Article Written by: Egbe Doris Takang (an AGYW)
Life skills are important in everyone’s life, especially in the lives of adolescent girls and young women. Regrettably, it is being overlooked, particularly in our section of the globe, Africa. In our schools, homes, and communities, nothing is said or taught about life skills. The repercussions of a lack of life skills among young women and girls are terrible. Lack of life skills is one of the primary cause for the increase in HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted illnesses, unwanted pregnancy, rape, and low self-esteem in adolescent girls and young women.
Critical thinking, decision-making, empathy, stress management, emotion coping, communication, and interpersonal interaction skills are essential for AGYW to live a healthy life. AGYW are very sensitive to peer pressure and societal norms, making it difficult for them to follow the best approach. To avoid being rape, the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted illnesses, unplanned pregnancies, suicide, and mental health, it is very important for young girls to learn life skill.
When we listen to the testimony of AGYW being victims of the above mentioned we will realize that in one way or another they are victims of what would have been avoided if only they had the right knowledge and skills
Beltha said. “I was raped by a certain John in my neighborhood who took interest in me, but my communication approach towards him was very poor,” she explained. When John stops me on the road, I alway abuse him and call him names. To illustrate a point, John and his pals kidnapped and raped me in the middle of the night on my way back home”.
I’m not trying to paint John as a victim here; there is no prosecution for a heinous crime like rape. But, if Beltha had strong communication skills, she might have politely declined John’s request without insulting him, which wouldn’t have led to John reciprocating by rapping her just to prove a point.
According to Fellan, an AGYW who works for Her VoiceFund under the auspices of HOVUCA, she has developed life skills at the level of critical thinking, decision-making, and problem solving. Fellan told a case in which she had to use the life skills she had learned to solve an important situation in the life of a teenage girl who was at high risk of HIV infection. “I work as an intern in a clinic,” she explained. “One day, a 20-year-old girl came in, weeping, saying she thought she had HIV because she had unprotected intercourse with a man. She discovered antiretroviral medications at the man’s home.
So she dashed to the clinic to seek assistance and see if anything could be done to keep her from contracting the disease. So I informed her that the only way out now is to get PrEps, which would assist reduce her chances of becoming infected. Because our clinic does not have a pharmacy, I referred her to a health facility where she could obtain the medication. But this girl would not leave. She was embarrassed and worried about what others would think if they spotted her at such a place looking for narcotics. I decided to pose for her in order to rescue the situation. I went to the health clinic, explained my situation, and was prescribed PrEP. I arrived and delivered the medicine to the young girl. I then used my interpersonal communication skills to teach her about HIV. This girl returned home happy, knowing that even if she was HIV-positive, it would not be the end of her life. I was relieved to have used my critical thinking and decision-making skills to save a life in such an emergency.”
Amanda, another young girl, stated, ” I learned to be assertive and confident. I will never longer be bullied or duped into engaging in things that harm my health and personality. As a sexually active young woman, I know what to do to avoid an unexpected pregnancy, being infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted illnesses, managing stress and emotion, and being totally in control of the decisions I make in my life. This is all due to the life skills I’ve acquired thus far”.
It is imperative to understand that some people are born with life skills. Nonetheless, anybody can learn and improve them. Given the foregoing, life skills should be encouraged among AGYW, for example, by incorporating them into the school curriculum so that young people, particularly adolescent girls and young women, may get the information they need to make sound decisions that influence their health and lives.
Egbe Doris Takang
