Young girls ready to take issues to camp

Older men are the cause of the ever-escalating HIV/Aids pandemic and teenage pregnancies.

This has led to the department of health, in conjunction with Mzimari Productions and Mpumalanga Mirror, to spearhead the Zazi – Know Your Strength Campaign which comes in the form of dialogues with girls aged from 16 to 24 years in all 18 local municipalities in Ehlanzeni, Nkangala and Gert Sibande.

After successfully launching the initiative in June in Gert Sibande, August in Nkangala and on September 7 in Ehlanzeni, the girls are now ready to go to camp, whereby, 100 representatives from the municipalities have been selected to discuss various topics which will be debated vigorously from September 26 to 28 in Sabie.

It is from these deliberations that a clear-cut way forward will be formulated, having equipped the girls to tackle the issues in their communities through social-services offices and MMCs, headed by Zazi ambassador, Miss Mpumalanga 2013, Ntandoyenkosi Kunene.

This revelation emanated from the provincial Zazi Campaign, spearheaded by the department of health, where young girls were brought together and to have their say about issues related to HIV/Aids.

In their own words, the young girls spelled it out and said that older men were the cause of the spread of the deadly virus.

Addressing a group of young girls two weeks ago at the Mbombela Stadium, the MEC responsible for this critical department, Ms Candith Mashego-Dlamini said young girls were more vulnerable and were easy targets, but she armed them with enough ammunition to fight temptations.

“The best thing we can do for you is to sit down with you and talk and be your parents just for a day and talk about anything and everything. We want to help you now that you are at a younger age, so that you are able to sort yourselves out and start living a healthier life and prevent all these deadly diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

“You have the key to a brighter future in your own hands and it begins now with a positive attitude and knowing when to say no,” she said.

“We live in a time where children are having children, and also children heading households. This is a sad reality which you must avoid at all costs. It’s time for us as the ‘future’ to make a choice and choose not have children, HIV and choose to say no to ‘sugar daddies’. You may not have Carvella shoes and all those fancy things today, but at least you know that you are shaping a better future with many returns,” added Mashego-Dlamini.

Just like with all the other Zazi Campaigns, the young girls engaged Mashego-Dlamini together with equally qualified panellists who did their level best to help guide them, while at the same time addressing serious issues.

A local artist, Skroof Man has wrote a song about “sugar daddies”, which he performed during the campaign.