Project Update: Health Team Distributes Nets, Shoes, Knowledge in Ilajeh

The CYFI Health Team conducted a malaria education and net and shoe distribution event in the Ilajeh community on Saturday.

The team, joined by the U.S. Consul General, Jeffrey Hawkins of the U.S. Consulate General, Lagos, the CYFI Board, and other volunteers and supporters of the project, gathered community members for an informative and interactive presentation on malaria prevention. The presentation, which was interpreted into Yoruba, offered advice on the proper use of mosquito nets and engaged the community in ways to prevent the spread of the disease. Consul General Hawkins spoke on the importance of malaria prevention and the U.S. government's commitment to malaria prevention and other public health initiatives in Nigeria. Local government officials and media, including Silverbird TV, were also in attendance.

The CYFI Health Team has been educating the Ilajeh community about malaria prevention for the past several months.

The event concluded with a distribution of mosquito nets to women of the community and a shoe distribution to children of the community. Since many children of Ilajeh community run and play in the community's unpaved roads that are often littered with rocks and broken glass, t he shoe distribution was intended to complement the net distribution and promote the children's health and safety. C hildren turned in throngs to get the shoes, which were bought with donations by members of the U.S. Consulate.

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Project Update: Education Team Hosts Mentor Training

The CYFI Education Team hosted a training for volunteer mentors selected to mentor secondary school students.They discussed effective means to improve academic performance of high school students, and reviewed a mentorship guide that the group had prepared. In the words of the team: " It was an another impactful discussion forum. We've got ourselves bunch of young professionals and mature adult who share similar passion."

In the coming weeks, the mentors will meet with their mentees and further develop the mentor-mentee relationship.

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Project Update: Health Team Hosts Girls Sexual Health Training

The CYFI Health Team recently concluded a four-day training workshop on girls sexual health.

The CYFI health team held a 4-day training workshop on girls' sexual health promotion in Bariga last week. The training was organized for approximately 160 girls within the age range of 10-18 in secondary schools in Bariga.

The objectives of the training program were to increase the knowledge of young girls on sexual and reproductive health, develop the leadership abilities in participants so they can become girl sexual health promoters, empower the participants with life skills to enable them make the right decisions in life, and provide a guide for young girls through which they can educate their peers.

The training sessions were done by facilitators from HACEY’s Health Initiatives and Project Stretch, who were assisted by volunteers from Beyond the Classroom Foundation. Girls were trained on topics like personal and menstrual hygiene, adolescent and reproductive health, sexual health awareness and promotion, leadership and life skills.

Participants shared their experiences, and asked questions on issues concerning their development. Issues which elicited the most discussion from the students include sexual and reproductive rights, teenage pregnancy, and rape. Participants also expressed their dissatisfaction with guardians and community members who do not show enough support to young girls. Participants were encouraged to speak with school counselors, their parents, and trustworthy elders who can help them with their problems.

At the end of the training, the participants showed a marked increase in understanding of various issues and a positive adjustment in their thought; they committed to be girl sexual health promoters, and to educate their peers on sexual and reproductive health issues.

Participants discussed issues like teen pregnancy, rape and reproductive rights.

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