Joint Project for Boys

For young men growing up in villages in Central Asia, answers to questions about their blossoming sexuality are hard to find. Young people don’t feel comfortable discussing such matters with their parents. That vacuum leaves teen-agers to find answers in the movies and from other poorly informed young people.

CDI began addressing this lack some 2 years ago by teaching seminars to boys and girls separately. The seminars cover topics such as puberty, self-respect, respect of the opposite sex, and maintaining sexual purity. In late February the Jalal-abad and Kara Suu offices came together to improve young men’s health in the Kashgar Qishloq region. The four-lesson seminars usually happen over a one-month period, but the Kara Suu office called for binge-teaching!

Two staff from the Jalal-abad office travelled to Kara Suu where they met with young men and teachers from 5 schools in the area. They spent the morning doing all four seminars back-to-back. After lunch, CDI staff from both offices helped the young men prepare materials to equip them to pass on what they had learned to others in their own schools.

During one segment, students and teachers were in separate gatherings. There the young men really opened up to CDI staff, asking questions about intimate issues and gaining answers from a concerned adult male.

Kara Suu staff will follow up with teachers and students in the schools, insuring the dissemination of helpful information for young men in the area.