Boys and Girls Clubs are safe spaces for teenagers to discuss their sexuality, livelihoods and future plans and to obtain the tools to overcome their challenges. It provides a comprehensive program which focuses on sexual education, financial management and skills development alongside play, sports and the arts. If funded, this microproject will host 80 destitute teenagers (age groups 10-13 and 14-18 years) of the impoverished area of Tole (Cameroon).
Absentee fathers and young uneducated mothers are far too common in Tole, Cameroon. Faced with silence and absence of role models, teens cannot discuss important issues about sexuality and relationships. They become ignorant about sexuality and its risks, quickly replicating the problems of their parents. Moreover, they lack different education options, spaces to play, enhance their creativity, do and revise their homework, and learn skills to face the economic challenges of the future.
Reach Out Cameroon already supports teenage and single young mothers to secure their livelihoods and defend their sexual rights. The clubs will target teenage girls and boys in schooling age to prevent the problem before it presents itself. Sexual education, financial literacy, training on marketable skills, arts, sports, board games, movies and community actions will be combined in after-school programs with a flexible structure tailored to the needs and problems faced by teens in Cameroon
Research proves the powerful effect that Girls Clubs have in pregnancy rates, condom usage, savings and school enrollment, even among girls that do not participate in the clubs, due to spillover. Adding the young men, the project creates a culture of responsible fatherhood and make them part of the fight against gender abuse. This will permanently improve the livelihoods of at least 80 girls and boys, uplift their education and provide better lives to their future children.
This project has provided additional documentation in a DOCX file (projdoc.docx).
