Sierra Leone

In partnership with CODE, Grow & Know conducted participatory research with youth to develop the content for Sierra Leone girls’ and boys’ puberty books! The books target early adolescent girls and boys aged 10-14 who are entering puberty and experiencing body changes. The content includes real life stories and factual guidance for youth.

The two Sierra Leone puberty books support the Transforming Girls Education Project (TGEP). This four-year project provides training to teachers to improve their capacity to teach literacy, gender equality, and gender issues in the classroom. These two puberty books will also provide much needed material to Class 6 pupils in 240 schools and 6 teacher colleges. TGEP is funded by Government Affairs Canada (GAC) and is implemented by CODE and The Association of Language and Literacy Educators (TALLE) in Sierra Leone, with the support and endorsement of a range of stakeholders including the Ministries of Education and Health, and the Teachers Service Commission.

Books

Growth and Changes

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Growth and Changes

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Team

Christine Hagstrom

Christine completed her MPH at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health in the department of Population and Family Health. During her studies, she supported qualitative research on puberty and menstruation as a Lerner Center Research Fellow. Prior to CU MSPH, Christine worked as a Community Health Educator at Planned Parenthood where she designed and implemented sexual health education for K-12 students.

Bio

Nancy Bangura

Nancy Bangura is a professional Social Worker, Researcher and Counsellor. She is passionate about her experience working with women, children and vulnerable groups in deprived communities. Most recently, she served as the Head of Programs, Mental Health and Research for Social Workers Sierra Leone (SWSL). Nancy holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Degree in Social Work, as well as a diploma in Accounting and Finance and Business Studies.

Bio

Ruby Boston-Griffiths

Ruby Boston-Griffiths has a bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Sierra Leone (USL). Currently, she works as the Gender and Education Officer at CODE-Sierra Leone. Ruby provides administrative and research support, including coordinating the Transforming Girls Education Project (TGEP) scholarship program. Previously, she supported Gender Assessment research activities of the Transforming Girls Education Project (TGEP) in Sierra Leone.

Bio

Mohamed Kabba

Mohamed Kabba has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Political Science and a Master of Science (MSc) in Security Strategy and Development Studies. He currently serves as an Administrative and Strategic Management Expert, taking an active role in research and policy production. His prior experience includes working as the Impact Assessment Officer in the Saving Lives Project (SRHR) and Youth Consultant for BRAC Youth Empowerment Strategy.

Bio

Momoh Sesay

Momoh Sesay hold a bachelor’s degree with honors in Public Sector Management from the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) University of Sierra Leone. He has over five years of experience working with youth and is highly skilled and knowledgeable around youth programming, including experience facilitating trainings on gender and sexual rights of marginalized adolescent girls and their families.

Bio

Timeline

2018

Youth show strong interest in books

2019

Local partnerships explored

2020

Research with CODE begins

2021

Girls’ and boys’ books complete

2022

Distributed to 260 schools

2024

Model adapted for use in DRC

Photos

Learning from boys and girls in Sierra Leone

By Christine Hagstrom, September 9, 2021

We are so excited to announce we are developing two new puberty books in Sierra Leone! In partnership with CODE, an international education non-profit, we just finished data collection in Sierra Leone to create books for girls and boys to help guide them through this transition and provide insights from the experiences of other adolescents.

Because of COVID-19, we were not able to travel to Sierra Leone to work with our field team to conduct the participatory data collection, like we have for previous Grow & Know books. Since this was our first time supporting a local field team virtually, we weren’t exactly sure how the process would go. Luckily, our wonderful local team in Sierra Leone were up for the challenge, and they were able to collect incredible stories, and questions from Sierra Leonean youth.

We heard so many interesting stories, insights, and questions from boys and girls. When writing their stories, we asked the youth to include advice they want to give younger boys and girls who haven’t yet reached puberty. Both boys and girls mentioned the fear and confusion they felt at the onset of puberty when their bodies started changing, and they wanted to make sure younger adolescents were more prepared and didn’t feel alone. One boy in Sierra Leone said, “My advice to my younger brothers is they should know this is a stage in life that every boy goes through, so it is normal.”

Many of their stories also included advice that encouraged young people to talk to their parents or another adult they trust during puberty so that they could better understand the body changes they were experiencing. As one girl in Sierra Leone said, “My advice to young girls that are about to start their period is for them to tell someone like their mothers, sisters, aunts, friends or anybody who has gone through that experience so that they can be able to learn much from them.”

To ensure a range of experiences are included in each of the two books, we collected data at 3 different sites, including both rural and urban locations, in Sierra Leone. We are so thankful for our field team, and for the boys and girls who were willing to share their stories and experiences with us about growing up. We are now reviewing the data and developing the content for the two books, so we’ll have more to share with you soon!