Some people say that there are small holes in the condom, which sperm and microorganisms causing sexually transmitted diseases can pass through. But this is a lie. If you want to be sure that a new condom has no holes, take one and fill it with normal water.

You will see that water can not pass through the condom at all. After doing this experiment, throw the condom into a pit latrine or burn it. DonÔøΩt use it for sexual intercourse!

For adolescents, however, the situation is different. Often
the condoms are too big if you compare them with the size of an adolescentÔøΩs penis. In many African countries smaller than average condoms are not available. Adolescents whose penis is still too small for using condoms should abstain from penetrative sex and use other ways of expressing their sexual feelings, such as hugging and kissing.

Once the woman stops taking the pill, eggs ripen in her ovaries and she will be able to conceive. For a woman who has used injections, it may take some time before she starts producing eggs again. For some women it takes up to 12 months.

The most important thing to remember is that neither injections, nor pills are permanent methods of contraception, even if it may take some time for a woman to produce eggs again.

Ways of satisfying sexual desire without penetration of penis into the vagina are kissing, holding hands and masturbation. All those things are safe with regard to unplanned pregnancies, STDs and HIV infection.

If you involve penetration of the penis in the vagina during sex, it is necessary to take precautions. One possible precaution is to be faithful to your partner, but that also requires that you were both free of sexually transmitted diseases, when you first had sex. Another precaution is to use condom. Condom prevents not only pregnancies but also sexually transmitted diseases.

Barrier methods: These prevent the sperm from fertilizing the egg. Condoms are rubber tubes which are closed at one end .Different types of condoms are produced for men and women. Male condoms are placed on the stiff penis before it penetrates into the vagina.The female condoms are placed inside the vagina before sexual intercourse.

Contraceptives pills: The woman has to take one tablet every day, even on days she doesnÔøΩt have sex.

There are also long-acting contraceptives. No special measures to prevent pregnancy have to be taken when having sex and a woman does not need to remember every day to have prior preparations before having sex. These are:

ÔøΩ Injections: These are given to a woman every three months.
ÔøΩ Implants: These are plastic tubes which are placed in the upper arm of a woman through a minor operation and they contain a substance, which prevents the egg from ripening. 
ÔøΩ Intra-uterine devices (IUD): These are made from a special type of plastic and are inserted in the uterus of a woman by a trained health worker.

Injections, implants and intra-uterine devices have to be applied by a trained health worker in a sufficiently equipped facility. Since long-acting contraceptives interfere with the normal menstrual cycle of women, also their side effects are greater than those of the pills.

ÔøΩ Irreversible ways of contraception for men and women: These require a minor operation. For men, the seminal canals are cut and sealed, in order to prevent sperm from mixing with seminal fluid. If a man has sex after this operation, he can still ejaculate, but there are no sperms in the seminal fluid. For women, the fallopian tubes are cut and sealed, in order to prevent the egg from reaching the uterus. After this operation the woman will have her period as usual, but the egg wonÔøΩt be able to unite with sperm anymore.

In addition, there are methods which do not require the use of medicine or barriers. However these methods do not give very good protection from getting pregnant. Sometimes women observe specific signs or count down days for identifying days she is likely to get pregnant and subsequently she avoids to having sex during this period.

Men using withdrawal method and women hopping that breast-feeding prevents pregnancy are some of the traditional ways of contraception.

REMEMBER: These are commonly used methods but, they are not very safe with regard to preventing pregnancy, STDÔøΩs and HIV infections.

Often people think that family planning services are for the married women, pregnant women and mothers only. But that is not necessarily true .In many countries, Tanzania being one of them, any person in the reproductive age, whether it is a girl or a boy is legally entitled to use family planning services.

However, most girls do not exactly know when to expect their next period and therefore it is difficult to know when there is an egg ready to be fertilized. A girlÔøΩs menstrual cycle can easily be affected by stress, sorrow, traveling, or other changes in the girlÔøΩs life. Even if a girl had regular periods for sometime, they suddenly become irregular. Young girls can not rely on counting days to avoid pregnancies, as they can never really know whether there is an egg ready to be fertilized or not. There are no safe days from pregnancy for adolescent girls.

Similarly, injections have the advantage that they have to be given every two or three months only .The disadvantage is that some women take a lot of time to start ovulating after stopping the use of injections and that some women have irregular periods, while they are using the injections.

Therefore, the girl together with a family planning specialist should look at the situation and discuss advantages and disadvantages of different methods .They can then decide on which method is the best one for the girl.

If the penis is erect, open the packet carefully, do not use razor blades, teeth, scissors or a knife. Squeeze the top in order to release all air from condom when you put it on. This helps to prevent the condom from bursting. Roll the condom over the penis until it is fully covered. Once you are sure that the condom is placed, you can have sexual intercourse safely.

When withdrawing the penis from the vagina, be careful that the condom remains on the penis. After withdrawing the penis, remove the condom carefully before the penis gets soft, in order to avoid sperm reaching the vagina. Throw a used condom into a pit latrine or burn it, but do not leave it lying around.

In many condom packets available in the markets you can find explanations on how to use condoms. If you want to use a condom when having sex, it may be wise idea to try putting a condom on whilst you are alone in order to get experience in using it.

Female condoms are placed inside the vagina before having sex. If you use female condoms make sure that the packet is not torn and that the expiry date is not passed yet.

Carefully tear open the packet. The condom has two plastic rings and an opening on the upper side. One ring is smaller and it is on the closed side. The other ring is big and it is on the side of the opening. Take the condom on the closed side and squeeze the ring by using the thumb, the index and the middle fingers. Sometimes the condoms do slips away, but try more until you fix it well. Find for a suitable sitting position and while squeezing the ring of a condom, insert the female condom into the vagina by the use of your fingers. Let the ring go so it holds the condom inside the vagina, when you remove your fingers. Then insert the finger into the condom and push it until it reaches the opening of the uterus.
After having sex, remove the condom carefully. Throw the used condom into a pit latrine or burn it, but do not leave the used condom lying around.

For adolescents however the situation is different. Often the condoms are too big compared to sizes of their penises. In many African countries smaller than average condoms are not available. Adolescents whose penises are still too small condoms should abstain from penetrative sex and use other ways of fulfilling their sexual desires, such as hugging and kissing.

In addition, you must not apply lubricants such as Vaseline in order to smoothen the penetration. Lubricants such as Vaseline can endanger the durability of the condom and they may lead to the condom bursting. The lubricant which is in the packet of the condom as you buy it assures the durability of the condom and is different from other types of Lubricants.

It is most important to remember that if a condom is used properly, the chance of it bursting is very small.

Some people say that there are small holes in the condoms which sperms and microorganisms causing sexual transmitted diseases can pass through. But this is a lie. If you want to be sure that a new condom has no hole, take one and fill it with normal water. You can find that water can not pass through the condom at all. After doing this throw the condom in a pit latrine or burn it. DonÔøΩt use it for sexual intercourse!

There is a rumor that the lubricant on condom contains HIV. This is not true, so the lubricant is there to only to guarantee the durability of the condom.

Some women prefer having sex if a man uses a condom; because there is no fear of getting pregnancy or being infected with a sexual transmitted deseases.Other women prefer having sex without condoms. However, from getting pregnant, nowadays there is danger of sexual transmitted diseases or even HIVAIDS when having sex without condom. Therefore, it is safer not to trust any one, until both of you have done medical tests and have been proved to be healthy.