Grab the Mic Winner Announced

We are excited to announce the winner of the Grab the Mic competition. With over 100 entries from across the globe from the IPPF youth community vying for the trip to Colombia, Laurinda Juma’s poem caught our attention with its substance and deep insight into first menstruation. Laurinda is a member of the Youth Africa Movement (YAM) for AMODEFA in Mozambique. Read more details about her below.

Congratulations Laurinda – we will see you in Bogota!

ʺMALDITA MENARCAʺ:

POEM BY LAURINDA JUMA THAT EARNED HER ʺGRAB THE MIC” AWARD FROM THE IPPF

Text and Photos: Nelson Marqueza (AMODEFA)

Laurinda joined YAM (Youth African Movement) – the youth arm of AMODEFA, in 2019, motivated by some classmates who were part of the movement. At YAM she works actively in volunteering and very quickly joins the Peer Educators group.
At the end of 2021, she was elected National Treasurer of YAM, a position she has held for three years. This October she won the IPPF’s GRAB THE MIC Communication Competition.
Twenty years old, she was born in Maxaquene, on the outskirts of Maputo City. Very early on, for family reasons, he moved to the neighbouring district of Katembe. Even so she visits Maxaquene frequently and lives following the reality in both places.
She grew up watching professionals from Médicos sem Fronteiras providing health care to people living with HIV. Patients received psychosocial support, food baskets and leaflets on Sexual Reproductive Health and HIV to reinforce adherence to antiretroviral treatment.
During this period, says Laurinda, the stigma against people living with the disease was on the rise. Laurinda saw people close to her lose their lives because of the disease.
“All I wanted at that moment was for people to have the right information about HIV to improve their lives even though they are living with the virus,” Laurinda recalls.
Passionate about social causes, she decided to become an activist to spread safe information about Sexual and Reproductive Health to save the lives of thousands of people, especially adolescents and young people.
The contact with a group of activists who were developing activities on Sexual and Reproductive Health at Catembe Secondary School was crucial to join the activism.
At YAM she benefits from training on Sexual Reproductive Health, Health and Community Hygiene, among others that solidify the process of training and community intervention. Indulged in social causes and YAM stands out and is part of the Peer Educators group at the beginning of 2020. One of her ambitions is to create a health mechanism for people to have free access to health services and care.

ʺIt is an opportunity to interact with the world and make my thoughts known. One of the points of this award is in November I can get together with young leaders coming from all over the world to exchange experiences of how we can lead from our own causesʺ, reacted Laurinda, in conversation about the award.
She competed with a poem ʺMENARCAʺ (which means first menstruation).
The following is an excerpt from the poem portion:

Winning Entry – Poem

In the link of the TVM – Public Television of the Country page, the interventions of the Executive Director of AMODEFA, Santos Simione and the Award-winning YAM activist, Laurinda Juma, are from 1:45:01 seconds.

https://www.facebook.com/mocambique.tvm/videos/1180780436126101/?app=fblhttps://www.facebook.com/517099285077959/posts/pfbid02nNfqmhmvWBzNSME3TvbKVa8ab7n7PJNqmNdR2RmZvPRzpGjkv93fZpkMvr7p9hbWl/?sfnsn=mo