|
| © Dieter Telemans/Panos 2006 |
|
Maxwell, 23, is from Uganda. He grew up the eldest in a family of seven children and works hard every day to provide for his siblings. Currently a student, he also serves as a youth volunteer and counselor at a local branch of Reproductive Health Uganda, educating his peers about their sexual and reproductive health and rights.
As a teenager, Maxwell was abducted by rebels and forced to serve as a child soldier in Uganda’s violent civil war. He managed to escape but says that the two months he spent with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) felt like years. Maxwell lost many of his loved ones amidst the chaos of war, including the man who raised him, his grandfather, who died under the machetes of rebel fighters.
From fighting against his will to fighting for reproductive rights
Maxwell says the conflict has been especially hard on women and girls, many of whom have been raped, murdered, infected with HIV/AIDS and abducted to become the wives of LRA leaders. Many women who were raped end up pregnant and unmarried, and are ostracized by their families. Displaced from their communities and unable to reach health-care services, many of them struggle to survive daily. In the refugee camp where he has been living since his abduction, Maxwell saw many young women suffer from reproductive health issues like sexually transmitted infections and unsafe abortions. Compelled to do something, Maxwell brought together camp members who had suffered abduction and created a youth group. “We started acting dramas, playing songs, carrying out sensitization programs within the camp [on reproductive health issues],” he says. The group soon received formal support from other organizations like Reproductive Health Uganda (formerly Family Planning Association of Uganda) which provided funding and opportunities for additional training for Maxwell and other young people.
The clinic where Maxwell now works offers essential health services to the local community, including HIV/AIDS testing and counseling, testing and treatment of STIs, prenatal care and postabortion care. As a young advocate, Maxwell traveled to Kenya last year to attend an Advocacy Workshop for Safe Abortion for African youth, organized by Ipas and the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Regional Office (IPPFARO). The workshop included educational sessions and interactive exercises for participants to explore their beliefs and values around sexuality, sexual and reproductive rights, and abortion. Participants learned about pregnancy and spontaneous and induced abortion, finding and interpreting legal indications for abortion, and framing abortion as a human rights and gender issue. Participants also learned to advocate for young people’s right to access safe abortion.
Maxwell has since worked with many prominent international organizations, including Red Cross International and Marie Stopes International, educating other young people about family planning, HIV/AIDS, STIs, safe abortion care and even career counseling. Maxwell also leads a local radio program dedicated to discussing young people’s reproductive health issues. He feels it’s essential to reach out to his brothers and sisters in the community: “It is important that they are prepared to face challenges and able to campaign for the promotion of their reproductive health rights.”
Maxwell eventually hopes to earn a diploma in nursing or medicine, so that he can continue to improve the well-being of his community. He fervently believes that his country’s future lies in educating its youth. “We as young people in Uganda want total peace so we can further our education.” He adds, “Knowledge is wealth and when you educate a young person, you have educated the world.”
For more information, contact media@ipas.org