PIP: The reaction of most people in Africa to the problem of the high rates of teenage illegitimate pregnancies is to criticize the young people rather than to try to understand the underlying reasons for the problem. People in the Meru District of Kenya, with the help of the Chogoria Hospital Community Health Department, have been seeking a solution. A series of consultations were initiated to seek the support of the various agencies who might be involved in any effort to solve the problem. An advisory group was formed comprising school teachers and education officials, church representatives, youth leaders, and hospital staff. The result was the establishment of the youth education program entitled Education for Adulthood. The youth officer took up his post in January 1981 and the program has developed since then. The main emphasis is on the training of teachers. The staff concentrates on organizing training courses and giving follow-up and support to those who were giving the lessons in the various institutions in the area. In the catchment area there are 33 secondary schools, 135 primary schools, over 100 churches, and countless community and youth groups. The program does not offer contraceptive services or lessons on the specific contraceptive methods, but when teachers and leaders request family planning education, arrangements are made for this to be taught by members of the hospital staff. Many of the different lessons, such as population dynamics and risks and consequences of teenage pregnancy, have an implicit family planning message. Since the beginning of the program, a total of 103 school teachers have been trained in 1 week courses. A total of 86 church/church youth leaders have been trained at weekend courses and a further 361 at 1-day training seminars. Information seminars are conducted for parents in every area where a trained instructor is about to begin working. In the early days of the program, the primary emphasis was in teaching human reproduction and risks and consequences of teenage sexual activity. As the program has developed, the number and range of the subjects covered has increased. The program has experienced a fair number of problems, including suspicion about the program and the limited level of activity on the part of some school teachers and other trainees following training. The rate of illegitimate births in the hospital are about the same as before, but the fact that they have not increased as they did in the previous decade may be an achievement for the program.