admin
It surprises me so much that although all has been said about HIV and Aids in Zimbabwe we still have some fellow Zimbabweans especially school children who are not yet prepared to change the way they conduct themselves.
When I talked about HIV at entry points such as border posts and also at growth pointsI l never expected to hear some shocking reports where school going boys and girls are also involved.
I feel it is high time we should have health workers from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare visiting all our schools in all the ten provinces including the Metropolitan provinces of Harare and Bulawayo to educate the students about the dangers of HIV and Aids because failure to do that will simply mean the fight against the virus will not be won because a lot is currently happening without the knowledge of the parents.
I visited Mashonaland West recently and what I saw there left me without a single word in my mouth. There is a secondary school in the province which was reported to have more than eighty percent of school girls who are HIV positive and this is not good news to hear as a country.
The school which is located in mining areas made headlines recently in which these girls are being given some money by these corrupt gold panners so that they can have sex with them.
Reports also indicated that most times these girls are always seen having nice times with omakorokoza during school time and many parents are worried that their children will fail the examinations since they choose to spend time at mines instead of attending lessons.
I feel the only solution to this problem is to have health workers who can visit these schools, churches and also illegal panning sites to educate children and illegal gold panners about the dangers of HIV and Aids just like what they did at our points of entry such as border posts where prostitution was rife.
I still remember some years ago when parents reacted angrily when health workers announced that they would have HIV and Aids lessons at schools as well as distributing condoms at schools.
I feel it was a very good decision because pupils will continue with their bad sexual behaviour so it is very important for the children to be educated while it is still early. I was also disturbed to hear that sexually transmitted diseases are also high, especially at mines.
The general school pass rate has also gone low in those areas and I am appealing to the Government to urgently address this problem because as I speak many girls have decided to camp at the gold panning sites with these illegal panners.
Young girls should not be allowed to generate money through the oldest profession but need to respect the society, including their parents and teachers.
Eddious Masundire shumba, Patchway mine.
Online Reporter