Tag Archives: youth

Sexual Health in Nigeria

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Please beware that this blog contains information on some sensitive topics and may not be suitable for all readers.

When in Nigeria I visited Action Health Incorporated (AHI). I went with Yemi from Hope for HIV/AIDS International to be shown round the facilities by Mavis, an intern at the organisation. AHI is a huge non-governmental organisation (NGO) for young people 10 – 21 years of age. AHI is dedicated to the promotion of adolescent health and development.

During the visit to AHI I was fortunate enough to talk to the programme officer dealing with the counseling and advice part of AHI in their youth clinic. The AHI provides youth friendly sexual health and personal development advice through student doctor placements that rotate monthly supported by a permanent advisor.

I discussed some questions that I had about the sexual health service with Oladimeji, the programme officer. Through our discussion I was able to broaden my knowledge surrounding Nigerian health provision and the legal situation of healthcare. I found that HIV testing at the clinic is only available to those over 18 years of age and that both HIV and blood pregnancy tests are done on site. The morning after pill is also permitted and is prescribed. However, abortions are not permitted unless the pregnancy is affecting the health of the woman and until recently a woman was only able to have an abortion if the husband agreed. Thankfully, the rights of the mother now supersede the wishes of the husband and if any woman dies in labour the entire delivery team must appear before a medical panel to explain why. Women are also now allowed to control their own contraception whereas before they were not permitted to without the signed permission of the husband. However, the prescription of regular birth control for young women is severely limited as there are fears about a community backlash against the clinic, and parents suing.

At the clinic they provide free male and condoms and also run a peer education programme with local schools on sexual health awareness. Even though AHI provides sexual health screening and contraception their central message is abstinence. I asked why this is and I got a culturally relevant response. The answer explored the difficulties of navigating the cultural response (and potential isolation) regarding sex outside of marriage as well as the impacts of poverty on many young peoples access to sexual health services. Many young people just can’t afford to get to a sexual health clinic and can’t risk going to a clinic in their local community. Many more people can not afford to feed themselves let alone support a child. I must remind you at this stage that Nigeria is one of the richest African nations and that whilst there is extreme poverty there is also wealth that most people have never seen the likes of.

Another discussion I had focused on child protection. I found out that the rights of the child only came into focus in 2010 and before this point they were not legislated for. However, when it comes to issues of protecting a child especially when it comes to sexual harassment and abuse the law does little in the face of such extreme poverty. Allegations of abuse in the area of Lagos rarely get explored because the person being abused will often be cultural isolated, whilst the perpetrator is often defended. Most abuse cases that were recalled to me involved richer relatives abusing girls that were already promised to them for marriage. In such cases the abuse often happened with the consent or without intervention from the parents because of the financial importance of such a marriage. There are many other cases in which abuse allegations will be settled financially out of court and many don’t even get to court because the parents chose whether or not to take it further. Whilst on a personal level I find this part of Nigerian culture abhorrent the western world is not immune to such violations. The abuse of children is global and before you sit back and criticize Africa you only have to look at the many stories of abuse, particularly in the church, children’s homes and the family to see that we all have to act now in the face of such unspeakable evil.

To find out more about AHI you can go to the website at: www.actionhealthinc.org

If you want more information about recognizing and dealing with abuse you can go to: http://helpguide.org/mental/child_abuse_physical_emotional_sexual_neglect.htm

One week in…

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2nd October 2011

 

Nearly a week into the project, everything is in full flow. So far we’ve made eleven videos answering your questions. The challenge now is to upload them using dial-up Internet! This can be done but needs a lot of time and a large dose of patience. Rest assured the Global Youth Video Project has both of these and you should see more videos being posted this week.

The Global Youth Video Project is now working with AFNOW an organisation that works with orphaned young people. In The Gambia the term ‘orphan’ applies to children and young people who have lost their father or both parents. These young people have started to make their own video with the Global Youth Video Project to show how they live in The Gunjur and the surrounding areas. They have named themselves the United Family Group and working with them has been fantastic so far.

The work at Sifoe Senior Secondary School is also going well. The school system here is very different to that of the UK. Young people and their families have to pay to go school, if you can’t pay you don’t go. Over the last week I have witnessed the great work that is done by The Gunjur Project and their sponsorship programme. The sponsorship programme receives donations of 90 pounds from people outside of The Gambia and ensures that all of this money is used to get young people, in need, into education. In The Gambia there is a particular problem with young girls not being sent to school. To try and challenge this trend the government has declared that education for girls is now free. As good as this may sound,unfortunately this only applies to the study fee. The uniforms, books, examination fees, transport and food costs, all costing thousands of Dalasi, still need to be funded by the family. This week I heard a case of a young girl who is severely disabled being rejected by the school because she had not yet paid the fee for her uniform and examinations. This girl had to leave her family compound to live with a guardian closer to the school only to be turned away on her first day at school. I went to the school with the Gunjur Project, where Alagi met with the young girls guardian, to sponsor the girl and see that she was allowed to continue her education. Thankfully this story had a happy ending but there are many children here that can’t afford to go to school.

Unfortunately, one event this weekhas had a devastiating impact on all of the people around me at this time. A young man of only 22 years of age died yesterday. He was well known and many people aregrieving his loss. Unlike Englandthe funeral was held the morning after. Funerals here are often held on the day of death and if not the day after. No one knows why he died. However, there is no doubt that poor healthcare played a pivotal role in his death and towards the end of his days a reliance on traditional witchcraft may have denied him any healthcare, which may have prolonged his time on earth. My thoughts lie with his family, may he rest in peace.

After that solemn note I want to try and end on a positive. We are getting more questions on the Ask a Question… page and if you are reading this blog make sure you are encouraging people 5 – 25 years old to ask their questions before we leave The Gambia and head to Nigeria.

 

I hope you are all safe and well. Thank you for reading about the Global Youth Video Project and if you want to help the young people here consider getting together with your friends and sponsoring a child’s education for a year.