Church joins reproductive health, sex education drive

Churches normally steer away from topics related to sex and reproductive health, especially among the youth, basing on spiritual and religious beliefs that are against mentioning such issues in places of worship.However, in Kigali Baptist Church, the leaders have opposed these beliefs and taken on a stance that many other churches would find uncomfortable to deal with.This has enabled the youthful congregation to come out with burning questions they have always harboured.One of such interactive sessions took place in a Baptist Church branch in Kinigi, in Musanze District recently.16-year-old Elledo Mukarwego, is one of the dozens of youth who convened at the Church for an open session, during which reproductive health issues were discussed.According to her, the session facilitated by two Danish youth leaders in the church, helped her to openly speak about issues she thought were taboo.The church organises workshops across the country, where youth discuss HIV/Aids, family planning and sex education through presentations, games and open discussions.One of the initiators, Ditte Skaroj, in an interview with The New Times said: “We have had similar problems in all workshops we have conducted. The youth are shy to talk about sex. This is normal, because in the Rwandan society, talking about sex is a taboo, even among the older generation.”The Ministry of Health has laid out strategies to have 70 per cent of the sexually-active population adopt various family planning methods by 2016. This will be done through mass sensitisation.Skarog explained that churches need to abandon their negative attitude towards sex education and family planning methods if the country is to achieve its targets.“I can now talk to my friends and other students about these topics freely,” said Oreste Ngabo, a participant.Augustin Urwishumukondo, the priest of the Baptist community in Kinigi, said educating the youth is important.“Teenage pregnancy is still a problem in our area and we also have some cases of HIV/Aids. It is important that the youth are informed about these issues and how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases,” Urwishumukondo said.According to Skaroj, the sessions also aim at changing the youth’s perspectives.“They have to understand that they do not become bad Christians when they start having feelings for the opposite sex. All they need to know is that it is important that they control themselves,” Skaroj said.The youth commended the workshop, saying they understood things they had never known and had got answers to questions they feared to ask.

National

Church joins reproductive health, sex education drive