EENHANA – Many youths here have welcomed the open day here last Thursday which was meant to reactivate the various youth clubs in the Ohangwena region.
The open day was hosted by the at the Eenhana Multi-Purpose Centre in cooperation with the German international cooperation agency, GIZ, as the main sponsors and attracted many youths across the region. Olivia Shihungile (22) an Office Administration trainee from Eenhana Vocational Training Centre (EVTC) who belongs to the Eenhana Environmental Club was happy to attend the open day as it targeted only the youths in the region. “These are important programmes that we seriously need as youths in our region and we should thank the sponsors for coming up with this open day. Most of us will engage in netball as part of our activities today. We shall impart knowledge to our friends when we go back home,” she said. However, she encouraged other youths to attend more of these programmes in their respective regions.
Eric Kamati, a Grade 10 learner at the Haimbili Haufiku Senior Secondary School said appreciated the day as part of extra-mural activities for learners from different schools in the region. “I am specifically here for my Life Science subject as this open day will impart more knowledge about Life Science to me. The event teaches more on our Life Science skills,” he said. Hilya Kushisha (23), another Office Administration trainee at the EVTC confirmed that she was happy to attend the programme as it sends a strong message to the youths in the region. “As the future leaders, we need more of these health events since they benefit us as youths on sexual reproductive health,” she said
Minister of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture, Jerry Ekandjo, expressed gratitude to the GIZ, Namibian Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA) and Star4Life and the Ministry of Health and Social Services for joining forces to design and implement health and HIV-related activities for the young people in the Ohangwena region. “The young people of this region are faced with various challenges and some of them being high infection rates in the age group of 15 – 35 years and high rate of teenage pregnancy. These challenges call for an integrated approach to adolescent-friendly health services. When our youths visit the NAPPA clinics to access screening and treatment, they should be exposed to issues regarding family planning services, safe sex practices and antenatal care,” he said
The German Councillor for Development Cooperation, Christian Gruen said the high vulnerability will decrease if young people have appropriate spaces and opportunities where they can develop positive attitudes today and constructive outlook on their future. “Namibia-German Development Cooperation has a long and vital relationship focusing its intervention on different priority areas with the topic HIV and AIDS being a cross-cutting issue in all our programmes. At a regional level, one key element of the programme is to support young people for a positive development and therefore also to improve HIV prevention among them,” he said.
The staff at the Eenhana Multi – Purpose Youth Centre came up with a variety of different activities for young people, most of which are linked to the important topic of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health. Sports activities such as soccer, netball and table tournaments were part of the activities during the open day. The day saw schools such Haimbili Haufiku Senior Secondary School, Eenhana Secondary School, Eenhana Primary school, Eenhana Environmental Club, Eenhana Youth Club (EYC) and Eenhana Vocational Training Centre (EVTC) attending.
The Eenhana Youth Open Day was attended by the GIZ representative, Carmen Perez Samaniego, the German Councillor for Development Cooperation, Christian Gruen, civic society and non-governmental organisations, councillors in the Ohangwena region, traditional leaders and officials from the Ministry of Health and Social Services, among others.