Morung Express News
September 10
DIMAPUR: A Seminar on ‘The role of the youth in combating HIV/AIDS’ was held today at Tourist Lodge, Dimapur.
It was organised by Living Hope, an NGO combating substance abuse and HIV/AIDS in collaboration with World Vision, Dimapur.
84 participants including students as well as the working class showed up.. The day was segmented into three sessions.The first part was on career guidance, the second on the topic of leadership and the third on HIV/AIDS. The resource persons were Dr. Coppe Meru, Director, Resource Center, Geoffrey Yaden, Editor, Nagaland Post and Fr. Joe Ngmkhuchung, Director, NEDHIV.
Dr. Coppe Meru spoke on career guidance and highlighted the avenues, the streams of various kinds of education and creating awareness for higher studies in finding the right course of study. In the second session, Geoffrey spoke practical words on the topic of ‘Leadership’.
He said that a leader needs to have a vision and a plan to fulfil it and further added that a leader must be able to control his physical body by mind and not vice versa. “Leadership is all about quality”, he said.
Fr. Joe Ngmkhuchung gave a detailed presentation on HIV/AIDS. Besides his speech, he displayed slides depicting various sicknesses one gets after being infected by the AIDS virus.
He said that Nagaland, though a very small state isnot backward when itcomes to HIV/AIDS infected population as it ranks 6th in India in this regard
He said that people should be first made aware and only then could they contribute something to the society towards combating this deadly disease. Sex workers’ have contributed only 4.4 %, drug users 2.92 % of the total rate of infected people in the commercial hub of Nagaland.
It is also estimated that 1 per 100 mothers are infected with the virus in Nagaland. The only way to fight this deadly disease is to avoid it, he added.
From the Audience:
“Career guidance part was very encouraging and profitable one and I wished that I had such kind of guidance earlier in my life” stated Mercy who is working as a Director in the Youth Ministry of Rengma Baptist Church, Padamphukuri.
A student of Don Bosco Hr. Sec. School (DBHSS), Dimapur said, “It is my first time attending such a type of seminar and it was very much profitable on my part”.
Villi, a student from DBHSS was of the opinion, Such workshops are encouraging and I further would like to encourage the organisers to take up more workshops in future too”.
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