KUZIKO GAME PROJECT

Educational approach for youth/teenagers and parents on sexual and reproductive health using interactive card games.

In Burundi, pregnancy in schools is a sad reality and is a major source of school dropouts. The lack of programmes and services adapted to the needs of young people and adolescents in terms of sexual and reproductive health are factors that contribute to the exposure of various risk behaviours. Young people and adolescents in the process of growing up need to be supported to reduce risk factors. Indeed, it is necessary to start breaking the taboos around the subject of sexuality, the first culprit of unwanted pregnancy.

Measures have been taken by some provincial authorities to safeguard good morals and some administrative authorities are trying to prohibit young girls from going out after 6pm. However, this does not prevent cases of unwanted pregnancies from being recorded. 

 Between 2009 and 2016, they were estimated at 14104. The consequences are enormous, as 115,193 cases of school dropouts were recorded throughout Burundi from September 2015 to April 2016, 171,652 cases of dropouts for the 2017-2018 school year. Thus, the report of the Ministry of Education 2018-2019 recorded 1323 cases of pregnancies and the latter places the province of Kayanza in the lead with 118 cases, then Gitega with 107 cases of early pregnancies. The same provinces are ranked first for the period of 2019-2020 are respectively: Kayanza with 136 pregnancies; Gitega with 115 pregnancies as well as the Province of Muyinga with 101 pregnancies and the province of Bururi comes in first position with 110 cases of pregnancies for the school year 2021-2022 

The consequences of this ignorance are unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, dropouts, clandestine abortions, early marriages and clandestine sexuality. 

To provide quality information delivered in a fun way, ARFH and APROSAP have developed a new approach to education through the interactive card game for youth/teens and parents that addresses sexual and reproductive health and rights issues in a fun and friendly way. A great way to convey reliable and safe reproductive health information in a fun way.

KUZIKO means around the fire. This name was chosen because in the past, the education of Burundian youth was ensured by their parents, respectively their father and mother. It was generally done during the evenings around the fire (KUZIKO). 

It was an educational and learning tool containing reliable information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. In addition, the interactive card game "KUZIKO GAME" is a board game that enables young people and adolescents to be educated and informed about sexual and reproductive health and rights in a fun way.

The game can be used in targeted community chats, awareness-raising sessions or educational talks in health clubs in schools. It can also be used to support a parent-child conversation about taboo topics in sex education.

The game reinforces the parent-child dialogue on sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to break down taboos related to sexuality. The game is designed as a board game with four different coloured zones, question and answer cards containing reliable information on sexual and reproductive health, allowing participants to ask questions on different topics related to this theme.

The game consists of a game board, a booklet with correct answers, a dice, a counter, cards of four different colours containing questions and answers on sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people and a guide booklet that allows participants to ask questions on different topics of sexual and reproductive health. The participants will have at their disposal a booklet translated into the local language "Kirundi" in order to find the information needed to answer the questions. 

KUZIKO GAME is designed to provide reliable information on sexual and reproductive health among youth and Adolescents in and out of school and to strengthen the dialogue between parents and children on this issue in order to avoid unwanted pregnancies among young people and adolescents.

KUZIKO GAME will contribute to the reduction of factors that often make young girls vulnerable, in particular the different forms of gender-based violence (sexual manipulation or abuse and sexual harassment) due to the lack of reliable sources of information on sexual and reproductive health. It will also catalyse dialogue between parents and children on sexuality issues in order to break down socio-cultural barriers that make sexuality a taboo subject.

KUZIKO GAME is an animation game that transmits safe information by addressing often complex sexuality issues in a fun and friendly way. 

Young people, for fear of being uncomfortable, of being stigmatised or of meeting their acquaintances and other adults in care centres, prefer to refer to their friends or to get information on social networks with the risk of getting false information rather than going to the appropriate centres.  

 When it comes to a parent-child dialogue on sexual and reproductive health of young people and adolescents, both parents and young people face many socio-cultural barriers that make a child's sexuality a taboo subject in a family. 

KUZIKO GAME will contribute to changing community policies and practices and will have a chance of success because it was developed by young people who have experienced this situation induced by certain socio-cultural values and are present in all stages of the solution.

