Blantyre Youth Club Implements Initiatives to Promote Sexual and Reproductive Health Education Among Young People
Ndirande Near-By Friends in Blantyre is educating young people on sexual and reproductive health through initiatives such as debates, writes Thokozani Beaton.
Malawi-Ndirande Near-By Friends, a Blantyre-based organization, is implementing various initiatives, including debates on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), to address deficiencies in information dissemination and promote education on the topic among young people, writes Thokozani Beaton.
According to reports, high-risk sexual behaviour is common among young people aged between 15 and 24, with young people in Malawi mostly getting their information on SRHR from their peers, schools, and social media.
Alexander Rockie, a program coordinator for the youth club, stated that through the SRHR program, young people are being taught preventive measures for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and how they can obtain health services.
The club teaches these health matters using a number of social interactions, such as organizing debates to tackle health issues by sharing necessary information and promoting health rights through the advocacy lessons the group offers.
"We find this type of conveying SRHR-related messages helpful and effective. It encourages exposing some challenges that the youth face and how best they can solve them among themselves," said Rockie.
Patricia Meleka, a participant in the club, said that the youth-friendly activity and social interaction initiative has helped her learn the advantages of practising safe sex in preventing STDs and unwanted pregnancies.
"I was not so interactive before with friends at home. And I rarely discussed sexual and reproductive health topics with friends. Debates and other initiatives at Ndirande Near-By Friends have helped me be more open to SRHR issues. I think if I could have not decided to take part in these youth-friendly activities I would have been indulging in risky behaviours such as practising unsafe sex among other life-threatening activities because of a lack of education on these issues," she said.
Peter Mizedya, a Blantyre District Youth Officer, said that the move to conduct debates on health and other matters is important.
He added that when the youth come together to express their thoughts freely in the arguments, they learn fast, unlike when they hear or read the information on media networks and other forums.
Mizedya encouraged project implementers to focus on engaging young people who are not in school in debates about sexually transmitted diseases and youth-related issues.
"These debates should extend to those young people who are not in school. Most of these youths miss messages on sexually transmitted diseases and youth-related issues. I wish these groups were also targeted," Mizedya said.
Mizedya also suggested establishing more youth clubs throughout the country and endorsing a single day per week to discuss a chosen topic and debate on it to promote the dissemination of health education among youths.
Established in 2019 by Ndirande Near-By Friends, a self-funded group with 25 permanent members, the organization sometimes assists underprivileged groups of people and conducts charity work in places such as health facilities in the area.
According to an executive member, each club member contributes K500 per month plus K100 weekly during the club's meetings. However, the group faces challenges in finding office space to conduct their weekly meetings.
Currently, the organization, which is mostly comprised of school-going students, operates from school buildings following an agreement with school authorities to clean the surroundings once a week.