I Decide

Yo decido –I decide– an initiative of the Guatemalan youth organization Paz Joven, works to reduce teenage pregnancies among Mayan young people by utilizing strategies such as investigative participation and IT to educate and inform. Many Mayan communities live in poverty without access to schooling or computers. However, most Mayan young people do have a cellphone, so Yo Decido focusses on teaching Mayan youth to produce videos using their own footage. Video presentations are shared in local movie theatres and schools, showing what youth think about the psycho- social problems that contribute to teenage pregnancies, thus breaking through tabus making it difficult to talk about sexual and reproductive health. With the support of local leaders, Mayan volunteers take action on behalf of youth. Young women and men are both sensitized to take action on behalf of gender equality. To date, a total of about 2800 youth are among the direct beneficiaries of Yo decido, many of whom are under eighteen years of age. Participative methodologies, such as musical activities, are part of the strategy.

Paz Joven promotes and generates opportunities for the training, education and political participation of young people, as well as inclusion in decision-making locally and nationally. Yo decido has been implemented through a network of organized groups whose volunteers contribute to the development of the local community.