Social Media could work in advancing sexual and reproductive health ? Learn About Ma3looma

I’m working on this initiative—I love this initiative—called Ma3looma. Ma3looma is an Arabic word meaning “a piece of information.” It started two years ago as an online platform to give counseling about sexual and reproductive health…. We’ve received more than 25,000 questions from mostly Arab patients—our stuff is in Arabic, targeting the Middle East. I was really impressed from the start at the questions–like how many questions are basic. I thought anyone could know these things, but I was wrong. There is very basic information, and no one knows anything about it—even basic biological information about bodies. We get a lot of questions about, “What does the vagina look like?” “What does the hymen look like?” “I’m afraid that my penis is too short for the girl.” Especially from young people, 15 or 16 years old. Actually, we are getting very good feedback, even from parents, even from my local community. People say, “Oh, you are working for Ma3looma, it’s a very good website. I can tell my children to go there because I trust you. I trust the content you are advocating for.” 

Interviewer: Liz Futrell for Fanily Planning Voices