The EU/UNFPA funded RHIYA programme focussed on the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs of young people living in rural and underserved areas of Sri Lanka. From contexts as varied as IDP camps in Vavuniya to coastal villages in Galle, RHIYA provided an opportunity for young people to access information and counselling services on SRH in their own setting. This book, through its pictures, tells the story of RHIYA Sri Lanka. It brings to life, the interventions that were supported, the people who were reached and the impact RHIYA had on their lives.

“I am really proud of the way you acted in the play, but if you behave that way in real life, we will simply kill you!” Keerthika’s father said, reflecting the conservative norms of the community… Keerthika and her family live and work in the Melfort Tea Plantation, in central highlands of Sri Lanka. Keerthika is a peer educator and the main actor in a play about teen pregnancy and suicide developed as a part of the Centre for Development Alternatives (CDA) RHIYA project...

Street Play in Melfort Estate: Located near the Kandy District town of Pussallawa, Melfort is one of the larger tea plantations. Its mostly Indian Tamil population numbers 1,650, about a fourth of whom are young people. Melfort is one of the estates from which women tend to migrate for work in the Middle East; indeed, 100 families there are benefi ting from that income but coping with the absence of wife and mother. The children also often migrate for work: After fi nishing their schooling, many Melfort boys (and some of the girls) go to work in the nearby towns or capital city, mostly as shop assistants, garment factory workers, and domestic servants.

Muthu: I am 29 years old and unmarried. I was born and lived most of my life in an estate, where my father worked as a mechanic. I was one of the few youth from the estate who managed to get through the Advanced Level Examination in Commerce . . . [Then] a Catholic Priest from India was teaching in my school and he arranged a scholarship for me to go to university in south India; there I completed both Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Commerce.

What do young people from different parts of the world talk about when they talk about reproductive health? Is coming of age a very different experience in Bangladesh compared to Bulgaria – or are many of the issues facing youth similar the world over? What kinds of support do young people need to make a successful transition to adulthood? What do they want to policy makers to know?