Hira’s journey with Adolescent Girls Club in the rural part of Bangladesh

Hira, 16, is a member of Jalkata Golap Adolescent Girls Club, a program of BIENGS project funded by the European Union. A total of 672 Adolescent Clubs have been established at village level with 15,075 adolescent girls’ ages between 10 to 19 years. An adolescent’s club is formed with 20 -25 adolescent girls. Girls learn about improved life skills, health, nutrition and WASH behaviour.

I am Hira, a member of Jalkata Golap Adolescent Girls Club. It’s in Sherpur District of Bangladesh.

I can feel a change within me after joining the club. Now I know detail about health, nutrition and hygiene practice what I knew very little before. These things are very important for adolescent girls. I can even discuss freely needs of staying clean, eating nutritious food and changes at this adolescent age with family members and friends.

Now, I take an IFA tablet (iron tablet) from the community clinic. I have also taken the TT vaccine. These two are vital for every girl.

Our club activities are interesting. We enjoy games and sessions where we learn about foods, physical growth, hygiene and gender discrimination.

Last year when COVID-19 broke out in Bangladesh and around the world. Out club activities stopped.

The pandemic affected my life. My father lost his job due to the closure of the factory where he used to work. He had to return home from Dhaka.

Our family fell into a financial crisis. We could not manage enough food. We suffered.

My life was confined within the home because our school was closed. I could not meet my friends. Going outside the home boundary was restricted.

Our Shumi apa (Community Nutrition Promoter) communicated over the phone regularly. She asked how family members are doing. Following that, we also used to talk among friends over the phone. It helped me mentally.

When the situation became a bit normal, our club activities resumed in a limited edition - following health safety measures. The club activities and friends of the club were big mental support during the COVID-19 pandemic scary moments.

My mother and father encourage me to participate in the club because they know I am learning many good things from the program. They can see changes in my life. I share what we do in the club. They liked those very much.

In the club, we also listen to stories. One moved me where an adolescent girl of my age used dirty cloth instead of sanitary napkin during menstruation. She becomes sick and dies at one point.

The story was shocking, but we learned the importance of maintaining hygiene during menstruation. Later I told the story to my classmates also.

The session topics of the club are very important and necessary. We can discuss in a group any problems and work together to solve the problems, e.g. bad effects of child marriage, the necessity of food and nutrition for adolescents, and the importance of education for girls.  These things inspire me to participate in club activities.