Sarah Ford | September 30, 2014

Why a Beauty Salon in Guyana is an Excellent Place for Sex Education

If you go to Michelle’s beauty salon in Georgetown, Guyana, you might leave with more than a new hairstyle. Inside the small shop, the walls are covered in posters about gender-based violence, and bowls full of female and male condoms are free for the taking.

Michelle, who is a volunteer with IPPF Western Hemisphere Region’s local Member Association, the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), first became interested in sexual and reproductive health and rights at her church. “They said we couldn’t talk to kids about condoms,” said Michelle. “But I said, ‘We all have to live in the world, the good and the bad, and that means we can’t only teach one side of things.’ So, I began to bring information and condoms to teenagers in [the church’s] youth program.”

Realizing she could do more to help her community, Michelle began to talk to her beauty salon patrons about sexual and reproductive health and provide referrals and vouchers for GRPA clinics. Often, gay or lesbian clients talk to her about the discrimination they face. Many women confide in Michelle about the abuse they experience at home. Others seek basic health information, which Michelle provides, in addition to lively condom demonstrations.

“If people ask me about things I don’t know, I will take their number and do a follow up with GRPA,” said Michelle. “There are so many clients that I refer to GRPA. If a person wants to do family planning economically, she needs to go somewhere that she can afford. That’s why, for me, GRPA is doing a good thing.”

>> Read IPPF Western Hemisphere Region’s 2013 Report

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Explore More Articles

For Fifth Consecutive Year America’s Charities Named ‘Best Nonprofit To Work For’

May 6, 2025

Washington, D.C. – April 1, 2025 – America’s Charities, the nonprofit that mobilizes the power of giving as a leading provider of volunteering, workplace giving,…

Read Article

Workplace Fundraising + Volunteering Summit (April 2nd and 3rd, 2025)

March 26, 2025

Join us in attending this virtual summit! The America’s Charities team is joining up with other leading voices in the workplace giving space for a…

Read Article

The Time to Act is Now

March 7, 2025

The results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are in, and the findings are, in a word, heartbreaking. This assessment serves as…

Read Article

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Receive our monthly/bi-monthly newsletter filled with information about causes, nonprofit impact, and topics important for corporate social responsibility and employee engagement professionals, including disaster response, workplace giving, matching gifts, employee assistance funds, volunteering, scholarship award program management, grantmaking, and other philanthropic initiatives.

newsletter-mock