It has been implemented through schools and youth centres in the intervention areas. These tools will help young people to recharge their batteries by playing the game and our organisation will ensure follow-up and supervision even after the solution has been implemented. Thus, it will prevent school dropouts, ensure the well-being of schoolchildren and promote academic success, and school dropouts related to pregnancy will be reduced in the project's intervention area.

Thierrives is a young activist and human rights defender. She is involved in health projects with a particular focus on the sexual and reproductive health of young people and adolescents, and the education of the girl child. 

She has participated in several high level national and international trainings on advocacy and lobbying, development of communication tools. She has participated in several meetings on the design and development of multiple approaches to sexual and reproductive health, youth and women empowerment. 

At the academic level, she has a degree of Bac 3 in communication and international marketing delivered by the University of Lake TANGANYIKA. 

Her character is to work with other young people to address the challenges faced by young people including school dropouts due to unwanted pregnancies and other ills caused by poor knowledge of sexual and reproductive health.

 She is a founding member of the Association for Reproductive and Family Health Burundi, a civil society organisation formed and led by young people with multidisciplinary backgrounds. ARFH advocates for innovative approaches to address the needs of the community in general and vulnerable groups in sexual and reproductive health and rights in particular. 

ARFH was created in 2017 and accredited in 2019 by Ministerial Order number 530/1788 of 26 September 2019 governing non-profit associations in Burundi. Its head office is in Bujumbura, Burundi. It houses a group of young experts in reproductive health, experienced in project management, advocacy and lobbying, who are equipped to conduct community animations and used to doing activities with different stakeholders in this sector in different health promotion programmes. 

ARFH already works with several partners such as: 

- European Union through the project Strengthening the capacities of Civil Society Organisations to increase their contribution to governance and participation in the socio-economic development of the country under the chairmanship of CARE International, ActionAid and Youth in Action Network,
- Share Net International and Action pour la promotion de la santé publique in the framework of the project to strengthen the knowledge and skills of young people and adolescents on sexual and reproductive health, by promoting parent-child dialogue using interactive card games "KUZIKO GAME", 
- RET International in the framework of the project "Improving the prospects for sources of income for young people and women and strengthening the capacities of civil society",
- Action for the promotion of public health within the framework of the project to support the nutritional status of women and children under five years of age in the peripheral areas of the Bujumbura City Council (One Cup One Day Project)
- Assocation of volunteers for family and community development within the framework of the Zero Pregnancy Campaign in schools in Bujumbura and Bujumbura, etc. ......   

Through these different projects, our members have been trained on different approaches and other aspects of professional development. Indeed, ARFH has high-level advocacy and communication tools. 

ARFH acts as a catalyst and advocate for the change of socio-cultural norms and values, which from time to time become factors of discrimination and stigmatisation in the community. 

It also advocates for progressive and participatory approaches and is committed to providing strategic direction and programmatic oversight to health and human rights sector activities. 

Apart from its founding members, it has a community base and houses a network of young volunteers who are agents of change in our areas of action and this network will assist the project team in community sensitisation activities through interactive card games.

In addition, ARFH will work closely with Action pour la Promotion de la Santé Publique (APROSAP). It is also an organisation of young health professionals who have initiatives to promote health among the population in general and reproductive health and family planning in particular. Its interventions target critical health issues such as sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, the high rate of women and children under 5 suffering from malaria, the inertia of health promotion activities, the problems of malnutrition as well as the various problems related to gender-based violence.

The partnership with APROSAP has lasted for a long time and is not a random choice as impacts have already been recorded on the actions we have carried out jointly. KUZIKO GAME will be implemented in collaboration with APROSAP with shared responsibilities in our intervention areas. The project team will be recruited from among our members based on their experience in promoting inclusiveness and gender equality and will be supported by networks of young volunteers already trained in this approach and spread throughout the target areas of this project.

Focus groups conducted in the schools of Bujumbura, Bujumbura and Rumonge as part of the Zero Pregnancy Campaign in Schools project, as well as surveys conducted in the province of Kayanza, have enabled us to validate that the lack of programmes and services that meet the needs of young people and adolescents in terms of sexual and reproductive health are factors that contribute to unwanted pregnancies. 

In examining the framework of these early pregnancies, the review of the various reports on early pregnancies published by the Ministry of Education and the National Reproductive Health Programme approve that the lack of programmes and services adapted to the needs of young people as well as the absence of dialogue between parents and children on sexual and reproductive health issues can have negative consequences on them such as school dropouts, early marriages, clandestine abortions, sexually transmitted infections and HIV, fistulas, street children, population growth, etc. 

