Mohalenyane Phakela
SESOTHO Media and Development (SM&D) will host a two-day film and discussion beginning today in Qholaqhoe, Butha Buthe aimed at addressing issues of teenage pregnancy and substance abuse.
SM&D is a non-profit organisation that seeks to raise awareness in different communities on HIV/AIDS, abuse and gender equality through films and panel discussions. It is also the pioneer of the annual Lesotho Film Festival which has provided a platform for upcoming local filmmakers.
Today the SM&D team along with human rights organisation, Fida Lesotho will hold discussions with the Qholaqhoe community on the effects of alcohol and drug abuse.
Tomorrow they will partner with the Ministry of Education to address Qholaqhoe High School students on the issue of teenage pregnancy.
SM&D Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Hape Moshabesha told the Weekender that they had previously worked with the Qholaqhoe community in a baseline study and this had given them an insight into the issues they would focus on during this week’s two-day programme.
“Drug and alcohol abuse are often the causes of other forms of abuse in different communities so this will be one of the topics for discussion,” Moshabesha said.
“We also work closely with teachers and we learned from them that teenage pregnancy is a major problem at the school.
“Child pregnancy is often caused by the fact that parents do not have the courage to talk to their children about this and other issues resulting in the children seeking and getting advice from their peers which is often misleading.”
Moshabesha revealed that they would screen two films, Phumla which speaks of teenage pregnancy and Ts’asa on the effects of drug abuse.
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