Philippines: Empowering Zone

by Arrianne Faith Perez, Women's Feature Service

Cebu City (WFS)—At Youth Zone, the youngsters of Cebu don’t just make friends, they also get empowered. Located in the busy Colonnade Mall in downtown Cebu, where many young people hang out, Youth Zone looks like a posh Internet cafe with its vibrant colours. But there is more to it. It offers young people a place to share their emotional, sexual and health problems and find ways to cope with them. It informs, educates and provides services on adolescent reproductive health, family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention.

“I really like it here because I meet a lot of different people,” says Marie Sagritalo, 18. Like many other teenagers, she initially visited Youth Zone to make friends but later got involved in their programmes. The Youth Zone is run by the Remedios AIDS Foundation, which focuses on reproductive health.

The centre offers Internet services, film shows and boardgames along with counselling, peer facilitator workshops and art therapy. It also has a library and offers referral services on different issues. The young members also use the place for group meetings and discussions.

Launched in 2001 in Cebu, the centre has members ranging from 10 to 24 years old. It has a non-judgmental and non-discriminatory attitude toward visitors. Liz Ragas, Youth Zone Cebu programme co-ordinator, says unplanned teenage pregnancies, followed by drug abuse and relationship conflicts, are common problems among youth. Some of these problems are interrelated and the youngsters are also counselled about them.

A study conducted between 2000 and 2002 by the University of San Carlos entitled “Promoting Young People’s Reproductive Health,” ranked the prevailing sexual and reproductive health problems among the youth as follows: drug abuse (85 percent), early marriage (57.5 percent), unwanted pregnancies (51.5 percent), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS (18.18 percent), and abortions (12.12 percent).

The study noted the youth’s ignorance of reproductive health and safe sex and exposure to different health risks that they rarely treat.

Each day, Youth Zone gets about 85 visitors. Last year, it responded to cases of teenage pregnancies (18 percent) and STD cases (3 percent). According to Dr. Corazon Raymundo, project co-ordinator of the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute, about 23 percent of young people aged 15 to 24 have had pre-marital sex experiences. This behaviour is more prevalent among boys (31.1 percent) than girls (15.4 percent).
However, while more than 40 percent youth think that it is all right for young men to engage in pre-marital sex, only 22 percent approved of girls’ having sex before marriage. The study also pointed out that due to unsafe sex practices, 36 percent girls (15 to 24 years old) end up pregnant. This is not surprising as 40 percent of the first sexual encounters and 70 percent of second encounters are without any contraception, the study noted. Young girls often don’t seek help, fearing blame or ostracism.

The same ignorance also makes teenagers vulnerable to STD and AIDS. Though most have heard of AIDS (94 percent), some (23 percent) still believe this is curable.

But once they arrive at Youth Zone, the youngsters are more aware and feel less anxious about themselves. Here, each one undergoes a thorough health check-up conducted by the three part-time doctors at the centre.

Though young people need professional help, they don’t trust anyone, Ragas noted. At Youth Zone, they are able to open up and share their problems in complete confidence. The centre also helps them to make the right choices in the future.

Renato Ulan, 25, a peer educator at the centre, said “I’ve realised the need to give accurate information to young people who are still exploring. There are many misconceptions about sex. That’s why they need information to protect themselves.”

This article first appeared in The Freeman (Cebu) last 24 March 2003 and 31 March 2003 as a two-part feature.