Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision - December 11, 2004
Jude Etyang
Addressing 600 youths in Kampala, Janet protested an article in The Monitor that abstinence was a Western idea that will fail in Uganda.
The convention was attended by 600 abstainers and not 70,000 as had been earlier reported.
She said the story implied that Africans were like animals in the zoo and had no self-control. She urged youth to prove the world wrong by saying 'no' to sex.
"There is a tendency for people to think that African people have no self-control. That they need condoms because they cannot abstain from sex. But you have proved to the world that you can say no," Janet said.
The youth signed 'True love waits pledges" to abstain from sex till marriage.
Janet said the press tend to sideline articles about abstinence in favour of condoms.
Janet said it is the Americans who have learnt from Uganda's experience of AIDS and not the other way round. She urged the youth to write in the papers.
"Tell them that what they are saying is rubbish," she said. Janet said the campaign would continue despite the ridicule. Uganda Youth Forum, Life Network and Makerere University were represented.
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