By ZONGO Félicienne President of ABE.

ABE organized the three days of advocacy on Friday 24, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September 2021. Youth Advocacy activities in Boassa-Sandogo took place in the St Dominic chapel of Boassa.

A public lecture on the current challenges of youth took place from 6.30 p.m. on Friday evening. The youth chaplain of Sandogo-Boassa unpacked before them the evils that undermine the youth the various challenges that await them and he proposed solutions in order to help young people to feel concerned and to be key players in their lives. development.

A film screening entitled: Knowing how to say no to sexuality and teenage pregnancies was presented just after the conference, these two activities saw the participation of several young people who were more than fifty. There was good participation in the debate.

During Saturday and Sunday, HIV and hepatitis screening activities plus hepatitis vaccination were carried out.

The opening mass took place on Saturday evening and was led by Father Ismael MATAMBURA the Director of African Jesuit AIDS Network, who came especially from Nairobi. He intended to experience the realities of ABE and to participate in the activities that AJAN funded under the theme of the Ignatian year. Alongside Fr. Ismael were Father Jacques OUEDRAOGO, Jesuit director of the Pamyondo Spiritual Center, and Father Ludovic TOUGOUMA Parish Priest and Youth Chaplain of the Parish of Saint Monique of Sandogo-Boassa. The Eucharistic celebration brought together only the young people of the Parish, many of them came out to participate in this Mass. screening and vaccination activities continued on Sunday, September 26 and ended in apotheosis in the evening with a Fora theater on the theme of HIV / AIDS / STI. The attendance of young people was about 200.

A total of 100 people were screened and vaccinated for hepatitis, whereas150 were tested for HIV. Of this total, there were three positive hepatitis cases and two positive HIV cases.

At the end of these three days of advocacy, the young people committed to continuing awareness-raising activities on the various infectious and contagious diseases. They are committed to adopting a change of behavior for an effective fight against HIV, hepatitis, STIs, early pregnancy and finally the consumption of psychoactive substances and the various drugs that come their way.

Everything ended with a note of general satisfaction, expressed by ABE, the chaplain and the Sister Advisor of the youth of the parish, Father Ismaël MATAMBURA director of AJAN and finally the young people. They find that it is a first that an Association takes care of them in terms of health. They wanted other Perspectives to open up for them.

27 September 2021 was the closure of a three-day youth-led advocacy activities at Bouassa, Ouagadougou. The engagement, hosted by Association des Benevoles de l Esperance- ABE, included awareness creation about the impact of HIV on the youth and hepatitis and the benefits of its vaccine. Free HIV and Hepatitis testing was undertaken. The Hepatitis vaccine was also availed to those willing to take it and about 250 youth accessed these tests.

Other challenges that youth face in Bouassa were also discussed, and a play which demonstrated the challenges was the climax of activities. Fr. Ismael Matambura congratulates ABE for the work which he witnessed.