It is therefore easy to understand why young people and adolescents, children, people living with a disability, women at risk of exclusion and marginalisation and victims of gender-based violence (GBV) are the categories most affected, as they generally rely on support for access to quality health services and support for their parents. 

It is for these reasons that the KUZIKO GAME action focuses on strengthening access to information on sexual and reproductive health in order to prevent risky behaviour among young people and adolescents. It should be noted that the sources of pregnancy have ramifications that generally affect the entire community with the play of alliances (socio-cultural factors, etc.). In this way, the intervention strategy will take into account the school as well as the family while having a positive impact on the whole community.

When it comes to talking about sex education, everyone is passing the quid. To address these shortcomings, we have proposed an innovative approach to delivering quality information in a fun way for young people and parents to address complex but essential issues about sexual and reproductive health and rights.

It is a great way to tackle difficult and often embarrassing issues and to provide young people with reliable information. 
Our innovation is to raise awareness and educate young people through the "KUZIKO GAME" card game containing educational information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

The interactive game "KUZIKO GAME" is a board game that raises awareness about sexual and reproductive health and rights. It will strengthen the parent-child dialogue on this topic in order to break the taboos related to sexuality. 

It has been designed as a board game with four different coloured zones, cards allowing participants to ask questions on different themes of sexual and reproductive health, and a booklet in Kirundi to help them find information to answer the questions.

KUZIKO GAME has an impact because young people and adolescents will be warned about risky behaviours and the game will catalyse behavioural change by putting young people and adolescents in general and girls in particular on the right track by creating a supportive environment for them, empowering them through knowledge acquisition, ensuring their good health and making informed decisions about sexual and reproductive health. 

In addition, some civil society actors working directly with young people have already started using our games in their interventions because they have appreciated the techniques of conveying sexual and reproductive health information in a fun way in a short time. The community of practice intervening in sexual and reproductive health in Burundi (Share Net Burundi), Association pour la promotion de la fille Burundaise (APFB) and Association Burundais pour le Bien-Etre Familial (ABUBEF) trought its movement of young people in action (MAJ)

1. Youth and Adolescents have access to information and demand for sexual and reproductive health services using the interactive card games: By introducing the card games in schools, young people and adolescents in the schools targeted by KUZIKO GAME will be able to access comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information. These tools distributed in schools and youth spaces will help them to continue their empowerment. In addition, a booklet guide containing safe sexual and reproductive health information translated into Kirundi language is also available to them. These spaces will become more attractive, the demand for information and voluntary testing will increase as young people learn about reproductive health topics. As for schools, the "question and answer" board games help to energize their health clubs and youth spaces.
2. Youth and adolescents sensitised by the KUZIKO GAME project are equipped with sufficient knowledge on sexual and reproductive health and adopt responsible behaviour: KUZIKO GAME is a board game that allows young people and adolescents to be sensitised in a short period of time by providing them with reliable information on sexual and reproductive health and rights. It will strengthen the knowledge of young people and adolescents and they will adopt responsible behaviours because they are sufficiently equipped on the subject. KUZIKO GAME will empower young people to manage the transition from the structure of traditional Burundian society with all its underlying values to a modern society. The use of interactive card games in schools and youth spaces will contribute to the reduction of dropout rates among young girls, as the main cause of dropout is pregnancy.

3. Parent-child exchanges and interactions on sensitive sexual and reproductive health and rights issues using interactive games are enhanced: Interactive card games are animation tools that help to raise awareness among parents to avoid ignorance of sexual and reproductive health issues and strengthen parent-child dialogue on these issues. By playing the KUZIKO GAME interactive card games, parents and children alike are able to address complex and sensitive reproductive health issues in a fun and friendly way, bypassing the socio-cultural values that block discussions and exchanges on sexual and reproductive health issues among youth and Adolescents.

KUZIKO GAME is a game that is designed as a board game that can be played with two, three to four participants or in teams of four groups of participants. The game consists of 1 game board, 1 booklet with accurate and reliable information, two dice, four counters, cards of four different colours with questions and answers containing information on sexual and reproductive health and rights of young people and adolescents. 

