IPET : International Peer Education Training

It’s already my 3rd day in Copenhagen and the final Pre-GA day:

I had first registered in IPET to acquired new skills that could be useful for Sexperts : it turned out even better! For the 11th edition of IPET, the organizing committee tried to focus on 1 theme: Maternal health and unsafe abortion would therefore become the main topic of discussion for the 3 following days. Ken, a Nigerian worker of IPAS, was flew in to facilitate the discussions.

IPAS is a fantastic organization, probably the only one truly dedicated to prevent unsafe abortion: http://www.ipas.org/

The topic was obviously a very sensitive one, and many anti-choice IPET participants felt very uncomfortable during the first day. I also has the feeling that many other participants were expecting more « maternal health » training, in the sense of deliveries, pre and post partum care, funding, training of midwives, etc.

The Organizing Committee then decided to change the schedule, to bring the session back to a « normal » IPET: peer education techniques (games, plays, theater-based activities, improv, etc.). I was certainly very disappointed, expecting 3 full days on a topic for which I’m very passionate about, but I also understand that I was the only one feeling so stoked 😉

Nevertheless, the discussions we had on the subject of access to abortion and reproductive care were extremely interesting. I gained a lot of knowledge on other countries policies and regulations of abortion, and sharing ideas with people from diverse cultures and background was truly enlightening.

Pictures: IPET trainers : Joško Miše (IFMSA SCORA-D), Ken Chudi Ene (IPAS)