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four snapshots of quotes from girls

What Is First Love

“Young women described a world where love and security were sparse...They had few places in their world where they felt safe. In this context, finding love—and the accompanying feelings of trust, support, and safety—feels both particularly elusive and intriguing.” —Dr. Ahna Suleiman, A360’s Developmental Science and Youth Engagement ConsultantWhat is it?

A collection of questions—about love, sex, relationships, and health—asked by adolescent girls in Southern Nigeria during prototyping of what would eventually become A360’s 9ja Girls.

How did we use it?

When we launched Adolescents 360 in Nigeria, and delved into exploring what was on the minds and in the hearts of 15–19-year-old young women, we quickly learned girls desired a safe and trusted place to come with their questions. We prototyped ways to help them engage with their health system about these questions, through an interactive session called “Life, Love, and Health” that begins with an opportunity for girls to anonymously leave their questions for a provider.

When we first tried this session with girls, the response was overwhelmingly positive. It was no surprise they were on a quest to answer the age-old question “what is love?” And we were pleased to find that they did, in fact, feel safe enough to ask their questions in our prototype setting. Ultimately, 9ja Girls was built on many of these insights: aiming to provide answers for girls whenever possible—and, when not, to offer a safe space for girls to find their personal answer.

Consider using it to:

Explore a sample of the profound range of questions asked by the young people we prototyped with in Southern Nigeria.