GITEGA June 30th (ABP) – The sensitization workshop for young people and adolescents on wisdom, leadership, well-being, reproductive health and the fight against HIV/AIDS continued on Tuesday, June 28 2022 at the Notre Dame de la Sagesse high school in Gitega (Ex CND-Gitega) in the commune and province of Gitega, piloted by the first lady of the Republic of Burundi, Mrs. Angeline Ndayishimiye, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Burundi.
In her teachings, the first lady of the country was immediately based on the holy scriptures taken from the book of Proverbs chapter 10:1 and chapter 17:25 stipulating that the wise child rejoices his father, but the foolish child is the boredom of his father and the bitterness of the one who gave birth to him. She did forget to return to the bad behavior called “debauchery”, a sin that destroys the bodies of young people who indulge in it, thus calling on all young people and adolescents to dare to say no to anyone who incites them to indulge in any evil that harms their health.
According to studies in the field of health and related surveys, it is a widely-held view that young girls aged 15 to 19 often encounter health-related problems, including unwanted pregnancies that can be followed by clandestine abortions, the abandonment or the throat of their newborns, without forgetting that they can contaminate HIV / AIDS or sexually transmitted diseases, revealed Mrs. Ndayishimiye.
The first lady asked young people and teenagers to have a vision, never to betray the customs and good mores of our ancestors, which call on everyone to be wise and to make decisions that can guide them in their future life. She promised that she will continue this fight for the good health and well-being of future mothers and fathers, before thanking the WHO for its financial support for this fight which, according to the WHO representative in Burundi, Dr Xavier Crespin, contributes to the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations system.
The workshop to raise young people’s awareness of good behavior was embellished by three presentations on WHO’s orientation on promoting the well-being and health of young people and adolescents, the state of play in the fight against AIDS in Burundi as well as the sexual and reproductive health of young people and adolescents. Those presentations were followed by testimonies given by an HIV/AIDS carrier since birth, a drug user and a single mother, as part of warning other young people so that they do not fall into chaos.
At the age of adolescence, Chanelle Gatore addicted to the consumption of drugs of various kinds. She had to drop out of school and became a street child. Getting involved in the sexual vagrancy, she became pregnant. In 2020, she made the decision to no longer use drugs that harm her health. Expressing her thirst to be reintegrated into school, the country’s first lady asked her to be ready for next year. She promised her school materials and school fees to continue her studies until university.
Along with her advice, the first lady offered Notre Dame de la Sagesse high school a donation of 150 mattresses, 5 footballs, 2 basketballs, 2 volleyballs, 44 jerseys, 30 wheelchairs as well as 2 kg of cosmetics for an albino girl who studies at this school. She also handed over 50 mattresses to the provincial health office of Gitega, intended for the Gasunu health center of Giheta commune.