MyQuestion and MyAnswer

To complement an existing toll-free hotline service which is run by the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), Learning about Living launched MyQuestion to expand the service to include questions from mobile phones and the Learning about Living website.

According to the organisers, by offering three communication options - SMS, online, and landline - MyQuestion gives young people increased opportunities to participate and caters to youth with different needs and circumstances. The organisation believes that it is important to create safe spaces for young people to come forward with their sensitive questions and that even the shyest teenager should feel comfortable posing questions about sexual health through SMS or online because they do not have to say the question out loud. MyQuestion services are offered at no cost and are answered by trained counselors based in the Abuja office of the Nigerian NGO Education as a Vaccine Against AIDS (EVA).

The second service, MyAnswer, involves a competition which allows young people to win prizes by answering a monthly question. Young people enter the competitions by texting their answer to the number provided or by going online. Each month, ten winners are picked amongst the correct entries. The competition opened on World AIDS Day, December 1 2007, with the question "What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?" MyAnswer aims to engage and motivate young people to learn and reflect on various issues related to HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. The questions are announced on radio programmes, on the Learn About Living website, through schools, and through youth organisations.

HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health.

MyQuestion and MyAnswer services received more than 2,500 contributions within five days of the service going live.

MyQuestion and MyAnswer form part of the larger Learning about Living programme, which includes the development and implementation of an e-learning tool based on the Nigerian Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education (FLHE) school curriculum. The project is being piloted in three locations across Nigeria: Lagos, Cross Rivers State, and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. In each of these regions, an NGO is serving as the implementing partner alongside various state government organisations.