Youth to Youth 

San Francisco’s Mission District is home to colorful and political murals, a rich Latina/Latino culture, artists, and much of the city’s lesbian community. There’s a dance studio or club on almost every block, and residents enjoy some of the city’s best restaurants. The Mission also has high poverty and crime rates, and the public schools are crowded and under funded. About half of the Mission’s population is Latina/Latino, and many of these people belong to low income working class immigrant families.

In the Mission, Latinos en Extasis provides peer-to-peer education in sexuality, risk reduction, and pregnancy prevention. Latinos en Extasis peer educators are Latina/Latino youth, ages 13 to 18. Latinos en Extasis work with young people in classes and workshops in a variety of contexts: on the streets, in the schools, and at neighborhood health clinics. The City of San Francisco and others have formally recognized the excellence of Latinos en Extasis’s work with awards and honors.

Liliana Cabrera, Maritza Guzman, and Amparo Martinez are educators with Latinos en Extasis. American Sexuality asked Liliana, Maritza, and Amparo to talk about themselves and their experiences as peer sexuality educators helping a vibrant community with many resources and challenges.

Tell us about yourselves.

Amparo: I am 19 years old. I was born in Mexico, where I lived until I was six. When I was 12, I heard Mission Neighborhood Health Center was hiring youth ages 13-19 to become part of Latinos En Extasis. I lied about my age because I really wanted a job to make a little money for myself. Two years later, I was hired as a Peer Program coordinator for Latinos En Extasis. My title now is “Health Educator/ HIV Test counselor,” and I work full time to take care of my beautiful baby girl Sarah and myself. My goal in the next few years is to become the best social worker for my community.

Liliana: I am 18 years old and have been a youth sexuality educator for three years. I am a Mexican native but have been living in San Francisco for 17 years. I was originally hired for the position of Peer Outreach Worker with Latinos en Extasis, and after a year commitment I was encouraged to apply for the position of Peer Program Coordinator. Through my involvement in Latinos en Extasis I have been able to educate youth in my community about preventive education and the importance of staying healthy. I now attend U.C. Berkeley where I plan to further prepare in order to help my community.

Maritza: I am 19 years old. My family is from Mexico, but I was born in San Francisco. I found out about this peer educator job through a teen clinic. I started working at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center as a peer educator during the summer of 2004. After a year of being a peer educator, I became a Program Coordinator. Being part of the program has taught me how to be a more responsible person, not only with myself but also with others. I now attend City College, and my goal in life is to become a social worker; I would like to provide health care services to people with disabilities.

What should parents and teachers know about your work as a peer educator?

L: I wish that more adults knew the importance and impact that having support from youth our own age provides. Many people do not understand that there is no better example for a teenager to stay positive and productive than if we see it from youth who have been successful in accomplishing something positive themselves. If parents, teachers, and any other adults were willing to recognize that, hopefully they would respect teenagers more and extend more credit to them for their accomplishments.

M: I would want to tell the teachers and parents that we provide good and important information to youth about how to stay safe while having sex, and we also talk about the consequences of not being safe.

What do people not understand about the work you do?

A: In the beginning when I first began to work as a peer educator a lot of people thought that I was learning and teaching my peers how to have sex, but what they didn’t understand is that you can’t stop someone from doing whatever they want to do. All we can do is provide our peers with information on how to prevent HIV, STI’s and unwanted pregnancies.

L: Often people do not understand that as a health educator you are not promoting sex or any other risky activity. Rather we are promoting responsibility by providing information to keep ourselves safe while understanding that we have options. Our goal is to build awareness, character, and self-esteem so we can make educated decisions about our lives.

What kind of support do you most need from adults? Do you think you get enough support?

L: Adults should share their networks with youth and connect them with different opportunities that they otherwise would not be aware of. Even sharing simple things like a good yoga class with a youth who is interested would be a way of sharing and allowing youth to feel supported and exited about an activity.

M: I think the support that teenagers need from adults is the opportunity to express themselves without being judged and having the adults understand where the teenager is coming from.

What are some of the barriers to teenagers living healthier lives?

L: Information. Many youth do not know what it means and takes to stay healthy. Teenagers do not realize that there are several components to being healthy. Health does not simply mean staying out of the hospital. It is exercising, dieting, not stressing, having someone to talk to, being involved in different activities, going to the dentist, etc. Beyond reproductive health, I myself have a poor understanding of what it means to be healthy. For example, I do not know what a healthy diet would consist of or how much exercise I need.

A: Often teenagers are not able to access confidential services.

What’s the hardest thing you have to do in your work?

L: The hardest thing I have had to do at work is learn how to meet every youth where they are in regards to their opinions about sex, protection, abortion, pregnancy, and other reproductive health issues. When I present, I am not there to judge anyone or make them feel any less or more important because of their views. I am simply there to provide information that they could choose to use or share with their peers.

How would you train the next generation of peer educators?

A: I would probably do it the same way I got trained, which was two months of training and a whole year of experience nonstop.

L: The next generation of peer educators should be more well-rounded. For example, if their main focus is reproductive health, they should also be well aware of other issues such as homophobia, health insurance for youth, violence in the community, etc.