Peer educators empowered

Nasimane Fanuel
A five day Peer Educator camp was held in Swakopmund during the May holidays. It was attended by 92 learners from various schools in Namibia such as Augustineum ,Immanuel Shifidi, Ella Du Plessis, Dr Lemmer, Eenhana, Rehoboth, Ovitoto, Groot Aub, Okahandja, Highline Secondary School and many more. The purpose of the camp was to instill and strengthen good leadership and communication skills to our Peer Educators, as they are the vital source of emotional support to their fellow school mates as well as major influence on behavior, attitude and knowledge. “The camp was quite motivational and an inspiration to all teenagers who attended the camp, now we can share what we’ve learnt from our life skills Couches who facilitated all the activities,” says Ndilimeke Ilifilwa ,an Augustineum Peer Educator. She adds that “they are really educating us the youth about social issues such as HIV and AIDS which in some homes is considered a taboo to speak of”. Peer Educators have the potential to foster health behavior and development to fellow peers. During the camp, Peer Educators were taught about sexual Health and violence in societies and how to avoid them. Learners also had time to socialize with one another and time to reflect on all the activities on what they have learned and also shared views and opinions in group discussions on how they think is best to face the challenges they have at schools and their community. Peer Educators made goals based on challenges they identified in their different respective schools such as teenage pregnancy and abuse of drugs and how they plan on bringing about change. Every school supported by the Star For Life Organisation has or is given a life skills Coach assigned to lead and coach the learners of that particular high school and the problems identified has to go through the Coach in order for it to be permanently improvised and put in action. “The camp was very informative and also because it opened up new doors for me to walk in. The camp magnified my career path options and just gave birth to a baby named Psychology, ” says Justine Nandjaya also an Augustineum Peer Educator.

Nasimane Fanuel