"Puberty - Let's be open. Let's share."
Lao Cai, Vietnam | Lao Cai Shifters | 2022
We are eight young, ever-growing people from Lao Cai, Vietnam, who are learning more and more about ourselves everyday – and we want to share that with others!
The Right-Sized Problem
Where we live, mental health is still a stigma that most people don’t want to talk about. Especially as we hit puberty – when our bodies go through all kinds of weird and fascinating things – this stuff hits the hardest, but still many students are not open to sharing it. And so the less people share, the less people share.
What did we do?
First, we wanted to understand what kinds of conversations were the most difficult for teenagers to have with their parents by conducting surveys. Then, to break those taboos, we created a set of activities like community-based art projects and online posters to encourage meaningful dialogues in the family.
We also launched the “Fun Run Race” to share the message of puberty being a long journey ahead, bringing people along to mentally and physically prepare for this wild but life-changing marathon!
How did we do it?
Impact on schools in Lao Cai
Our campaign brought together 1,450 students and 50 volunteers from several schools, impressing principals and local authorities to support us with more resources to take our campaign to the next level.
The Fun Run we hosted at the local stadium was filled with people and reached more than 45,000 people on social media, and alongside our workshops and talks, is now kick starting a widespread open conversation on puberty.
Words from Lao Cai Shifters
“Having limited opportunities and spaces for young people to express their views on health issues can result in the delivery of services that do not meet young people’s expectations and needs at this age of great transition. Therefore overall the significant change this campaign has had on our entire group would be the improved confidence to be an active, dynamic, and innovative youth group on the topic of reproductive health in our community. We are no longer afraid to step up to leadership roles on this topic and place a key role as a voice for many other young people”
Follow us: Facebook
