Umodzi Youth Organisation in Aids campaign
Umodzi Youth Organisation has embarked on HIV and Aids sensitization campaign in Blantyre Kabula constituency to divert the youth from promiscuous behaviour to prevent contracting HIV.
The campaign started with an open day at Mbayani Maternal Clinic recently.
Umodzi Youth Organisation programme director Munyaradzi Moffat said the youth in the constituency are at high risk of contracting HIV because they are surrounded by many lodges, bars and that there are no activities to keep them busy.
Moffat said poverty is also forcing the youth into sex with adult men to make a living. He said most of the people in the area depend on basket businesses which only afford them food for the day.
“There is high HIV infection among the youth in the area because it is close to commercial city with popular trading centres and lodges where most young women spend their nights in sexual acts with men. Many others do basket businesses and hang up in town till late and get sexually abused by men. They get the virus from there and pass it on to other young men in their villages,” said Moffat.
He added, “We want to promote one love among the community mainly theyouth to reduce the infection rate of HIV in Mbayani which is very high.”
He appealed to donors for financial support for them to successfully carry out the activities.
Member of Parliament for the area Felix Njawala said lack of land in the area is denying the youth activities.
“All the land here was sold out. There is no place for activities hence the youth find themselves doing activities that expose them to HIV,” said Njawala.
Village headman Mbayani concurred with Njawala that the land scarcity is exposing the youth to HIV because they are busy with activities that fuel the spread of the virus.
“There is no land here even for development. All the land here was bought,” Mbayani said.
Mbayani said there is also a lot of beer drinking in the area which most of the times results in sexual activities.
“There is a lot of kachasu here. Many people spend their time in she been drinking and after that they have sexual desire,” he said.
During the open day, the youth displayed activities ranging from netball, drama to poems. Literature on HIV and Aids was also distributed.
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