Help Burmese migrant women access reproductive services

For girls and young women everywhere the traditional way to learn about their maturing bodies is through “girl talk.”

Why we care: Young Burmese women working as migrant workers—especially as undocumented workers—in Thailand are often highly vulnerable to physical and sexual violence and poor reproductive health.

How we’re solving this: PATH are training migrant workers from different ethnic groups from Myanmar to lead Mema Sagawai—or “girl talk”—groups so young migrant girls and women have a place to learn about their maturing bodies and talk about special reproductive health needs.

PATH needs funding to train volunteers to lead Mema Sagawai meetings so young Burmese migrant women and girls can have a safe space to ask questions and to share information about even very personal concerns and feelings, specifically as they relate to being a woman.

While the focus of the Mema Sagawai groups is on increasing utilization of essential reproductive health services, an important secondary benefit is the increased confidence that it gives these women to function in a culture and language that is not their own. In addition to evaluating Mema Sagawai’s impact on the use of reproductive health services by young migrant women, PATH will also measure how being involved in the girl talk groups improves self esteem and adjustment to their new lives in Thailand.