Project helps build sexual responsibility.

Program activities are described for the Youth Counseling Services and Family Planning Education Project, established in 1990 by the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia. The project operates out of two locations and has five staff and a doctor who visits two times a week. Thus far 5300 adolescents have received contraception and about 500 youth have received medical consultations. Services include counseling, films about adolescent sexuality and contraceptive methods, booklets on family life education and contraception, and a drama group that does community outreach. Services aim to treat and prevent sexually transmitted diseases an AIDS, to improve reproductive health, and to provide family planning services. Services are a joint effort of staff, community, school teachers, and youth that aims to break down cultural barriers that prevent use of services. Material for films and theater comes from locally written or prepared materials. For example a teenager wrote the play "Yetwatwa Chorka" about adolescent pregnancy. Another radio dramatization has a plot relating to the conflict between traditional and modern values. The drama troupe also does radio dialogues about contraception and family issues and makes advertisements about condoms and HIV transmission. The producer director of media outreach is reported to be well known for his role in the productions. The centers are considered popular and more outreach is planned for out of school youth.