How do you make health class more exciting? The EMBRACE project in Camarines Sur is tackling teen reproductive health knowledge through an interactive theatre project called “Love Your Life,”aiming to teach high school students the importance of taking charge of your reproductive health. Performed by Team Kriyeyyytibs, a group of creatives and performers from Manila, the play has entertained students, parents, community health workers, and community members across four municipalities.

The mobile theatre found ways to keep teens informed about sexual and reproductive health, incorporating songs and dances into a short theatre show with the goal of making sure students had the power to make informed choices about their health, including the importance of staying in school and thinking of the bright future ahead in areas that face high rates of teen marriage and pregnancy.

Teachers attending the theatre show remarked that there were obstacles to teaching students in remote areas, having to work against challenges such as lack of resources, fluctuating attendance rates due to students leaving school to work, pregnancy and marriage, and often no internet or computers. “I believe this is very important, I believe this is very much the need of today’s students,” Lidong National High School school head Mr. Guillermo Ojenar explained to ADRA after the performance. “I believe that we teachers, as educators, we have the prime duty to introduce such topics to our students, because the welfare our students is a concern.”

When asked how he thought it went, he remarked that it was very commendable, “You have addressed our whole year of health education, particularly in MAPEH, through the performance!”

“I think I could rate it as outstanding,” another teacher from Lidong National High School remarked following the play. “It is very important for our students, for us to impart the messages that they learnt in the play today, particularly because reproductive health is not mentioned a lot in our curriculum.”

“I think the key message that stood out to students is that we have to love our life, that they have to be responsible for their own reproductive health choices, and their future,” adding that as a teacher, she felt that “we are also responsible for our students, to teach them important lessons and help them become strong members in our society.”