Early Parenthood Control And Reintegration Programme launches in Ghana

Teenage in some parts of Ghana and beyond national borders, especially in deprived communities is characterized by the desire to explore or to find means to live a sustainable life. In their bid to be adventurous, or to find a means of survival, some of the ladies in these teen ages get entangled in lives undesirable even by themselves, and because they consider no other alternative viable, they hold on to the pain and live on.

Some of these ladies, either due to lack of exposure and proper sex education, or poverty, give themselves to their male counterparts or even older men as sex tools, in order to earn a living. Popularly in coastal areas, where men fish to make ends meet, some young ladies who do not have proper financial support also sleep with these men for fish, so they could sell in order to make a living. Not limiting the subject to these circumstances, these sexual activities indulged in often leads to teenage pregnancies and early parenthood.

In many communities in Ghana and beyond, teenage mothers or pregnant teenagers are not accommodated into society: Society sees them as deviants and unworthy to socialize with. Strikingly, heads of some schools do not allow teenage mothers or pregnant teenagers to re-enroll into schools or to take part in examinations, despite the willingness of the students to do so. Even in churches, if not suspended, teenagers or teenage mothers are barred from attending church; and in churches where such category of people are welcome based on doctrines, the stigma faced by these teenagers alone discourages them from attending fellowships. Some parents, for the sake of avoiding shame, disown their children who find themselves in such situations. Mostly for those in the urban areas, they are threatened to be, or are taken to their villages as a form of punishment for getting pregnant.

We at the Early Parenthood Control and Reintegration Program have a vision to help alleviate early parenthood resulted from unplanned pregnancie; end the stigma against early parenthood, and also help reintegrate teenage mothers who have been sidelined in society by building their capacity to help them realize the lives they want to live.

Our mission is to educate communities on the implications of teenage pregnancies and how to prevent them; campaign against the stigma teenage mothers face, and employ opportunities of formerly educate or train these teenage mothers in the fields of their choice, to help them realize the lives they envisage living.
Apparently, our main target are teenage mothers and pregnant teenagers. We also intend conscientizing the community as a whole, since they are contributors to stigmatization.

As plans to increase awareness on the need to prevent unplanned pregnancies and to campaign against stigmatizing, the Early Parenthood Control Program intends visiting communities prone to teenage pregnancy and parenthood, and conscientizing them on pertinent subjects through community durbars and peer-to-peer interactions. The organization also plans to visit basic and high schools, since our target audience are mostly found in these places. We also intend to use social media, radio, television, bill boards and souvenirs to champion our campaign and education.

The second module of our action plan is to find ways to reintegrate early parents or pregnant teenagers into society by creating opportunities that seek to build the capacities of this category of individuals. Amongst such opportunities is enrolling those who would like to further their education in school, and possibly with academic scholarships. Those who would want to learn a skill or a trade would be enrolled on such programs. To bring this to reality, we are partnering with technical and vocational institutions, scholarship schemes and individuals who seek to sponsor this program.

Due to the worthiness of this program, we have had the endorsement of a number of prominent individuals in the Ghanaian community, including renowned actors Adjetey Annang and Kalsoume Sinary; and Medikal, a renowned Ghanaian Musician. We also have strong-willed volunteers who are committed to see the objectives of this institution realized.

In the near future, our campaign is expected to spread beyond the borders of Ghana and Africa. Join us as we champion this campaign against stigmatization of teenage mothers and pregnant teenagers; and help us reintegrate them in our societies while building their capacity.

Break the Cycle!

Treat her right!

She only got pregnant; she did not kill a baby!