In this edition of Girlz Off Mute, our reporter Camila Lopes presents the social project "Clinica Jovem." The idea came from two young Cape Verdean nurses and activists in Praia who wanted to combat early pregnancy in schools and communities. They offer free access to sexual and reproductive health services and nursing care.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to another Girls Off Mute episode from the Cape Verdean capital, Praia.
00:10 My name is Camila Lox and I'm 15 years old.
00:13 Today we're going to visit the Community Project Youth Clinic created by two young
00:17 Cape Verdean nurses to promote sexual and reproductive health.
00:21 They want to reduce teenage pregnancies and offer medical services to young people.
00:27 Do you want to know more?
00:28 Then join us!
00:31 When Vera Baruch and Neosa Leal were in high school, they had no access to proper sexual
00:36 and reproductive health services.
00:38 This saw many of their classmates leave school due to early pregnancy, which is why they
00:42 started their own project, a school youth clinic.
00:50 It's a clinic for youths, girls or boys who are of reproductive age, so they can get proper
00:59 family planning advice and if necessary, pregnant girls have health care assistance during their
01:04 pregnancies.
01:08 Five years after finishing their nursing training, Vera and Neosa returned to their old high
01:13 school, the Liceu Manuel Lopes.
01:17 They applied for funding and eventually managed to open their sexual health clinic.
01:21 Sexually transmitted diseases, contraception and everything concerning reproductive health
01:26 was discussed with the teenagers.
01:31 Even though we started this project which will hopefully help to reduce cases of early
01:35 pregnancies, we still need to do more because young people need to be educated on the subject.
01:44 They need to understand how to plan their lives, when it's a good time to start their
01:49 sexual and reproductive life, what they should do or shouldn't do.
01:57 By offering professional advice, they hope to create more awareness and prevent teenagers
02:02 from dropping out of school at an early age.
02:08 We have various activities for the school.
02:11 For example, we have lectures and we're going to have a wide range of professionals
02:15 to address different issues around sexual health.
02:20 Doctors will be offering gynecological consultations for teenagers and we're also going to focus
02:24 on providing information by distributing pamphlets and always being available at school to meet
02:30 the demands of our students.
02:36 The two nurses also work outside the school in order to reach other young people who don't
02:40 have access to good health services.
02:43 They talk to them about sex but also other issues like the responsible consumption of
02:47 alcohol or drug abuse.
02:52 We've come to an end of this Girls Off Mute episode.
02:54 We'll be back soon with new stories.
02:56 Bye!
02:57 (upbeat music)