Peer Educators at the Khmer Youth Association

The community groups have not forgotten. Up we climb, up a flight of stairs as steep as those from a ship's ladder, to a room with a whirring fan. The Khmer Youth Association is one of many programs in the country funded by UNFPA. It sends peer educators to target communities where they teach open communication between parents, youths, and teachers around the topics of reproductive health, HIV prevention, and gender equality. Some parents remain reluctant and do not allow their children to join these groups. But the hindrances to KYA's work have solutions. The more open the dialogue that continues, the more parents will be willing to allow such peer education to go on. Likewise with the remote locations of the provinces. The KYA can only reach target communities in certain seasons, because rain at other times of the year makes access impossible. If the infrastructure of the country were improved, so too would the health and safety of its citizens. If we don't forget.