Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

For teenagers and young adults, obtaining contraception and being educated about its usage can be difficult. There is often stigma around talking about sex and being sexually active. Some may be embarrassed, some may be fearful, either of their parents or their partners finding out that they are using contraception, especially in the case of women and girls.

In order to counteract this stigma, the Family Planning Association of T&T (FPATT) surveyed youth and teenagers to find out what they need and investigate why the services being offered by regular FPATT programs were being under-utilized.
FPATT Executive Director Dona DaCosta Martinez said a program called ‘D’ Living Room,’ located at the corner of New and Henry Streets in Port of Spain, came from the results of the survey, which said it was critically important that counsellors were supportive, relatively young and used youth-friendly language. In addition, it was found that youth preferred a one-on-one setting from the moment they walked into the clinic, and they were more comfortable having an area separate from the ‘watchful, disapproving eyes of adults’. Based on these findings, the program was designed to offer young people a place where they can ‘drop in’, engage in discussions with their peers, hold meetings, participate in recreational activities and receive counselling and contraceptives when requested.
Pantin said the name was also chosen by the young people and had been very innovative in addressing the huge unmet need for critical sexual and reproductive health services among young people. Youth have responded positively to the Centre, which is the only one of its kind in T&T to offer comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services to aged 15 to 24-year-olds. “In the month before its opening in May 2001 approximately 80 visits were recorded, while in January 2002, 515 client visits were made to “De Living Room”. The increase indicates the number of young people who now have better access to sexual and reproductive health services giving them more opportunities to make decisions that are life-promoting.”
“On entry each client is greeted by the receptionist/clerk who assesses their need, opens files and shows them to the waiting area to await the relevant service provider. They are provided with educational reading literature, or they can watch educational videos or shows broadcast on health channels. The literature and the videos revolve around sexual and reproductive health topics such as contraceptives, puberty, adolescent sexuality, HIV/AIDS and STIs, pap smears and other preventive tests for cancer. During times in which special offers are given, like the Mother’s Day Campaign, special presentations and rap sessions are organised for waiting clients in order to pass the time, and these programs are greatly appreciated.”
Increasingly it seems that young people face formidable barriers to their health, happiness and well-being. In T&T, a number of young people become sexually active by age 14, often with little information and almost always without access to condoms and quality health services. According to the T&T report of the Global School-Based Student Health Survey conducted in 2007, “students are engaging in sexual activity at about puberty when their bodies are still immature. In fact, male students were found to be more sexually active than the female students: 32.0% of the males reported they had sexual intercourse and 19.9 % had sexual intercourse for the first time before the age of 13. In addition, 23.9% had multiple sex partners during their life and 29.9% had sexual intercourse during the past 12 months”. Many times, girls bear the consequences through unintended pregnancies and disproportionately high rates of HIV infection.
Pantin said the demand for sexual and reproductive health services remains high, as over the last five years young people have requested over 53,000 services from the centre. “However, given the high unmet needs of young people to have wider access to these critical services, De Living Room is very underutilized. The lack of funding for programs like De Living Room, and the promotion of services offered at the facility, jeopardizes its continued success. Efforts to encourage the corporate sector and others to support “De Living Room” is ongoing. Investment in our nation’s youth is an integral part of the formula for sustainable national development.”