A few youth participants from Nigeria were excited to share their perspectives on the Conference with us!! Obe Olajide and Kolapo Abidemi are both students of Dentistry in the Community Dental Health program at the University of Lagos. When asked about the lessons they’d learned at the conference, they responded…Obe: “I’ve learned that communication is key. In Nigeria, sexuality can’t be spoken about in so many places... not with adults, not at church, hardly anywhere. But young people need the right information at the right time and from the right person. So we need to improve communication about sexuality. Adolescents shouldn’t fall victim to things like STIs, pregnancy and HIV because of lack of good information.”
Kolapo: “The conference was quite interesting. I learned that adolescent sex education is important. I really liked making art with condoms. Often, people see condoms and say ‘AAAHHH’… they feel ashamed, for example, if they see them in the market. I got to decorate a condom and now it looks nice. And now people will ask, they’ll want to know what’s there. I can explain it and they’ll feel more comfortable. It’s beautiful… I like it.”
Photo: Obe and Kolapo with friends (from L to R, Hussaini G Mohammed from Media Trust LTD Abuja, Obe, Ayodeji Adeyemo from UNFPA Abuja, Kolapo)
Angela Bayer, MHS, PhD ‘08, recently completed her PhD in Population, Family and Reproductive Health at JHSPH.
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