NAVIGATING ADOLESCENCE WITH CONFIDENCE AND CONTROL
TOLA – 17 years When she turned 17 years old, Tola’s body started behaving like it belonged to someone else. First, her menstrual cycle became unmanageable. She was always fatigued and listless during her period. She also started noticing that she was thinking of boys in a way that made her blush. She was thinking […]
9JA GIRLS REDEFINED MY STORY
IBIKUNLE OLAITAN – 15 years More than anything, she remembers the excruciating labour. The peeling blue paint of the hospital’s walls. She recalls the deadness of the rotary fan above that ignored the heat of the room. Heat and terror gathered around her. She thought to herself; Is this how I die? “I remember pushing […]
FROM SKEPTICISM TO EMPOWERMENT WITH MATASA MATAN AREWA
HABIBA FULANI- 19 years “My first impression of the program was that it was a complete waste of time,” Habiba, 19, says of the day a voluntary community mobilizer approached her to talk about Matasa Matan Arewa (MMA). She was at home carrying out her daily chores. “I had my child to take care of, […]
MMA LIFE FAMILY AND HEALTH SESSIONS SHAPED MY AGENCY
MAIJIDDA DANAZUMI -19 years Everything passes through the husband. That’s one of the wisdom of being married in her community, Maijidda Danazumi, 19 years old and married with one child knows this unspoken fact. However, timing is everything. One night, as she was serving her husband his favourite meal in the flickering light of the […]