Educational material

In Spandana, flashcards were adopted as the material for education.  This method was selected based on the fact that most women (and men) in the villages are illiterate and therefore tend to recognise images rather than written texts. The flashcards also refer to village conditions, depicting local images (e.g. homes, dresses) and local symbols (e.g. toe-rings on the second toe indicating marital status), to enhance recognition. The flashcards were developed by local artists. The scripts accompanying the flashcards were written in the local language Kannada.

The research also indicated that women, and even more so men, have hardly any knowledge of temporary contraceptive methods. In Spandana, full and honest information (informed choice) is provided on how the different methods work, where they can be bought, what could be the side effects, etc.

Spandana developed flashcards on 16 reproductive health themes such as risk pregnancy, safe delivery, growth of foetus, breastfeeding; menstruation, anaemia, white discharge; spacing and contraceptive methods; physical development during adolescence; son preference and fatherhood