{"id":5480,"date":"2017-04-02T17:11:55","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T17:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/?p=5480"},"modified":"2017-04-03T06:43:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T06:43:00","slug":"unwanted-pregnancies-ruining-young-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/unwanted-pregnancies-ruining-young-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Unwanted pregnancies ruining young lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sexual misconduct resulting in unplanned parenthood alarmingly scourges the youth of the educational district of Kabezi.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Reports

Reports say students often meet in these classrooms of Lyc\u00e9e Gitenga for dates<\/p><\/div>\n

Increasing numbers of undesired pregnancies are ruining the future of students in the education district of Kabezi as they interrupt their studies and force them into unwanted lives – a situation that school principals says is \u201calarming\u201d.<\/p>\n

Roger Migezo, the head of the education district of Kabezi, says at least 18 cases of pregnancies were registered in the district during the school year 2015-2016.<\/p>\n

Becoming or making someone pregnant means suspension for students and, in most cases, being forced into living together without being married. In some other cases the students choose to run away if they can\u2019t face the shame, the rejection by the family or are afraid of legal action. In rare cases they choose abortion.<\/p>\n

On 27 March, the disciplinary council of Lyc\u00e9e Communal of Kabezi decided to suspend four students for sexual misconduct that led to undesired pregnancies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe following day a report came in that one of the four students had been rushed to hospital because she had had an abortion\u201d, says Raymond, Headmaster of Lyc\u00e9e Communal of Kabezi. The incident has resulted in a criminal inquiry.<\/p>\n

Students like Claudine Nzoyihaya who accepted the situation and gave birth say their lives become very difficult.<\/p>\n

Nzoyihaya was in grade 8 at Communal Lyc\u00e9e Gitenga when she became pregnant with a man who had promised to marry her. She said she was 18 when it happened. When the man discovered he had made her pregnant, he ran away, leaving her to face the consequences alone.<\/p>\n

Now she says it\u2019s extremely hard for her to live as a single mother given that her parents are not always supportive. She worries about her future and the future of the child who is registered with no father. Nzoyihaya would go to a vocational school if she had an opportunity. \u201cIn that way, I would be able to meet my needs\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

Emelyne Niyonzima, 20, illegally lives with her boyfriend who got her pregnant when both were in secondary school at Lyc\u00e9e Gitenga. She says they live in hardship, earning their living by working for people who pay them BIF 1500 (approx. 0.9 US $). per day<\/p>\n

Some of the students who are forced into living together unlawfully often divorce in the long run. Bernard Bushambara, a volunteer who supervises students at Lyc\u00e9e Gitenga, says some girls are called back home by parents who pity them for the miserable lives they live. Others return home when their husbands leave them home alone, and are unable to endure the terrible living conditions.<\/p>\n

What are the causes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some, like Niyonzima, say they engage in unlawful sexual activities (in Burundi, sex is virtually illegal outside marriage) due to poverty. For others it is because of peer-pressure. A young man, who was suspended from Lyc\u00e9e Communal de Kabezi because he made his 8th grade girlfriend pregnant, says there is pressure on students to have sexual relations. \u201cYou feel bad about yourself if you don\u2019t have a girlfriend. And having sex is not always something you plan\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

Mr Migezo, the Head of Kabezi education district, dismisses the claim that poverty is the cause of illicit sexual relationships. \u201cWe all grew up here in dire poverty, but we didn\u2019t get involved in criminal activities to finance our studies\u201d, he says. He says that among the underlying causes include the fact that nowadays students see school as irrelevant and seem to have no vision for their lives. Some girls are not willing but forced to be at school. And if any man promises to marry them they follow him. \u201cThat\u2019s why the majority are made pregnant by people who are not even students\u201d, he concludes.<\/p>\n

Migezo says another important cause is the access to pornographic images. Epaphrodite Nkengurutse, a local Pastor corroborates the claim and says he has testimonies from students who have been involved in illicit sexual activities. \u201cThe videos they access, thanks to their phones, worsen their lust\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

Migezo says that despite the disheartening misconduct of students, school principals and teachers steadily continue advising their students against anything that can lead them into sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n

He hopes the Association for the Promotion of Auto-Education (ASSOPRA), a new association that has just started operating in the district, will help curb sexuality-related problems as it aims to teach the community to adopt \u201cbehaviour and attitudes likely to bring about a good future for students and the community in general\u201d, says Guide Karorero the President of the association.<\/p>\n

Dr Vianney Ndayishimiye, a member of the association, says that as a medical doctor he tries to help students understand the negative consequences that can follow illicit sexuality and how they can avoid them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sexual misconduct resulting in unplanned parenthood alarmingly scourges the youth of the educational district of Kabezi. Increasing numbers of undesired pregnancies are ruining the future of students in the education district of Kabezi as they interrupt their studies and force them into unwanted lives – a situation that school principals says is \u201calarming\u201d. Roger Migezo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,670],"tags":[740,1063],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5482,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5480\/revisions\/5482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iwacu-burundi.org\/englishnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}