Each player chooses a starting point (4 colours: blue, orange, green and red) on the board. The movement is made from the starting point of the chosen colour. In order to start moving the pawn, the player must roll the die and move the pawn by counting the squares according to the corresponding number on the rolled die.

 The landing square of the counter corresponds to a question about sexual and reproductive health and rights on the question cards that the player must answer. If the answer is not found, the other participants go to the answer cards to see the correct answer and read it out loud. The other player takes over the game by repeating the same steps. The game ends when all participants reach the finish point. 

KUZIKO GAME is an approach developed by the ARFH/APROSAP consortium funded by Share-net International under its Small Grant SNI 2021 programme to provide quality information on sexual and reproductive health and rights delivered in a fun way through an interactive card game "KUZIKO GAME" aimed at youth and parents to address complex but essential issues on sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

The project lasted 6 months, from June to November 2021, and was carried out in 16 schools in 3 communes of Bujumbura and one commune in Kayanza province. It reached 10,000 youth and Adolescents, parents and civil society actors. 

Once our application is approved by SOLVE, for the next year, we expect to reach 45,000 youth and Adolescents and parents in the three provinces of Bururi, Muyinga and Gitega, at a rate of 15,000 for each.

The factors that prevent us from implementing our solution are : 

- The technical and financial factors are high due to the fact that following the covid-19 pandemic, funding has been reduced in general and our organisations are youth organisations that need support from development partners (PAD). Also, the production of the games requires technical means such as office equipment (printers and accessories) as well as the financial aspect such as staff costs for the design, logistics to facilitate the distribution of these tools in the areas of action as well as the salaries of the project staff.    

- Socio-cultural factors are minimised because cases of early pregnancy affect the whole of society and this concerns us all despite the taboos that haunt Burundian society. And it is its innovation to break them. 

- The political factors are weak because our solution does not touch political aspects but also our actions are apolitical. Also, Burundi is now stable and reproductive health is included in the government's priorities through the National Reproductive Health Programme (PNSR) and the Zero Pregnancy by 2030 programme in schools of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research. It should be noted that our solution has been implemented in 16 schools in partnership with the Ministry. 

The KUZIKO GAME project was developed jointly by ARFH and APROSAP. The project activities and results will be shared on the platforms and their publicity pages as well as with our partners. They will also be shared through the mid-term and end-of-project activity reports. All actions that will be carried out within the framework of this project, the local media (radios, TVs, online magazines) will ensure media coverage of each activity so that indirect beneficiaries are informed of ongoing activities. 

Thus, the mechanisms for planning, monitoring and evaluation, the project will be carried out according to a six-monthly planning with the elaboration of monthly activity plans as well as the budget. 

The monitoring and evaluation of the evolution of the project activities will be done on the one hand at the level of the consortium and on the other hand through the supervision missions which will be assured by the donor. The organisation of monthly, quarterly and half-yearly supervision and monitoring visits to ensure the quality and performance of the project, the supervision missions between the executive committee and the representatives of the partner organisations in collaboration with the donor's representative, the modalities and regularity of the monitoring and evaluation visits and missions will be defined jointly with all the stakeholders. 

The capitalisation of the achievements and the sustainability of the project, a strategy will be developed in order to define the ways and means towards the closure of the project and one of the mechanisms will be to develop and set up frameworks of exchanges with all the stakeholders in this project in order to set up the reporting system of the project and the closure of the project. 

KUZIKO GAME approach is to sensitise and educate young people, especially girls, through the interactive KUZIKO GAME card game which contains educational information on sexual and reproductive health and in the course of developing the questions, it is intended to integrate information on empowerment. 

The interactive card game kits will continue to be available to them for refresher courses on reproductive health and empowerment. They are also strengthened on community facilitation and advocacy techniques on sexual and reproductive health and rights of youth and adolescents to empower them.

Financial sustainability will be demonstrated through close collaboration with the school and youth centre managers targeted by the project. They will be made aware of our card game. They will be involved in all stages of the implementation of this project. Our project team will sensitise them so that they can integrate these game tools into their teaching manuals. This multiplication of these cards by the persons in charge of schools and youth centres will allow to satisfy the demand. 

We also intend to sensitise them to include the costs of multiplication and production of our game in their annual planning. As this approach has been developed by us, the organisations or individuals who request our games will cover the costs of the services and this will facilitate the continuity of our activities.