By Bishop Martin Nyaboho, Burundi (March 2014)- On behalf of UCE Burundi, it is with great pleasure that I greet all of the UCE partners during this Easter Season. May the sufferings of Jesus Christ which led Him to the crucifixion, death, and resurrection become a blessing to us all.
For UCE, March has been another month of plenty of activities despite the fact that much rain has disturbed some of the activities. Wherever we knocked at the door with the purpose of sharing the Gospel, through the chastity message, doors have been opened for us.
We regret that some of our roads were very tough during this rainy season but thank God for the new means of transportation that generous UCE donors provided for us. Our compliments and thanks are addressed to the UCE sponsors and partners both local and international. The directors of schools, their deputies, and the chairs of school committees have been very cooperative with the UCE team. This has made our visits much more fruitful.
We are informed by our school partners that IADH (Initiative d’Appui au Developpement Humanitaire), a NGO sponsored by Netherlands has launched a program to sensitize the youths in schools on health reproduction with the main objective of placing condoms either in health centers or in schools themselves. After one of our UCE seminars held in Makamba, Mr. Misigaro Jean Bosco, Principal of Muyogo High school made an opposition declaration as follows:
“We hold on to Abstinence, as taught by Universal Chastity Education, as the best method to preserve good health exempt of HIV/AIDS and other STDs. We teach Biology in schools, but the IADH approach would be like supplying items to deviate the youths from having a healthy life, and encouraging them to have a promiscuous life. I will keep encouraging the promotion of Abstinence as a right way of living because other ways are deceitful.”
The following section will report briefly on various outreaches that UCE did in March 2014:
The first outreach to Kabizi High School was stopped by the rain. We planned a second outreach on 27/3/2014. We were privileged to have visitors from Bujumbura who wanted to see us in the field. The students sang excellent songs with the UCE message, read poems, and prepared teaching sketches. These were all presented by the UCE club members. At the end of the day 4 teachers and 153 students signed the chastity commitment cards!
Bukeye High School is located in the Highlands of Kibago County, this school registers few visitors because of the tough road which passes through it. But we managed to reach it this year. We had a warm welcome from the Principal, and the whole staff received the team. After a short introduction we divided the students into groups according to their gender. Different modules were taught by team members who later invited the students to sign the chastity commitment cards. Some students asked questions for clarification such as:
Will this card protect me not to be tempted to have sexual intercourse?
What will happen if I do sexual intercourse after signing this card?
The UCE team clearly explained the importance of the card, but also that unless the mind and soul change to embrace Christ as the Protector, the card can’t be considered as a talisman.
The closing ceremonies focused on signing the commitment cards: 327 Students willingly signed.
A UCE seminar was organized for government employees, security forces, and civilians together. The Governor of the Province himself attended the workshop. Our main focus was to give them a sense of responsibility in matters related to sensitizing people under their care to protect themselves from the killing disease, HIV, and other STDs. At the end of the workshop the Governor commented:
“We compliment the Diocese of Makamba, who initiated the UCE program starting from Makamba. Now that we are all familiar with this program we promise that we will give the UCE message to the population at our meetings with them. Every time we get an opportunity to speak to our people we won’t forget to tell them to abstain and be faithful. Thank you, Bishop Martin, for this program.”
The provinces of Kirundo and Muyinga are in the northern part of Burundi. Those provinces are the leading provinces in HIV/AIDS prevalence. After much thinking, planning, and praying, the UCE team decided to start a UCE branch there. As reported earlier, the team has been there to outreach schools and create UCE clubs. Now we are fortunate to have some UCE pioneers who volunteered to extend the UCE teachings in Muyinga. It is in this context that a seminar for 25 couples (we usually call it Training of Trainers Seminar) was organized in March. The Bishop and his wife (Anglican) attended the two days seminar. His participation in the workshop was a blessing to many in many ways. At the end of the workshop he commented:
“Lives will not remain the same with the UCE teachings. We will support and encourage these participants to share this message with their neighbors. We need to see the spread of HIV/AIDS being reduced as soon as possible. We have the tools to use, we are ready to start now. Thanks to the Diocese of Makamba for your initiative.”
This month 918 youth and 210 married persons committed themselves to God and chastity (abstinence as youth and faithfulness in marriage).
Students give a chastity message as the rain approaches 
Bishop Martin speaks to students 
Workshop for government officials 
Couples seminar