Five AP Teenagers Participate in Reproductive Health Education Classes

   This summer break, AP’s five younger teenagers (13-15year olds) will take part in a valuable workshop program run by Karol & Setha (acronym for ‘Knowledge And Reflection on Life & Sexuality Through a Holistic Approach’).  In 2010 our nine eldest residents enrolled in this workshop whose benefits were noticeable and very positive.  With the next group of residents reaching adolesence, we recognized it is their turn to participate.  Karol & Setha is an educational program run by Khmer trainers, taught with a holistic approach and targeted to specific age-groups.  The workshops introduce topics of positive relationships, sexuality, identity, peer pressure, decision-making, critical thinking, communication of one’s feelings and needs, and understanding the feelings and needs of others.  We have seen the courses as a valuable way for our teenagers to be comfortable in asking questions about sensitive topics, to consider how they interact with others, what it means to build positive relationships with their peers, to know they have a say in how others treat them, and addressing topics that are often not openly talked about in Cambodian culture but are important to learn.