You're walking the streets of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, desperate for a condom. You need one as soon as possible, no questions asked. But you can't find one anywhere. Fortunately, you're in the Binh Tranh district, so all you have to do is drop into a cafe, where free rubbers are dispensed seven days a week. Since 1996, an unusual government program has transformed four such cafes into headquarters for free sex education.
Tables display a wide assortment of free condoms.
The cafe also offers an in-house beauty salon and consultation and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. And on weekends the space hosts live educational shows. According to Huyonh Tho Sang, a representative of Doctors of the World, the location is ideal for the project. We hope to help the lower social classes as well as students by setting up this cafe here. The 15 kids on the staff donate their time, working at the cafe and talking with the public.