Meet Aina, one of the future field coordinators of the reusable sanitary pad project!

“I am learning new things all the time here at Projet Jeune Leader and improving my skills for my future. I want to learn everything I can about youth health and communication with youth.” Aina

Aina Rasoazanany grew up in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. Her family moved south to the town of Fianarantsoa when she was 13 years old. After passing her high school Baccalaureate degree with flying colors, she went on to the University of Fianarantsoa and studied Civilization and Applied Language for 3 years. During that time, she actively volunteered with the Red Cross and with an NGO focused on the prevention and treatment of gynecological and breast cancers.

In 2014, she was hired by Projet Jeune Leader to be one of their full time youth educators. Over the course of that school year, she taught reproductive health and leadership classes, led two after-school clubs (in her case, a cooking club and a theater club), and provided counseling to students every day. “The thing I like most about Projet Jeune Leader is that I get to work in the schools where the kids feel most comfortable. I get to see the kids every week and see them learn, grow up, and improve their lives,” she explains. “I really loved counseling the students. It gave them the confidence to look for solutions to their problems as opposed to just thinking they can do nothing to fix their problems,” she adds.

Aina’s enthusiasm and professionalism prompted Projet Jeune Leader’s staff to promote her in 2015 as a Research Assistant for the girl’s puberty book that Projet Jeune Leader is developing with the NGO Grow and Know (as discussed in previous blog post). As part of this project, she and her counterpart interviewed over 200 girls and women about puberty and menstruation beliefs, taboos, and misunderstandings.

Now, as part of this new re-usable pad and menstrual health project, Aina will return to the field to continue working with young girls. She will develop Projet Jeune Leader’s menstrual health and hygiene after-school curriculum; she will educate girls about health and cleanliness during their period; she will work with the community to address the taboos and biases surrounding puberty and menstruation; and she will closely monitor the progress of the pad production.

She is excited about this new opportunity “I am learning new things all the time here at Projet Jeune Leader and improving my skills for my future. I want to learn everything I can about youth health and communication with youth.”