Most parents and guardians do not want to accept that early sex debut is real. But for many parents living in Paramount Chief Kawinga\u2019s area in Machinga District, this is no big deal as culture tolerates it. JOSEPHINE CHINELE looks at how sexual initiation cultures are fueling early sex debut and exposing the youth to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
\nWhen she reached puberty, Brenda was told to cleanse and activate herself by having sex with any man; after that, she was declared a fully-fledged woman.
\nThis is what culture demands of any girl of this age; and no one refuses for fear of cultural repercussions.
\nThis being the case, Brenda\u2019s parents had no choice but to send her to an initiation camp.
\n\u201cI was told that, after the initiation ceremony, it was a must to sleep with a man in order to make myself feel warm. Failing which, something bad would happen to me or I would become a \u2018cold\u2019 woman, whom men would dislike in bed,\u201d she recalls.
\nBrenda decided to make her sex debut once she got home but her mother surprised her.
\n\u201cI noted that my parents disliked some cultural practices that promote sexual behaviours. My mother told me to ignore whatever I was told to do. She instead gave me her own session of counselling,\u201d she claims.
\nBrenda further claims that people in her area believe that children are a sign of wealth and that every young woman who is of age should give her clan a lot of children.
\n\u201cThis is why it becomes easy for girls to drop out of school due to pregnancy and such girls rarely go back to school after giving birth. It is as if their purpose in life has been fulfilled and, as such, everyone is satisfied,\u201d says Brenda, who failed to go further with her education despite her parents\u2019 efforts.
\nMilanzi admits that teen-age pregnancies and STIs are a big problem in the area due to cultural practices associated with sex.
\n\u201cApart from cleansing to activate themselves sexually, the girls are also taught to please a man in bed. This encourages them to try and apply the techniques learnt. This also applies to boys, who are taught that they have transformed to men. They are also fed a lot of information about sex, which they become curious to experience,\u201d she explains.
\nYouths of the area say there is a likelihood that adolescents might have contracted and died of Aids-related diseases and other STIs due to the negligence that has been there.
\n\u201cNowadays, we have several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have come to our area to raise awareness on negative cultural practices. We are happy that there are several NGOs that are coming to our area to enlighten us on the consequences of harmful cultural practices,\u201d says Karim Majiga of Kongoma Youth Club.
\nHe admits that most of the sexual cleansing activities are done without any form of protection, a development that exposes the youth to unwanted pregnancies and STIs.
\n\u201cI have witnessed a lot of teenage pregnancies, maternal mortality and a lot of youths dying of unknown diseases. Since I now know of the implications of unprotected sex, I can fathom that some of these illnesses might have been STIs,\u201d Majiga says.
\nDespite the challenges facing them, youths of Paramount Chief Kawinga seem to be organised. With the help of Nayuchi Aids Network Services (Nanes), they formed youth clubs, where they share their life experiences on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR).
\nDavid Yusuf of Msumwa Youth Club says his greatest fear is not only impregnating a girl or contracting STIs but compromising his future.
\nHe says, initially, youths of the area were blank on HIV or STIs and did not know that they could play a role in preventing diseases.
\n\u201cI feel that if one fails to prepare now, life will become tough. If one gets married early, their future will be bleak and the likelihood of living in poverty is high,\u201d Yusuf observes.
\nHe adds: \u201cWe are now aware that unprotected sex is a recipe for contracting HIV. If one has failed to abstain, they are supposed to use a condom.\u201d
\nA United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation leaflet on young people says less than 40 percent of young people have adequate knowledge on preventing HIV in the East and Southern African (ESA) region.
\nIt points out that, across ESA, lack of knowledge also contributes to high rates of unintended pregnancy, sexual abuse and HIV and other STI infections.
\n\u201cParents and caregivers who can be open about these issues with their children make a difference. The information young people receive is often distorted by taboos and misinformation,\u201d reads the leaflet in part.
\nThe Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) says knowledge of HIV transmission enables people to avoid HIV infection. It says young people, who often have shorter relationships with more partners or engage in other risky behaviours, are at greater risk.
\n\u201cIn Malawi, 41 out of every 100 young women and 44 out of every 100 young men, have comprehensive knowledge of HIV. This includes knowing that consistent use of condoms during sexual intercourse and having just one uninfected faithful partner can reduce the chances of getting HIV, knowing that a health looking person can have HIV, and rejecting common misconceptions about HIV transmission,\u201d reads part of the MDHS report, adding that the percentage of young people with comprehensive knowledge of HIV has remained the same between 2010 and 2015\/16.
\nInformation sourced from Kawinga Health Centre indicates that, out of 4,000 Out Patient Department patients that are treated, 100 have STIs and 25 percent of them happen to be the youth aged between 15 and 24 years.
