Building A New Trail for Teens

Every change starts from a plan that people with burning passion stitch together until it becomes a masterpiece. It may take several rejections, revisions, and a lot of time but this masterpiece can be spread all over the world and can even ignite the fire of those people with similar passion. The STEP-UP Project team just started as a school project but just look where it is now. It has grown with the addition of the Anilao Local Governement Unit and their “Sa Tamang Panahon” Project. The flow of ideas has been endless and each meeting has been productive and fruitful. The technical team has grown and will continue to spread its branches with the addition of the Regional Commission on Population team.

The Commission on Population Region VI or POPCOM is the organization that leads in population management for well-planned and empowered Filipino families and communities. Their mission is to empower couples and individuals to achieve their desired number, timing, and spacing of children in the context of informed choice, and responsible parenthood; enable adolescents to reach their full potential and total well-being; and mainstream population factors in sustainable development initiatives. The commission is currently headed by their Regional Director, Mr. Harold Alfred Marshall.

The increasing cases of teenage pregnancy in the province specifically in Anilao has caught their attention and like us they want to stop it and give a bright tomorrow for the teens.

Last Monday, their team presented the Adolescent Health and Youth Development Program (AHYDP) of the commission. The overall goal of AHYDP is to promote and improve the total well-being of Filipinos ages 10-24 years old through their sexual and reproductive health. They specifically aim to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS among the youth.

Under the AHYDP is the You-for-You (U4U) Teen Trail is a communication campaign to prevent early sex among teens. It was developed by the Commission on Population with the Center for Health Solutions and Innovations Philippines, Inc. (CHSI), a non-government organization that specializes in public health, strategic communication, research and training. They believed that a Youth Caravan initiative to is an effective approach to increase the awareness of Adolescent Sexuality and Reproductive Health (ASRH) in Philippine schools and communities. Overall, U4U aims to increase the knowledge of Filipino youth on delaying sexual debut, preventing teen pregnancy and avoiding sexually transmitted infections.

Men and women aged 10-17 years old, both in school and out of school are the main participants. Before the event, teens or members of identified youth and student groups are oriented and trained on how to manage the different stages of the youth caravan. During the day of the event, they are ones who will be entertaining the teens and assist them throughout the event.

The event is composed of five sections. #BakasBukas is a touch and learn exhibit about puberty, self image, relationships, preventing pregnancy, gender-based violence, and youth advocacy. Teen Chat is a short class about adolescent sexuality and reproductive health. Moreover, Teen Color is a lecture on appreciating gender and how to accept the differences between peers. Teen Choice, on the other hand, is a video forum featuring films made by teens from the different parts of the country. Lastly, the Teen Tunes is a videoke concert for teens.

The commission also provided us with a Learning Package on Parent Education on Adolescent Health and Development in order to guide us for our future activities involving the parents. The package contains five modules: Me as a Parent; Me and My Family; Knowing and Understanding My Adolescent; Building A Positive Relationship with My Adolescent; and Harnessing My Adolescent with Life Skills. They also gave us a copy their mini-booklet about teen’s health.

The meeting did not with the presentation of the U4U Teen Trail Initiative because the POPCOM Team is aiming to bring it in Barangay Cag-an. With this proposal, everybody gave a positive response to the idea. Though the final date of the event is not yet final, hopefully, the U4U Teen Trail would push through in May.

The teens of Brgy. Cag-an will be included in the more than 3,000 youth reached by the U4U Teen Trail.

Our team is growing with the addition of the POPCOM members. It looks like we will be expecting a busy month for us.

Creating change is not easy but it is meaningful and productive if you do it with people who have the same passion as you do. Maybe while making a change you can ignite the fire of those people around you. It will take time but every thing will be worth it.

Let us continue to STEP-UP for teens.