BY VANESSA C.K MUSARURWA

Great Zimbabwe University Peer Club is raising awareness amongst fellow students on Sexually Transmitted Infections, enriching students with adequate information and knowledge concerning the dangers of STI’s and how the students can prevent such dangers from happening to them.

The club’s executive members say it has an important role to fulfil at the campus that is informing their fellow peers on such deadly infections.

 Peer Club President Takunda M. Zakira said that the club is not going to breakaway without fulfilling its mandate first.

The club has had activities such as drug and substance abuse awareness campaign, know your service campaign in which the former was aimed on enlightening students on the dangers of abusing drugs and substances while the latter was mostly aimed at introducing students to the various stakeholders and organisations from which they can acquire help and assistance when the need arises.

Zakira also cited a number of STI symptoms that includes unusual discharge from the vagina, penis or anus, pain when urinating, lumps or skin growths around the genitals or anus, a rash, unusual vaginal bleeding, itchy genitals or anus blisters and sores around the genitals or anus.

“You can have an STI without knowing it and infect your partner but I encourage my fellow peers and everyone else that if one notices the symptoms I have mentioned earlier, one has quickly visit the clinic for treatment,” he added.

“ Personally I advise my fellow colleagues to abstain from sex, including oral sex, avoid having sex without a condom until you have had a check-up,” said Edelbert Makombe who is one of the club’s executive member.

The Peer Club President indicated that they protect and respect the issues of confidentiality and privacy of the victims of these infections as it is their mandate to protect them and help them get treated early.

“We have had a case whereby one of our colleagues with an STI had to visit the clinic too late, when his condition could no longer be curable because he was shy and afraid that his condition might be known. Some are shy or afraid to be reviewed by an opposite sex but they have the right to choose if they want to be reviewed by a female doctor or male doctor,” said Zakira.

He went on to say that, “No information about your visit to the clinic will be shared with anyone else outside the clinic unless you ask for it to be and also one does not need to give out his or her real name if they don’t want to.”

The club is also having a condomiser activity whereby they are advocating for their fellow peers and students to use condoms for protection to avoid these deadly infections.

“We aim for all students to graduate alive and also that they acquire the life they desire which from STI’s,” said Makombe the executive member.

“As of now we have managed to get more students to join the club which is rather a huge achievement of this club, as it is one of the goals of the club to do so,” said Nyasha one of the club member.

“As we know not everything goes smoothly and as of this club we are facing the problem of ignorance whereby my fellow peers are taking this issue of STIs lightly whilst it’s a matter of life and death,” said Makombe.

“Well as humans are, not all of them really like the message that we are conveying to them but all the same that doesn’t stop us from doing our mandate to make sure that they acquire this knowledge before it’s too late,” said Zakira.

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