By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Adolescents in four slum communities in the Western Area are currently training their peers on the use of an app that teaches them about Sexual Reproductive Health.
The training falls under the “Leh we tok but mami and daddy bizness” project, which is being implemented by Save the Children.
The communities targeted are Aberdeen, Murray Town, Cockle Bay and Connaught.
The app, known as Adolescents Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH) Mobile app, was developed in a joint initiative by the Danish software company Lulu Lab IT Consultancy, the ICT faculty of the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology in Sierra Leone and Save the Children.
On Tuesday, 20 adolescents in Murray Town who have had an early training on the app, taught 60 other kids on how to use it. Both boys and girls participated in the training.
They were distributed in small groups, with one of the 20 trainers who are also known as App Champions and a Limkokwing Student forming part of each group.
Communications Officer of the Project, Jacob Wilson, told Politico that the app would bridge the communication gap that is between parents and their children when it comes to discussions about sex and reproductive health.
“We all know that it is like a taboo for parents to sit and discuss with their children about sexual reproductive health. But through this app the children will have the required knowledge,” Wilson said.
Wilson said they are using the children to roll out the project because they want to strengthen their advocacy skills and make sure the knowledge about the app is preserved and transmitted to their peers in these communities.
Wilson added that work on the app started in July last year and several engagements and tests led to a final version in March this year. COVID-19 messages have also been integrated in to the app.
In total, 80 app champions in all four communities will teach 240 other children. The aim is to transmit the knowledge to as many children as possible in these communities.
Wilson said they decided to target these communities for this project because of the vulnerability of most of the households there as a result of poverty.
“We chose these four communities because when it comes to issues like teenage pregnancy and STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections), these densely populated areas are highly vulnerable,” he said.
Ahmed Saidu Kamara, a Limkokwing Student who was part of the team that designed the app, said they designed it like a game, knowing how attracted children are to playing games on mobile devices.
“We found out that if we decided to show them lectures or let them watch tutorials then they will be bored,” Kamara said.
Kamara said they also had help from the children, who gave some major input in developing the app.
“The kids gave us what we needed because we were developing the app for them. They gave us the theme, the song, the background. It was a back and forth process with a lot of engagement with them” he said.
A 13 year old girl who is an app champion told Politico that through the app learnt about STIs.
“I now know that if you don’t use condoms you will get STI’s,” she said.
By noon she had taught three other children on how to use the app, and she said she was proud that they understood what she taught them.
An app like this could benefit millions of boys and girls in the country. Wilson said Save the Children would have to make a decision whether to roll out the app to other communities in the country.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
