As part of our activities for Jamaica's observation of Safer Sex Week last week, I along with two other J-STAR council members and staffer Sasha Small, visited the local Women's Centre in St. Andrew, Jamaica, with the aim of increasing the awareness of the students at the centre of safer sex practices and issues surrounding the same. Women Centres in Jamaica are special schools operated by the Women's Centre Foundation of Jamaica that seek to offer counselling services and tangible support for teenage mothers. Family planning is a critical component to the overall counselling progamme and  the girls are informed about all the available methods of contraception as often as possible, especially in light of the fact that  'second' pregnancies among this grouping remains rather high, with contraceptive failure being the most common reason cited. A second pregnancy is one which occurs before the girl completes her secondary level education on her return to school.

An additional benefit to be garnered from these centres by pregnant teenagers, is an opportunity to be tutored in the same subjects that they would have been persuing, had they not dropped out of school.They were tutored in English Language, English Literature, Social Studies, Principles of Accounts, Integrated Science, Information Technology, Food and Nutrition, Home Economics, Office Administration, and Biology. This opportunity allows these students to sit their final exams like their peers enrolled in the public schools, thereby giving them a chance to get back on their feet.

I cannot over-emphasise how good an initiative this programme is. This is indeed the lifeline that Jamaica offers to pregnant teengers; one cannot venture as far as to doubt how good and investment this programs is. Herein lies the chance for every girl under the age of eighteen (18), who got pregnant because she was raped, or the contraceptive method failed or she risked it and had sex without any contraceptive method to say look, i have erred once, or someone has erred me....but this is not the end of the world. I shall rise above this obstacle and become a viable member of my scoiety.

This was the mindset of Dianna. She sat at the front of the class and from the moment we started the session she actively contributed to it by answering questions and giving recommendations. She immediately won everyone's admiration. The class by extention impressed me with the wealth of knowledge that they possessed. Their level of expertise on issues related to sexual and reproductive health was impressive and we could could not help but not only commend these students  but also implore them to put into practice what they know as well as share with their peers who are not privy to this wealth of knowledge, all that they know. Additionally i saw these young ladies as prime candidates to employ  when going on similar trips to other schools because having been in the situation that we as a council are hoping to steer other young girls away from, they are better able to articulate to other girls the particulars of unsafe sexual practices and the ramifications thereof.

Dianna was one of the first to give us her contact information so that she could help us in subsequent workshops. She expressed to us a genuine desire to make her mother proud by becoming more actively involved in programmes that would contribute to her overall development. It dawned on me that there are many pregnant Dianna's out there who got pregnant accidently but who would not give up on life and the opportunity to make the best for themselves. I implore everyone who knows a Dianna to never hesitate to give her a helping hand, to never hesitate to empower her so that she can, from hence forth, make informed decisions about  her sexual and reproductive health. To all the Diannas out there, you are brave ...you chose life and i am proud of you. Don't you ever give up  on life...don't you ever stop striving.