Stories

Five years ago, when Arnilda Simango was 13, she started dating a boy from her community, outside Xai-Xai City, in Gaza Province in southern Mozambique. A year later she got pregnant, at his insistence, and he left her shortly after the baby was born. AMODEFA’s youth services offered her counselling and advice throughout her pregnancy and became the network through which she made new friends.  Today, at the age of 18, she is raising her son, with help from her mother and plans to return to school. “When I started dating, I thought I wanted a partner who could take care of me and that could maybe fill the void I felt for not having a father. When I started the relationship with my boyfriend, he insisted that he needed a son because all his friends already had one. I had little space to say no because he threatened to date someone else and I was convinced he was the right person for me. When I got pregnant in 2016, he started behaving strangely. He stopped being affectionate and gave indications that he did not want to be with me anymore. That's when a friend of mine told me that there was a youth center where I could get advice on how to proceed in this situation". The Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services (SAAJ) center, based at the Patrice Lumumba Urban Health Center, on the outskirts of Xai-Xai, is run by AMODEFA and provides HIV testing and treatment, prenatal and postpartum consultations, and other information and services around sexual health and rights. The center is supported by the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH2ACTION) programme, led by IPPF.   "One day I walked there and received a lot of advice. As I was already 4 to 5 months pregnant, I was advised to open a prenatal form. They did all the follow-up until I gave birth to my son.” "Believe me, being a single mother at 14 was a suffocating experience and it could have been worse if I had not been accompanied by [the SAAJ]. I do not know how to thank them. I practically felt alone without knowing what to do, but I had a lot of advice here and made friends with other girls". Planning for the future  Arnilda dropped out of 7th grade once she became pregnant and helped her mother selling basic goods from a stall in her home. It is from this small business that her mother supports her two children who are still living at home, as well as five grandchildren. Arnilda plans to return to school next year to continue her studies now her son is old enough to stay with his grandmother. Her dream is to be a professional model. Until then she does not want to have another child, so she goes to the SAAJ for family planning purposes. Arnilda says she walks 50 minutes to the center every three months for the contraceptive injection.  "I wanted the implant, but it doesn't settle well with me, so I renew the injection every three months.  I do this because I need to continue studying to have a decent job that allows me to support my son. Next year I will go back to school. "A second child is not in the plans. I still consider myself a minor. Even the first child I only had because at the time I had no one to give me advice and show me the best way. I believed in my ex-boyfriend and today I have this lesson. Today I can say that I have come to my senses, not only from the experience of being a mother, but from everything I learn here [at the SAAJ]. There is no friend of mine who does not know SAAJ. I always advise them to approach here because I know they will have all kinds of counselling and accompaniment.”

Humanitarian crises Largely brought on by sudden onset and slow-onset natural disasters, humanitarian crises are increasingly prevalent in the Pacific. During responses to humanitarian crises in the Pacific, sexual and reproductive healthcare is often under-prioritised and under-resourced. As a result, women and girls of reproductive age and vulnerable and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected and facing increased health and psychosocial risks. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Fragile environments Low topography, rising sea levels and insufficient fresh water supply leaves Kiribati’s population vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis. The fragility of the outer islands of Kiribati during natural disasters is compounded by their geographic isolation, which makes transportation and communication during post-disaster relief and response both expensive and difficult. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Coastal exposure The majority of the population of 115,000 people live a subsistence lifestyle. Communities are geographically dispersed across 33 atolls covering 3.5 million square kilometres in the central Pacific Ocean. The population and infrastructure within Kiribati are largely concentrated on the coast, where communities face increased exposure to climate threats and natural hazards such as tsunamis, earthquakes, king tides, flooding, droughts, and occasionally cyclones. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Takaria, leader and youth organizer in the Tebikenikua community Takaria will be running to be a Member of Parliament in Kiribati in 2020. “I assist the youth with family problems and family planning and disasters. In our community there are unforeseen pregnancies, domestic violence, and disasters such as high tide waters and strong winds, which can also affect this community. The Kiribati Family Health Association (KFHA) is the key point for us with outreach and training so people in this community know how to prevent and treat STIs, etc. They all know where the KFHA clinic is and that they can get counselling or services there. The problem now is you can’t survive with the sea rise levels. I want all members of my community to live better and have better health and peace.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Susan*, sex worker Susan receives care at the Kiribati Family Health Association (KFHA) including a pap smear. Susan*, 28, is a sex worker from the town of Betio on the main island of Kiribati. Originally from an outlying island, she moved into Tarawa to seek work. Unable to find employment that would fulfill her dream of sending money back to her two children, she was introduced to sex work. With other sex workers, she regularly travels out to the large cargo ships from China, Philippines and Korea anchored off the coast of Kiribati. Despite her new income, she still can’t speak with her children or see them due to the restrictive costs involved of travel between islands.*pseudonym Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Theta, 25-year-old mother and youth volunteer Theta is part of the Humanitarian Youth Club set up by the Kiribati Family Health Association in her village. “We face a lot of situations here, one of them is disasters and the second is unemployment and school drop out with our youth. I have helped the Humanitarian Youth Club to apply for financial grants from the Australian High Commission [for $1,000] I am recognized as the smartest member who can write in English. We have learned how to design a disaster plan for the community and share our ideas on sexual and reproductive issues such as STIs. We discuss what we can do for the next strong tide, where we can gather as a community and what we can do if even the maneabe (town hall) floods? If the tide and wind is too strong, we need to go to another safer place, such as another community’s town hall. For now, I want to enjoy the chance to be in our own beloved country. I won’t move until the majority have already left. I want my daughter to grow up in the same place I grew up in.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Beitau, youth volunteer Beitau is the Chairperson of the Humanitarian Youth Club. “I was lucky to be selected as Chairperson as the Humanitarian Youth Club. I feel like I get more respect from the community now I am in this position. I would love advanced training on leadership now, to further assist the club. As I am the Chairperson of the HYC, my main target is to help people during a disaster. I have attended training through KFHA. What I took from this is that when a disaster strikes, we have to do our best for pregnant women, small children and people with disabilities. They more vulnerable and less able to survive a disaster.” Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Abe, youth officer Abe was involved with KFHA since 2012. “I was inspired by what they KFHA was doing and the issues they were addressing that affects youth. I was surprised to see how many young people come to the clinic as they are affected by STIs, HIV and teenage pregnancy. The lack of education here is a big problem, most people here have a lot of children and yet can’t afford to send them to school. Sexual and reproductive health is our responsibility and we must talk about it with young people. Climate change affects many countries, but Kiribati is small and low lying. I used to go visit a very nice beach with a lot of nice trees and plants. Now, the trees are gone, and the waves have taken over, and the houses have disappeared so no one can build there. In my role as a youth worker and activist, I tell people to fight climate change: to grow more mangroves, to clean up the beach, because we love our Kiribati.”©IPPF/Hannah Maule-Ffinch/Kiribati Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email