By Fatou Sowe in CRR
The United Nations Population Fund – The Gambia (UNFPA) family planning campaign team on Tuesday organised an art competition between selected schools in the central river region (CRR) as a way of reaching out to the younger generation to gauge their understanding of the concept of family planning.
The activity which was conducted at the Armitage Senior Secondary School grounds saw a competition among students in three categories, senior secondary schools, upper basic schools and lower basic schools in the communities of Janjangbureh and Bansang respectively.
Lamin Camara, a programme officer and focal person for adolescents and youth at UNFPA in an interview said the art competition activity is part of their campaign on family planning. He added that it is geared towards reaching out to different people using different strategies and for students, one of the strategies they devised is to reach to them through art so that they can express their understanding of family planning.
According to him, the overall objective is to let the students have a greater understanding of family planning; the myths and realities so that they will be better engaged in their family situation. It is also to encourage the participants to express what their understanding is about family planning and how they think an ideal family is in the context of family planning.
Camara stressed that whenever people hear about family planning they come up with wrong interpretations and notions as a result they target the students to catch them.
“The purpose of this campaign is to dispel myths, wrong notions on family planning and to provide information to people that is accurate so that it will help them to make informed choices, and in doing this we using multiple approaches, We are hoping that they will get back to their families and share with their parents and friends on their understanding of family planning,” Camara said.
At the end of the competition each of the winners in the three categories namely Modou Sawyer of Bansang Lower Basic School; Muhammad Jallow of Janjangbureh Upper Basic School and Amadou B Jallow of Armitage Senior Secondary School was respectively given a bicycle and school kits including books, pencils.
Speaking on behalf of the winners, Amadou B Jallow expressed appreciation to the organisers for giving them the opportunity.
