PSI Vietnam is partnering with young people to make sexual and reproductive health education fun, interesting, and stigma-free. Through a human-centered design approach, the project created and nurtured a network of youth groups from local universities in Hanoi to co-design an event series bringing relevant and engaging content to youth on topics like sexuality, relationships, contraception, and more. With a popular social media presence promoting the “Love Voyage Network,”—and linkages to “guru” micro-influencers—the project reached over 22 million youth!

Meet Nguyen Thi Mai Ngoc

Nguyen Thi Mai Ngoc is a 24-year-old woman from Hanoi, Vietnam. In her country, information about sexual and reproductive health is largely available, but many youth, as well as adults, feel uncomfortable discussing topics related to sex and won’t seek out this information, even when they need it. In Ngoc’s own family, her older sister was uncomfortable learning about safe sex and assumed that she wouldn’t get pregnant, until she ended up having an unintended pregnancy.

After this, Ngoc found herself worrying about other friends and family members having an unintended pregnancy. She decided to join the Maverick Collective project in Vietnam, which is working alongside adolescents to co-create innovative, youth-friendly solutions to help reduce unintended pregnancy.

As a Youth Facilitator in the project, Ngoc was trained to support other youth leaders in Hanoi to design sexual and reproductive health events at their student clubs or youth organizations, with the aim to normalize conversations about safe sex. She facilitated 9 groups to organize total of 33 events for youth over just two years! Through the project, Ngoc found ways to educate herself, and she was able to share information with her parents, friends, and community in a fun and entertaining way.

Not only has her knowledge of SRH improved but also her confidence. “My friends and family now have another trustworthy, easygoing person to discuss SRH with, which is me!”