By Clemence Tashaya
EENHANA – Star for Life (SFL) in partnership with the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) and the Namibia Planned Parenthood Association
(NAPPA) has launched the Star for Life health programme at the Eenhana Secondary School.
The programme, which is the first of its kind in the Ohangwena region, is targeted at empowering young people to realise their dreams as responsible members of their communities. Star for Life is a non-profit making organisation whose mission is to inspire young people in believing in their dreams for the future and support them to live an AIDS-free life while fulfilling their dreams. The project based on universal approaches, identifies a school as one of the most suitable site for an intervention that addresses challenges facing young people in their region.
Speaking at the official launch here last week, the Director for Education in the Ohangwena region, Sanet Steenkamp, encouraged learners to embrace this Star for Life programme as they will be empowered to become better citizens and build strong intervention teams in schools. “This programme being launched here today is aimed at motivating you as learners to become self disciplined in order for you to excel in your school work. We have chosen Eenhana Secondary School because your school was known as delinquent, and with unruly behaving learners in the region. We now hope that the Star for Life programmes will inspire most of you to value and learn more about health and reproductive skills,” she said
The Eenhana Secondary School has been labeled as a fragile school but the Star for Life programme is aimed at changing the behaviour of the delinquent learners. Steenkamp also revealed that in 2013 alone, 427 girls in the Ohangwena region dropped out of school because of pregnancy. “Don’t be a statistics of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, HIV and AIDS or dropping out of school. I would advise you to be disciplined and manage your time effectively and appropriately. Use your 168 hours per week effectively and obviously your time for studies,” she urged
The Country Manager of Star for Life, Evelyn Kalenga, also encouraged both teachers and learners to use the Star for Life dream book effectively as the book will guide them too write down their dreams and develop them as they go through their secondary education. “Your dream will grow as you grow over the next few years. We in Star for Life look forward to this journey with you as our beloved learners in Ohangwena region. This journey will change your life and make a better world. The most important person to make your dreams come true is you,” Kalenga said
Star for Life will support learners at the school to realise their dreams. The dream booklet has 67 pages with six chapters which has strong messages for the learners. The book urges learners to believe that they are powerful and unique and valuable and that they can become important persons who will do great things. According to the Star for Life booklet, success means many different things. It can mean completing an important university degree but also getting a job after school to support family members. It can mean getting rich but also living simply with family and friends in peace with community and in harmony with the environment.
The organisation has operations in South Africa and Namibia, with plans to expand its operations into the other Southern African countries. It conducts its activities through workshops for learners, classroom sessions, consultations, counseling, Star for Life school activities such as debates, sports, reading clubs and coordinating the raising of the SFL flags in schools. The launch was attended by the Eenhana town mayor, Julia Shikongo and the other senior government officials.