
  2. Does it reflect the reality of FP in this region?
  3. What else should you add on the factors of not attending FP services?
  4. what are factors linked to men
  5. what are factors linked to women
  6. What is exaggerated? Why do you think so?
  7. What is understated? Why do you think so?
  1. What personal lessons have you got from this role play?
  1. What advices could you provide for improving this role play?

2. FGD with WOMENMEN NON-users of FP (Voluntary saving and loans group, Batwa community, CARE staff)

. Introduction

1.1. About Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on FP among target group and CARE staff, including participatory identification of socio-cultural barriers and of girls/women and boys/men’s respective role in FP/SRH. Assess positive and negative forces that must be addressed or that can be built on in future programming;

  1. What types of FP methods do you know?
  2. How and when did you know them?
  3. Why have you decided not to use FP?
  4. What don’t you like in FP?
  5. What advises could you provide to the new users of FP in general and to the method in particular?
  6. what do you think of FP in general
  7. What are the advantages of FP have you met so far?
  8. what are the disadvantages have you faced so far

1.2. Gain knowledge on resisting and supporting socio-cultural factors and on factors associated with power relations between men and women that influence use of Family Planning services by women in general and vulnerable women in particular (WLWA, Batwa) and CARE staff;

  1. Tell us why you don’t useFP?
  2. Why did you decide not to use FP (or to stop using FP)?
  3. What are specific reasons of not using FP?
  4. Your personal reasons
  5. Spouse’s personal reasons
  6. Have you ever used FP in your life?
  7. What are your discussions on that issue in your couple?
  1. What are other barriers/challenges do you face to access to FP?Probe to explore barriers related to:
  2. men position & power in the couple;
  3. women submissiveness
  4. Relatives and close friends influence;
  5. Unavailability of services/Health centers and/or providers’ incompetenceand willingness;
  6. Traditional belief and Rwandan “pro-nativity” culture;
  7. What could be the role of cultural factors in encouraging or discouraging the use of FP?
  8. religious beliefs;
  1. If one day you decide touse FP,
  2. What should be the reasons for the use?
  3. What methods should you use and why?
  4. What challenges could you face?
  5. How could you handle them?
  1. What categories of women do you think are more vulnerable to be refused FP services while they want them?
  2. What could be the reasons?
  3. What are your advices to deal with those reasons?

1.3. Assess the feasibility of using community interactive theatre and other participatory knowledge sharing and sensitization methods to collect sensitive information on RH and FP and to change behavior (to be used as a BCC strategy);

Now, based on what we have been discussing, some of us are going to role-play and we will continue our discussions after:

  • (2 actors (among the moderators) will role play key issues raised by the participants in the previous step for around 10 minutes, emphasizing on socio-cultural factors and on factors associated with power relations between men and women that influence use of Family Planning services by women. The cameraman will record the role play and participants’ behaviors during the performance
  • Participants will be asked the following questions):
  1. What do you think of the role play?
  2. Does it reflect the reality of FP in this region?
  3. What else should you add on the factors of not attending FP services?
  4. what are factors linked to men
  5. what are factors linked to women
  6. What is exaggerated? Why do you think so?
  7. What is understated? Why do you think so?
  1. What advices could you provide for improving this role play?
  1. What personal lessons have you got from this role play?

3. Specific to CARE, Hospital & health centers and eventual interveners using community interactive theater or other innovative sensitizing strategies only

a. Specific to CARE staff f only, mainly senior

1.4. Assess strategies for mainstreaming SRH/FP in existing programs

  1. What do you think of CARE programs and projects in general?
  2. How do they respond to the personal needs of the staff?
  3. How the program/project in which you work does respond to your personal needs ?
  1. How do you think CARE programs could assist their staff in FP?
  2. Is there anything done by CARE in that sense currently?
  3. If yes, what exactly?
  4. How do you appreciate that?
  5. What do you suggest as improvement?
  6. What exact elements would you like to add in CARE various programs in order to respond to FP needs of the staff?

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b. Specific to Hospital & health centers officials & providers and CARE staff:

1.5. Identify local partners that use community interactive theatre or other innovative participatory knowledge sharing and sensitization strategies in Rwanda. Assess the quality of theatre on FP (if existing) and/or assess their capacity to develop theatre that would address the socio-cultural barriers to FP and the role of men; If possible, test the feasibility and impact of such a strategy with a limited group of men and women;

  1. What other interveners in FP do you know in this region?
  2. Who are they?
  3. What are they doing?
  4. How do you appreciate their programs?
  5. What are their approaches in community sensitization?
  6. Do you know any of them who use community interactive theatre or other innovative participatory knowledge sharing as sensitization strategies?
  7. If yes, tell us what you have appreciated in those innovative strategies?
  8. What would you like them to change/add in order to respond to the community needs in FP?

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c. Specific to interveners using community interactive theater or other innovative sensitizing strategies:

1.6. In each District selected by this study, we will look for those interveners by contacting District hospitals and health centers. In case we find them, we will ask the following questions:

  1. What innovative sensitization strategies do you use in FP?
  2. Tell us how you start these innovative sensitization strategies?
  3. Why did you choose them?
  4. Why did you decide to use innovative strategies instead of classic ones?
  5. What kind of challenges do you face?
  6. How do you cope with them?
  7. How Community Theater does help in addressing the socio-cultural barriers to FP and the role of men?
  8. What best practices have you achieved so far with innovative strategies in FP?
  9. What advices could you provide to other interveners who want to use Community Theater and other innovative strategies in sensitizing the community in FP?

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