Thursday
Aug 28th
| Discuss Sexual Issues Freely, Public Urged |
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The North East community joined the nation and the world at large in the commemoration of this year’s World Population Day last Friday. The commemoration was hosted by the North East District
 Youth Centre in Mosojane village, 5km from Masunga. This year it centered on Family Planning, under the theme ‘It’s Alright; Let’s Make it Real.’ In giving the overview of the event, the Youth Centre Manager stressed that everyone has a right to Family Planning/Reproductive health services and commodities, therefore it s the responsibility of each and every one of us to ensure that this right is not violated. The guest speaker, Ms. Monica Dikupe, encouraged both young people and adults to join hands and discuss sexuality issues freely as times have changed. “Treating these issues as secret has proved futile. We have had incidents where teenage girls have been lost to abortions despite having good family planning services that could be utilized to avoid such cases,” Dikupe said. Ms K. Muzoko, the representative of People Living with HIV in the district, urged young people to access available services to attain the highest possible reproductive health, adding that, “we need to have healthy children, born free of disease and HIV, with healthy parents who are able to take good care of them.” However, she expressed concern at the number of young people who conceive unplanned pregnancies. “Many of these parents will leave their children under the care of grandparents while they go back to towns, only to come back pregnant again.” Galabgwe Testing and Counseling Center officers were present and provided counseling services. Parents were given a platform to air their views. Words of encouragement were exchanged and many appreciated to have had the opportunity to be part of the commemoration; they hoped to use the knowledge and information to access family planning services and improve their reproductive health. Community leaders including Councilor Palalani, Kgosi Bathoeng and Mr. Mahlaya (VDC chairperson) were present and were joined by the N.E.D Council Secretary, Mr. Kealotswe, Deputy Council Secretary Mr. Masesane, Matron Ms Monica Dikupe and Youth Officer, Ms N. J Papane. BY NAMETSEGANG MBEHA |
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