22 Jul 2019

A finalist for Teen Universe Botswana beauty pageant, Ms Bahumi Moshashane has advised young people to abstain from sex to avoid falling victim to HIV/AIDS.

The 19-year-old former Lobatse Secondary School student hosted a talk show in Lobatse recently in conjunction with the Athlone hospital youth friendly clinic to raise awareness on the youth about HIV/AIDS.

Ms Moshashane said it was disturbing to see many young people exposing themselves to HIV infection through risky sexual behaviour.

“We see many of our peers drop out of school due to teenage pregnancy, which suggests that they are not abstaining from sex and not using protection. It is upon us as youth to come up with ways to curb this problem,” she said.

She said government, non-governmental organisations and churches had done a lot to sensitise the society about how to avoid contracting HIV.

Ms Moshashane urged young people to be disciplined and abstain from sex until they are adults.

“We have lost many of our loved ones through this pandemic. Therefore, let us abstain from sex before marriage because it is doable,” she advised.

She said her awareness campaign, which also included a sponsored walk and voluntary testing for HIV, targeted all young people in Lobatse.

The youngster expressed confidence that her peers, who attended the talk show, had heeded the advice.

Ms Moshashane said she had also held other awareness campaigns in Digawana and surrounding villages as part of her project for the Teen Universe Botswana beauty pageant finals.

The Teen Universe Botswana is a beauty pageant for girls aged between 15 and 19 years.

The finals of the pageant will take place on August 03 in Gaborone between 15 contestants, who were selected through an audition process.

The winner of the competition would represent Botswana at the international teen universe pageant in Panama next year. ENDS