GPI Social Work is a yearly activity where a community with Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) issues like harmful traditional practices, unsafe abortion, teenage pregnancy, low productivity of females, discriminating practices against widows, etc will be identified, and intervention will be provided through information, capacity building, and any other form of support available.
This year, the community chosen was Ekong Anaku in Akampa Local Government Area, Cross River State. Ekong Anaku is the host community of the cement giant Lafarge Africa, there two reserved forests located in the community and their major source of livelihood is agriculture. They have 1 Primary Health post, 1 government Primary School, 1 private Secondary School and 2 polling units.
Our first visit to the community with the center girls and staff on the 29th of June, was to identify the SRHR issue affecting them. From the interactive sessions held with the Village head, Orbon Raphael Awor, the community Chiefs, Men, Women and Children, we gathered that there is a high rate of teenage pregnancy, low economic productivity rate of the girls and young people, practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), high maternal mortality rate and other Sexual and Reproductive Health challenges in the community.
On our next visit to the community, we will do an intervention on most of these issues identified to help them live a better and healthy life.