Bowier Trust
Foundation from Switzerland

Bowier Trust Foundation Switzerland

Bowier Trust Foundation Switzerland

Liberia's youth warned about teenage pregnancies

Paynesville - On the topic of "Teenage Pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)," expert Oretha Slocum spoke and wowed her audience with her passion for illuminating backgrounds responsible for teenage pregnancies in the country.


Report by Kennedy L. Yangian klyangian@frontpageafricaonline.com


She spoke on Sunday, February 26, 2017 at a one-day seminar organized by the Swiss NGO, Browier Trust Foundation, in partnership with Immanuel Church School in SKD Community.

The first major factor she listed as responsible for teen pregnancy is high unemployment and poverty among parents.

Madame Slocum also showed that the generally poor infrastructures also play an important role and a great many children live in broken conditions without proper guidance from their parents....

She motivated teens to take advantage of sex education offerings. According to Slocum, the effects of teen pregnancy can cause medical complications because a teen's body is not ready for pregnancy.

"Girls need to stop asking boys for gifts and stop making out with different boys because those actions are signals, and boys are motivated to go after girls," Madame Slocum said.

Hawa Morris, 15, told FrontPage Africa shortly after Madam Slocum's presentation that she was interested in the advice offered by the nurse.

"As we all know, most teenage girls love material things and go out to prostitute themselves. But as a student who wants a better future, I will take Ms. Slocum's advice seriously," Morris said.

Prior to Madam Slocum's presentation, other experts spoke on various topics such as waste management; the work of the Parent-Teacher Union on the impact of students being excluded from schools and left unsupervised due to lack of achievement. But there were also presentations on the part of the police about effective cooperation between community structures and the police. 

Felix Walz, a Swiss and retired police captain who served in UNMIL and is now the president of the Bowier Trust Foundation, explained that after retiring from UNMIL, he returned home and established the BTFS Foundation in honor of dedicated school classroom teacher Myrtle Bowier.

While working as a UN police officer, he realized that there was a big gap between the police and the local population, which formed the basis for working on trust between the police and the ordinary villagers through partnership-building programs.

Walz said the foundation has been properly registered in Liberia since January 2017, and numerous programs have begun in various local communities.

"Liberia's challenges are great. The country has potential. What it needs is someone to help it move forward, especially in institutional capacity building," Walz said.

« of 2 »

en_USEnglish