\nMedical Technician and Youth Friendly Health Services (YFHS) Coordinator for Kawinga Health Centre, Francis Nthonga, says STIs are common among the youth due to issues of early sex debut and the practice of unprotected sex.
\n\u201cMind you, this has just improved this year due to some interventions that have been there. In the past three years, 80 percent of patients diagnosed with STIs were the youth. The most common STIs are gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital warts and pelvic inflammatory disease, among others. There are also cases of HIV, but not much. There are 700 people on HIV treatment, only 30 are youths,\u201d he says.
\nAfter Nanes presented findings of its mapping survey to Paramount Chief Kawinga, all traditional leaders of the area were trained in SRHR issues and a taskforce was established.
\nThe taskforce comprises 60 traditional leaders. This group came up with by-laws to ensure that parents and each individual is held to account should any harmful cultural practice be condoned in their areas or should there be rising cases of teen pregnancies and school dropouts.
\nTaskforce Chairperson, Sheikh Nurain Chimera admits that Kawinga was almost a death ground for people because it was under-developed in every aspect. This taskforce comprises religious and traditional leaders.
\n\u201cThrough this group, we realised that talking about HIV, STIs and SRH issues in our respective prayer houses would be very difficult and the messages would carry less weight. We, therefore, use separate platforms such as madawa (Islam) or annual convention prayers,\u201d the Sheikh says.
\nHe adds that, originally, the issue of condom use was a taboo in the area but that communities are slowly accepting and adopting it as an HIV prevention tool.
\nThe Sheikh admits that issues of condom use are slowly being accepted, considering that people are relating the diseases to their own lives.
\n\u201cWe ensured that we should touch their hearts. It transpired that most families have (at one point) lost loved ones to HIV. We also use relevant scriptures to convince them to protect themselves and the youth from contracting HIV,\u201d he says.
\nParamount Chief Kawinga says, even though his area is dominated by Yaos, who believe that circumcision transforms boys to men, they have now adopted medical male circumcision.
\n\u201cWe were enlightened that circumcision done the traditional way, as we used to do in the past, increases the risk of HIV infection. One blade was used on all the boys and some hygiene practices were not followed,\u201d he says.
\nKawinga says the primary advice to the youth is to abstain from sex and that, if they cannot, they should use condoms, acknowledging: \u201cIt is a fact, though, that some children just cannot take our advice. They are still getting infected. This is the challenge we have, despite having interventions at hand. We are not giving up.\u201d
\nNanes Executive Director, Chifuniro Moir, says the area mapping which his organisation did established a high incidence of STIs in Kawinga area, a thing which confirmed the practice of unprotected sex.
\n\u201cWe have facilitated the establishment of the taskforce and strengthened youth clubs to help resolve the issue. When we ask the people randomly, they say they banished all harmful cultural practices but we know that they might have gone underground,\u201d he suspects.
\nHe also confesses that the use of condoms was a major issue in this area and that it has taken the people of the area sometime to adopt them as a protective measure.
\n\u201cThe use of condoms was an issue but it wasn\u2019t an issue for a girl to fall pregnant. Condoms have, for a long time, been associated with promiscuity. Our condom consignments used to expire but they are now on high demand and always not enough,\u201d Moir admits.
\nHe, however, says it is still a problem to break some barriers within communities, as others are strongly resisting to openly talk about sex with the youth. There is also resistance to rid the communities of some cultural practices.
\nGoal three of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals sets to ensure healthy lives by promoting the well-being of all at all ages. Among other things, the goal seeks to end the epidemics of Aids, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases.
\nIt also seeks to combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases by 2030.
\nNational (Malawi) HIV and Aids estimates of 2015\u2014 released by the National Aids Commission, Ministry of Health in collaboration with UNAIDS\u2014 indicate that 88,000 youngsters aged between 15 and 24 are living with HIV and 23,000 youngsters aged 15 years and above die of Aids-related complications annually.
\nThe Malawi National Youth Policy of August 2013 recognises that youths remain vulnerable to many health risks such as STIs, including HIV and Aids.
\nThe policy pledges to promote the general health and non-discriminatory sexual reproductive health and rights of young people.
\nThe policy further promises to ensure that sexual and cultural practices that promote the spread of STIs\u2014 including HIV and Aids, early pregnancies and teenage pregnancies\u2014 are discouraged.
\nHopefully, Brenda has traits of her parents and will fight on to ensure that the next generation gets lid of harmful cultural practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most parents and guardians do not want to accept that early sex debut is real. But for many parents living in Paramount Chief Kawinga\u2019s area in Machinga District, this is no big deal as culture tolerates it. JOSEPHINE CHINELE looks at how sexual initiation cultures are fueling early sex debut and exposing the youth to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54048,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54042\/revisions\/54048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}