MUKULA – "Don't fool yourself - HIV/Aids exists and it has already decimated millions of South African citizens," said Mr Calvin Mafune during HIV/Aids Awareness Day at Mukula Clinic last Saturday.

Mafune has already disclosed that he is HIV positive and is now working as the HIV/Aids ambassador at Vhufulwi Hospital. Many did not take him seriously, seeing that Mafune is looking healthy and strong. Some said he has been bought by the government to teach about the HIV/Aids pandemic.

Mafune told Mirror that he was tested positive in 1999 and started suffering from diaerrhoea and excessive vomiting. Some of the youths told Mirror that they will never have sex while they are still young and they have accepted Mafune's advice. A social worker, Mrs Cecilia Budeli, said the youth must avoid being victims of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) because these damage the genitals. She denounced the escalation of teenage pregnancies and also stressed that the Child Support Grant is there to help orphans. She stressed that the youth should focus on their academic work so that they will be rolemodels for their children.

"Condoms should be used by adults and the youth have to abstain until the time is right," she said. Mrs Budeli also advised the youth to attend church so that they can get help from their religious leaders.

The Chairperson of the Youth Council in the Vhembe District, Mr Nditsheni Mathule, said the government is trying to gather the youth in order to teach them responsibility.

Ward Councillor Rudzani Netshampofu congratulated the Far North Health Care Centre for advising the youth while they are still healthy. The Far North Health Care Centre, under Dean Alunamutwe Randitsheni of the Lutheran church, spearheaded the awareness campaign.

Dean Randitsheni said the Centre aimed at mobilizing young people towards engaging in the fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic through the utilization of human potential and resources to increase awareness and caring for the victims of Aids.