LET THE CHILDREN LIVE

                    

Every person has a right to live without any form of fear and more especially our children. I believe violating this basic human right is a great disgrace to our society and an indication of how really twisted some people's minds have become.

In one incident, a certain girl aged 6 was raped by a 30 year old man. What if it were you? I have come to believe that we live in a strange world and this is not the kind of world that we would like our children to grow up in. There is no point in just watching the youths and children face such hardships while we can summon our courage and boldly do something against such barbarism.

I therefore appeal to all leaders, academicians as well as youth and child rights groups to get together and find ways to restore the consciousnesses of the people and fight this strange disease.

HIV/AIDS Interventions Should be Inclusive…

It is very alarming that most sex workers are young girls who are usually between the ages of 12 to 19 years. Many of the girls find themselves into such kind of work due to several circumstances and among them is poverty which ranks highly in the list of major driving factors. 

The young girls’ explain that they lack money to make ends meet in their day to day life and that they have no other means of earning income apart from the sex work activities. Whether their reasons are justifiable or not, one thing that is outstanding is that they are human beings

Some quarters in the society believe that sex workers engage into such activities just for fun and to enjoy.  Spare your time and chat with them you will find out that the enjoyment is a last thing on their mind and the furthest thing that is away from the truth.

Each and every day of their lives is marked by so many trials as well as tribulations and their conditions in life are very dreadful in every sense of that word. They are molested, tortured and they even suffer harshest forms of physical abuse.

Many organizations shun and perceive them as abnormal human beings with no value in life. However, one thing we have to bear in our minds is that they are also human beings and by extension they are also entitled to the same human rights that we enjoy.

Involving them does not mean supporting sex work activities. In addition to that, you cannot just call someone immoral and just watch while others dehumanize and violate their rights and freedoms. If we are to put the spread of HIV on check then our strategies need to be inclusive.

YONECO is one of the organizations that are implementing a project which involves sex workers. With funding from the National Aids commission, the organization is able to conduct trainings and workshops for these girls whereby they are being civic educated on human rights and how they can play their part to reduce the spread of HIV.

This is mainly due to the fact that their line of work puts them and others at risk of getting HIV. The organization has established Drop in Centres where these girls discuss issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS and their welfare.

 This has proved to be very helpful as it has changed the mind sets of other sex workers who just joined the industry because of peer pressure and other unjustifiable reasons. Some of the girls are planning to go back to school and others are reducing the number of hours they work and looking around for other jobs while others are interested in starting legitimate businesses and looking at avenues to make the transition.

 They are confidently expressing their desire to change. Here is something that is happening that can protect and change the lives of many. Discriminating these people cannot and will not change or solve anything but involving them will change things.

If you are fighting against the spread of HIV, one thing you have to know is that excluding some groups of people in the society is counterproductive.

Children with Physical Challenges Need Education Too

Its very disheartening to note that in most societies, children with physical challenges are among the most stigmatized and marginalized of all vulnerable groups. Such children are sidelined so much that they fail to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills as compared to other children.

For instance, in schools they lack support from teachers who perceive them as incapable and not worth teaching. This makes it difficult for them to cope and perform better in class. The end result of such tribulations is usually withdrawal from school.

On the same note, some academic institutions do not have user friendly materials or equipment for the physically challenged. This also becomes a challenged and a stumbling block to children with physical challenges to acquire some education.

According to the results of a survey that was conducted in 51 countries by UNICEF, only 51% of boys with physical challenges complete their primary school education while 61% of boys with no physical challenges complete their primary school education. A similar survey that was conducted by the World Health Organization (W.H.O) found that 42% of girls with physical challenges complete primary school as compared to 53% of girls who do not have physical challenges.

In Malawi for example, a child with some physical challenges is twice unlikely to attended school than a child who does not have a physical challenge.

Sadly still, studies have shown that the most affected are physically challenged children who are from poor families.

 Let Us All Remember that Disability is Not Inability

Youth Empowerment and its Benefits

Almost three quarters of the world’s population is comprised of youths and a greater number of these youths who are in the working-age population are unemployed. If these youths are empowered they could be part of the social capital and bring change to their designated communities. It is somehow impossible for them to market themselves and they need deliberate interventions for them to bring change to our societies.

There is need to facilitate the process of equipping the youths with entrepreneurial skills or promotion of youth cooperative and youth led savings and credit organizations. Furthermore, the youths could also be empowered through the strengthening of youth umbrella organizations as well as their networks at national level and integrate them with regional or global youth networks.

Societies can benefit in many ways if the youths are empowered. Another innovative way could be through the introduction of youth job fairs and exhibitions bringing all prospective employers from both the public and the private sector. If there could be such sessions whereby officials from the aforementioned sectors could talk to the youths linking training as well as skills development with jobs and in such a way youth dependency on government could be reduced. This could help to enhance social-economic development since the youth will have opportunities to put their natural endowments into creative and productive channels.

Empowering the youth economically is very advantageous  and helpful in reducing youth delinquency in societies as the youth will have something to do instead of just having excessive free time. This is a cheaper way to deal with crimes that are committed by the youths than opening a lot of reformatory centre’s. On top of that, societies will also deal with other social ills like drug abuse and political violence because politicians use unemployed youths to advance their political agendas. There’s need for increased communication with young men and women in families giving them enough space where the youths are valued, respected, encouraged and supported in their efforts to develop their personal capacities.

Youth empowerment translates itself into the well being of the next generation. It is the duty of all capable adults in the society to ensure that the youths are nurtured in a way that will make them productive to their various communities.

ENCOURAGE TEEN MOTHERS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL

Teen-age pregnancies have now become a usual feature in our society. A lot of young girls are falling pregnant due to several contributing factors like the lack of knowledge on issues pertaining to their sexuality fused with peer pressure. However, it is sad to note that in scenarios whereby a male student impregnates a girl, it is the later who faces the consequences more than her partner.

Most teen mothers think that it is the end of everything so much that they rule out the possibility of going back to school. According to statistics from The Center of Disease Control and prevention, nearly 368,000 infants were born to females aged 15-19 years in the year 2010 alone. By implication, it means that the rate of girls who drop out of school because of early pregnancies within this age range is also high.

This is not an ideal way to go and there is need to encourage these young mothers to go back to school after breastfeeding. It is also very prolific to include such girls in Advocacy Groups. Advocacy groups help to reduce school dropout rates on top of reducing early pregnancies. This is done through public outreach activities and policy efforts including facilitation of School Sexual Education Programmes and health reforms.

In this regard, their fellow students, parents, community and religious leaders as well as all members of the society should be on the forefront to encourage these teen mothers to go back to school. The society should not in any way shun them but it should rather help to raise their esteem for them to make it in life. The young mothers really need to know and understand that all is not lost and in this endeavour all they need is guidance and support.

Once these teen mothers are sent back to school they will be able to support their kids without depending on other people. Thus, they will eventually be able to support their children’s education as well there by reducing the pressure on social safety nets.

We educate teen mothers, we educate the next generation as well.