Uri's Young Voices

A first-person report from Uri on the spaces changing how adolescence is lived.

- Irfan Jaffer

I reached Bijhama with a clear sense of how growing up usually unfolds here.

In these villages of Uri, adolescence often passes between home, school, and daily duties, with little room for open dialogue.

Young people grow into adulthood carrying questions about emotions, health, and their future, while daily life offers few spaces meant for their voices.

Silence has shaped this stage of life for years, even when concerns have always been present.

The Adolescent Learning Programme has begun to change this experience in visible and deeply human ways.

Walking into one of the learning centres, I saw adolescents sitting together in ease, speaking openly, listening closely, and sharing stories from their own lives.

The space felt welcoming and grounded, built on trust rather than authority.

These centres feel like places where adolescents can arrive without fear and speak with honesty.