I
felt touched, shocked and sympathy finding many young pregnant girls and many
young people unwell because of suffering caused by STDs like HIV/AIDs which are
preventable and manageable although considered a curse in many of our
communities. The interesting things were also quite many.
This
was during a visit to Naguru Teenage and Information Centre (NTIC) in
Kampala, Uganda with other African journalists from countries like Nigeria,
Zambia, Uganda, etc on Monday, 19th May 2015. The Centre is located
in an upscale Kampala area of Bugolobi.
However,
on the other hand, the visit was interesting and quite surprising because it
was new to me since I come from a rural area finding many entertaining
activities like games for many young Uganda girls and boys in a health
facility.
In
many health facilities especially in the rural areas where I come from, many
health workers are not friendly and the environment looks intimidating in
addition to lack of adequate facilities like drugs which was not the case at
NTIC.
The
many entertaining activities are aimed at making them feel at home when
accessing the health services according to one of the staff we found at the
reception.
 |
| Naguru Teenage Information Centre |
We
were ushered in the centre by the centre coordinator called Martin Byamugisha who
was very friendly. I noticed many interesting things which are youth friendly
like a TV screen playing the latest movies, many indoor games like darts, a big
hall capable of accommodating between 50 – 70 people at a time.
The
centre is also well located in a hideout just behind Kiswa Health Centre III to
ensure the privacy of the young people when accessing health services.
Another
interesting observation was the many condom boxes which were pinned on the
notice board of the centre for the youth accessing the centre to use for free
whenever they needed them.
I
also found the darts board very interesting because it had all the information
about the centre and the services that it offers to the youth meaning that you
would ‘kill two birds with one stone’ by playing darts at the same time
understanding the many services offered by the centre.
Also,
most of the walls at the centre were covered with posters with great pictures
of celebrities like Bobi Wine taking about sexual reproductive health, like HIV/AIDS,
teenage pregnancy, condoms, etc.
Amazed
by the interesting services offered by the centre, I decided to venture further
and had a discussion about the centre with one of the beneficiary who had come
to access treatment.
“They
have good treatment for many diseases and communicate well with us, besides, I
don’t need to pay any money to access services.” Said one of the Teenagers
called John, not his real name
John
adds, “I fear to tell my parents when suffering some diseases like gonorrhoea because
they will think I play sex. However, I don’t fear sharing my problems with the
staff at the centre.”
