Online forum targets youth with facts on safe sex, career
What you need to know:
Content on the platform:
- Information about all types of sexually transmitted Infections and a list of 22 health facilities for treatment and information.
- Life skills such as goal setting, assertiveness and decision making to help them in career and professional lives.
- Facts on different types of drugs and substance abuse and their effects.
- Useful links that provide specialised help in areas like jobs and training opportunities.
The nature of how people relate to one another has changed as a large number of youths engage online and on mobile platform.
This has motivated Youth4life to come up with web and mobile-based platform to educate youths in Kenya and the region on issues about their sexual reproductive health.
The platform seeks to help youths surmount different challenges they experience in their day-to-day lives. It creates an opportunity for the participants to interact and chat on sexual health, relationships, education and career.
CONNECTED LEARNING
The approach, which is known as networked or connected learning, aims to transform the way the youths think, live, work and learn.
The website encourages the youths to get together online and empower one another as well as help stop the spread of HIV.
Africa Alive executive director Walter Odera one of the creators of the idea says in the past they would reach the youths through peer education but new technologies have made most of them shy away from traditional forums, but instead engage with one another through online and mobile platforms.
“At times when we get to schools for peer education programmes, most of the youths would not come out for the talks instead they wanted a platform that they access the information directly,” he said.
Mr Odera said the forum empowers the youths with information to make safe choices in life on reproductive health. “It also a good platform for them to share their experiences on different things and ask questions that disturb them,” he says.
Shy youths also have a chance to ask experts personal questions anonymously as well as share information on the social media. Mr Odera said the platform strives to generate youth orientated content in a variety of subject areas to create a knowledge base for the target audience.
The website offers videos, quizzes, infographics, news articles and give aways. He said the youths discuss different topics including sexuality, sexual health, HIV/Aids and life skills.
“During puberty all teenagers at times doubt themselves or think they are not good enough,” says Mr Odera. “This will fade away while building their confidence and getting to know themselves as they grow up. If you accept yourself, others will accept you too and that’s the importance of the forum.”
He says it helps the youths deal with hurdles in life as well as physical changes.
AFRICA ALIVE
“People with confidence feel good about themselves, but they don’t consider being better than others,” says Mr Odera. “It is key to accept your mistakes and imperfections and move on. Being different shows that you are not afraid to stand out and have your own identity. Be proud of who you are, nobody is perfect, that’s the main reason for the platform.”
He said the youths also get to learn how to solve conflicts, manage stress, anger, relate with parents or guardians and boost their self esteem.
Mr Robert Hoogendoorn, manager of the World of Difference, a Dutch organisation that partnered with Africa Alive in designing the website, says the forum also promotes safe sex among the youths as they also get first-hand information on sexual health.
“Being sexually healthy not only involves your physical health, but also your attitude towards relationships and sexuality,” he says. “It involves knowing your rights, protecting yourself and others, making responsible decisions and standing up for yourself, which will be provided for in the forum.”
The youths will be able to get information about all types of STIs, their symptoms, prevention and treatment, including a list of 22 youth-friendly clinics and hospitals where they could get treated or information on reproductive health.
“They will also be in a position to know about different types of modern contraceptives, where to get them, advantages and disadvantages of each — which will help them plan when they want to have a baby and prevent unplanned pregnancy,” says Mr Hoogendoorn.
Alex Mutungi, executive director at Nairobits, which manages the website, said the platform is also accessible through smartphones.
“When the youths Google Youth4life, they would be right inside the platform launched last week in Nairobi and can navigate to any page they want and with the use of the question port, they can join the forum,” he said.
The article first appeared in The Business Daily.
