“MY CHOICES... THE REGRETS OF A YOUNG WOMAN ”

"I made some choices in my life which I regret

I learnt some lessons the hard way because of my choices

I became a young mother because of my choices

I had to drop out of school in order to take care of my child, because of my choices

I was never told the truth about sex, pubertychanges, challenges and consequences.

My parents did not create the space to talk about sexuality and forgot instilling family values in me.

My teachers did not give me comprehensive sexuality education

My religion looked upon sexuality education as a taboo

Health personnel looked at me with judgmental eyes, calling me immoral when I sought knowledge on sexual and reproductive health.

Because of these, I went into puberty blindly, not knowing what to expect…I ended up making the wrong choices.

These are some of the regrets I got from my friend and age mate. This inspired me greatly, to become an activist for adolescent sexual and reproductive health today.

Today, I bring adolescents from schools and communities together with their teachers; training then on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, focusing on puberty, its changes, challenges and how to overcome them

I talk to parents on the importance of instilling family values and talking to their children about sex, since the parents are looked upon as the first teachers in the life of the children.

I also encourage religious bodies to incorporate sex education in their doctrines. I advocate for youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services.

I have come to realize through this work that it takes collective efforts from parents, teachers, healthcare providers and religious bodies to curb the rate of unwanted pregnancies and HIV/AIDS among adolescents – through education.

We make use of role-play, games, competitions on best practices and the media, to get the adolescents involved, and advocate for their own sexual and reproductive health rights. This is bringing a change in the mindset of the adolescents, their parents, teachers, healthcare providers and religious bodies in my community.

As a result, I see children being able to talk and express their ideas about sexuality without being judged Parents opening up to their children and creating space at home for the children to talk about the challenges they face which could lead to wrong choices.

I see teachers talk to children on comprehensive sex education

Healthcare providers opening their doors toadolescents on sexuality issues

These changes are gradual, but we continue to challenge everyone to get involved in helping the adolescent get information in order to make informed choices… we don’t want adolescent of this generation and the next to say “ It was because of my choices…”