By Isaac Lema, Tanzania, (March 2014)- On the 3rd of March, the UCE team traveled from Iringa to Ludewa district, which is about 440 kilometers from Iringa town. On their way, they visited the Njombe Secondary School UCE Club, where club members would soon be graduating. After that visitation, the UCE team travelled to Ludewa district. On their arrival, they met the District Educational Officer (DEO) to receive a formal introduction and permit to speak at schools in the region. The DEO said, “This kind of job that you are doing is big and tough, considering that secondary school students have engaged in premarital sex. Several times I have been involved in the board meetings concerning students’ discipline. The situation is very bad and parents have been involved in convincing their children to engage in premarital sex. Moreover there are organizations which teach and insist on the condom use thing that is against God’s commandments. The difficulties come since sex involves feelings that many youth fail to control. I wished if I was given the power to decide for the country, I could say, preach about abstinence in every corner of this country, since that is the only help. If you win this war that you are going to fight then you are second disciple of Jesus. This does not mean I discourage you, but to challenge you so that you will know what kind of youth you are going to meet. Otherwise, I welcome you all in Ludewa District and I allow you to do that work.”
The team answered that challenge, and with Christ leading the way, they reached out to 20 schools in Ludewa District. There were times when the car got flat tires and so in these times the team left the car and walked by foot, not delaying to spread the message of chastity. If God is for us, who can be against us? The stories of lives changed from this month are almost too many to count. At each turn in the road, each new school, we found our young countrymen and women standing to embrace the hope and life of a new path.
The headmaster of one school, Lugalawa Secondary School said,
“Thank you very much UCE. This organization is very different from SPW (ed. note: Students Partnership Worldwide, a now defunct condom promotion non-profit). You are truly ambassadors of God because you have touched every angle of life and what to do. Our school will buy 6 copies of the UCE book for our school library so that it will be easy for everybody to go there and read for him/herself. We welcome you again and again.”
Moreover, the school counselor also said, “Today UCE has helped me to explain everything that I have struggled with teaching every day. I promise to start a UCE club as soon as possible and to administer it. I expect more students will pass their exams, and that early pregnancy will no longer be here.” About 400 students attended the outreach at Lugalawa Secondary School, and 292 signed commitment cards.
Our observations from the outreaches, and from talking to the students, reveal that the students have been involved in premarital sex not because they like it, but because of lack of knowledge of any other path. Moreover, teachers were not straight on addressing the issues of sexuality. In this first phase of outreaches to Ludewa District, when comparing the number of students who committed to abstain (3,717) to the number reached (4,850), we believe that a great change will be observed, and has even now begun to take place. Most of the schools desired a UCE club. The guidelines for starting and running UCE Clubs were sent to each school.
As an example of the fruits of the UCE clubs, this month we also went to the Mwanza region in the ‘lake zone.’ This outreach was possible through Mr. Joel Elphas, a UCE volunteerand club graduate who worked with UCE in Rombo District. Joel was an active member of the Njombe Secondary School UCE Club, he graduated in the year 2013. He joined Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in September of 2013 and was elected as a leader of the University Student Christian fellowship (USCF). He wished to deliver the UCE message to hi colleagues. Hence, he shared that information with the rest of the leaders of USCF. They agreed to have a UCE seminar. After funding was raised, it was held in March. It was a three day seminar. The UCE team including: Isaac, Joel and Emeline, was received very well by the school. On the first day we taught on self awareness and about UCE. On the second day, we continued with topics on love and relationships, from a Christian perspective. About 300 students attended the seminar, 90 of those University Students chose to abstain. We thank our UCE Club graduate Mr. Joel Elphas for bringing this message to his peers.
Editor: The total cost of the entire outreach push into Ludewa District this past March was $5,000. With that amount, the UCE team reached 20 schools, spoke to ~4,850 students, and watched as 3,717 lives began anew and were saved by a message of hope, love, forgiveness, and chastity. That means for each $1.34 spent, 1 life was forever changed, 1 life will never be the same, and 1 more person is living with hope. Please consider sponsoring a UCE outreach! We need help in reaching more schools! Each month we receive more and more requests by teachers, principals, and even students asking for our teams to visit their schools. You can sponsor an outreach for $250 here. Thank you!
