Augustin Habimana, 15, a secondary school student at Groupe Scolaire SAGA says he will do whatever it takes to become a reproductive health doctor, a career he dreamed to pursue since he was young. His dream got a huge boost when he attended training on reproductive health conducted by Speak Out project at his school located in SAGA Cell, Muganza Sector in Gisagara District, Southern Province. Habimana was among students who were trained by Speak Out about violence, reproductive health and savings for the future among others, the lessons which he believes reminded him of his desire to become a medical doctor. Like his colleagues, Habimana says little did he know about violence before he attended the training. He says they never knew whether they commit it or are sometimes victims of violence and nor did they know they would meet consequences sooner or later. However, after attending the training, he believes he will achieve his dream. “I realised that violence is a serious issue. You can’t imagine that we realised that we would commit violence before we were trained where we would stigmatise our colleague at school just because of poverty. That was a form of violence but now that we know it, we can’t do it,” he said. “I would even wonder why a colleague of mine walks with no shoes yet she/he has not a single pair. But, after getting trained, I changed my mind because I know what violence is. They would give examples of violence cases and I found myself in different cases,” he added Dreaming to be a doctor Habimana, who initially had a dream to be a priest and a doctor at the same time, says he is only focused to study hard to achieve his dream and has put bad manners aside like sexual relations and other habits that can hinder his chances and the training he attended are helping him enough. “Any teen boy is always desperate to meet and have sex with a girl and this can result to pregnancy. I did not know this because I never had have a chance to have a chat with my parents about this topic. I believe to achieve my dreams because nothing will stop me for I am performing well in class. My colleagues and I have changed because of Speak Out’s training,” he said. He is studying well because already know getting involved in bad manners like committing violence against a minor can end his career or even end up in prison. Habimana is not the only one to have benefited from Speak Out’s training because he and his colleagues have formed clubs intended to train their friends while he calls the project to target more schools. Speak Out is a UKaid funded project operating in four districts including: Nyanza, Gisagara, Karongi and Nyaruguru. The project started in July 2018 and will end in June, 2022. It is implemented by Action Aid Rwanda in partnership with Faith Victory Association(FVA) and Association des Guides du Rwanda(AGR). It aims at empowering girls with knowledge, support and the ability to demand their rights, take control over their bodies, make their own decisions and hold decision makers to account using a holistic, youth-led approach, working at individual and community level. Speak Out Project mainly focuses on addressing Sexual Reproductive Health Rights and Gender Based Violence in Rwanda. It directly works with School girls between 9-18 years: 5600 including 4%girls with disabilities. Indirectly, the project works with School boys between 9-18 years: 2600 and Community members men and women: 46,000
