Staff Reporter
THE arteries of the road leading to Bondel Street were clogged on a Friday afternoon – congested with midday traffic, vendors, and a line of vocational centre workers – but the street itself houses a gem: The BeFree Youth Centre, the brainchild of First Lady Monica Geingos and Saddam Biwa.
The building’s bright exterior, which is still partly under construction, stands proudly behind the Katutura Youth Centre. It is strategically located near its target audience – the often overlooked and underestimated youth of Katutura.
While the building’s exterior demands attention, the interior doesn’t disappoint either. Biwa guided the Informanté team through the colourful hallways of the centre, starting with seemingly ordinary-looking offices and ending with a cosy library.
However, while the centre offers nearly everything that the youth’s hearts may desire – from books to games – the centre’s primary focus seems to be on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). This is evident in the well-equipped Wellness Centre on the campus.
The Wellness Centre, adorned with colourful doors and clearly marked labels, was one of the first areas that Biwa showed the Informanté Team. It includes nurses’ offices, psycho-social support offices, medical consulting rooms, a preparation room for surgeries, and recovery rooms.
“The Wellness Centre also has a room where a rape kit can be performed, where a survivor can leave their clothes, and a sensitized police officer will be there to handle the survivor. The idea is to not have a survivor travel from one service centre to another, after encountering rape, to limit the trauma, we create a one stop centre,” Biwa said.
Another noteworthy feature of the Wellness Centre is its procedure rooms, where survivors of sexual abuse can undergo minor surgeries. These surgeries may include repairing minor vaginal tears resulting from rape, as well as other minor surgical procedures.
“Whether it is minor repair of tears if a girl has been raped, or circumcision, we offer it. Much more complex surgical procedures will be done at the state hospital. The Ministry of Health and Social Services have partnered with One Economy to provide medical supplies,” Biwa confirmed.
The BeFree Youth Centre does not only have a Wellness Centre, but also houses a robotics and gaming area, library as well as a podcast area. According to Biwa, its aim is to cater to young people in general, providing a safe space where they can be guided, empowered, and mentored during their formative years.
“We are looking at between the ages of 13 to 30, as this is the formative years of a young person moulding their minds. So, the idea is, to provide support, which includes physical support through clinical, and psycho-social support, but it the mental aspect of empowering mindsets, and shaping a young person’s mind,” Biwa explained.
This empowerment includes providing contraceptives, education on contraceptive use, education on physical boundaries, and general life skills. The centre strives to create a support system as strong as a family unit.
“We aim to establish a framework akin to a family, capable of identifying if someone is in crisis,” he added.
Biwa revealed that the centre would operate on a membership basis, initially targeting about 5000 members. The membership process, he stated, would be rolled out over the next two weeks. He also mentioned that this process could be accessed through an online system, with physical application forms being delivered to schools as well.
Becoming a member will require an initial fee of N$100 for an access card. Additionally, the centre will have a volunteer program, allowing individuals to earn credits, which, once sufficient, can be used to become members of the centre.
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