During adolescence, teenagers are significantly more likely to confide in their peers than their parents, especially regarding sexuality. This means that many times, 15 and 16-year-olds are responsible for educating each other about the complexities, consequences, and risks of a sexual relationship. In hushed conversations at sleepovers, in classrooms, or on the street, teenagers share their knowledge about sexuality, usually rooted in myth. At Guatemala Youth Initiative, we knew that to really begin to change the culture around sexuality we would have to empower the teenagers themselves.

Our staff hand-picked 13 young men and women for our pilot Youth Leadership Program. These teenagers were educated extensively on dozens of topics related to sexual and reproductive health, with the specific intention of empowering them to replicate their knowledge throughout their peer groups. Youth networking allows factual information to move organically through peer groups and allows Guatemala Youth Initiative to reach the most marginalized youth.  Youth leaders, after training, help facilitate sexual education workshops, refer youth-at-risk, and correct common myths. Through games, discussion, lectures, and role play, the youth leaders bonded as a group and began to analyze their own communities and families. Each youth leader grew and evolved through the course, but seventeen-year-old Ubelia shined.

Her interest in the course was not a secret: she was determined not to become a teen mother. The youngest in her family, Ubelia has watched each one of her sisters get pregnant during adolescence, who ended up moving in with men that rarely treat them well. “When my last sister got pregnant, my mom cried because she was so disappointed,” Ubelia remembers, “I never wanted to do that to her.” Pairing that profoundly personal interest with a space where exploratory conversation was encouraged, Ubelia threw herself head first into the material covered in our Youth Leadership Program. Always ready with the right answer or a controversial opinion, Ubelia led the pack as we moved through each topic: contraceptives, STIs, consent, domestic violence and so much more. “I think this is something that everyone in the community should be learning,” Ubelia mentioned one day after class. “I think the most important thing we can teach is consent,” she said firmly, “No one ever told me before that I had the right to say no. Everyone should know that they can.”

Now with the course under her belt, Ubelia has big plans to spread the information she’s learned. “The majority of the girls I went to elementary school with already have kids,” she said, “I want to change that.” She revealed how she had been raised with the same ignorant ideas, and how she could have very easily followed in her sisters’ footsteps. “I wanted to learn about how to protect myself as a young woman,” she said. Now informed about risks and options, Ubelia chose to use a contraceptive method for herself.

In one year, Ubelia will graduate high school, an accomplishment no one in her family has achieved, and now armed with factual information and experience in discussing controversial topics surrounding sexuality, she is ready to make a difference in her community. She and 12 other youth leaders have already begun helping Guatemala Youth Initiative reach youth-at-risk in our effort to reduce teen pregnancy. Every day, our youth leaders reach more marginalized adolescents, helping them make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health and access services that they need.