It is a hot August afternoon and aside the hot weather, Edison Chikandira and his fellow married youthful couples in Moffat Village are gathered under a baobab tree waiting for the starting time of the Sexual Reproductive health programme, ‘Maziko’ that targets young married couples.
Chikandira and his peers have formed the Tiyanjane radio listening club and they regularly meet to listen to the Maziko programme that is produced by the Pakachere Institute of Development and Health Communications.
As a youthful married man, Chikandira used to face some challenges before he started listening to the radio programme. He however said listening to the programme has been an eye opener to him and his peers.
As he waits for the commencement time for the programme he engages the youth that are gathered in a Cbox game, where a box with Sexual Reproductive Health proverbs is written is tossed between the members and when one receives the box reads the message to be discussed by the group.
The young married couples have fun playing the game; however the fun is not the end of the excitement of the game. They also learn a lot from the messages that relay various forms of attaining happiness in the family among youthful couples.
Chikandira like many members of this Radio listening club are role models in their community. He is living happily with his wife and is envied by many members of his society.
Chikandira however recalls how he used to live his life before he started listening to the programme.
“I used to have regular fights with my wife over petty matters because we did not equally understand each other, “recalls Chikandira.
He said during that period he did not understand that his wife just like him had special feelings she needed to be satisfied and as a result they were in constant fights.
However he recalls the time when he started listening to the programme and the impact it had on their lives.
“When I joined the radio listening club, I was doing it out of desperation for I just wanted to have a place where I could run away from my wife’s demands, “he said.
However upon joining the club, he started realizing that there were a lot of problems that were affecting his married life and were bringing confusions.
“I realized that most of the problems that were happening in my family were a result of poor communication between me and my wife, “he said.
Concurring with Chikandira was Moses Malunga facilitator for the Tiyanjane radio listening club. Malunga said that most of the club members were having family problems that were mostly a result of being involved in multiple relationships.
“Some of us were involved with other ladies on top of our wives and we did not seriously take our responsibilities at home, “he said.
He however said that the Maziko programme had given them an understanding of how they can take care of the needs of their marriage partners.
“Most of us did not really understand that by cheating on our wives we were putting our own lives and that of our wives including children on danger, “he said.
Prisca Kabethi a 25 year old single lady that has been a member of the club since last year said her membership to the club has been an eye opener as she has been able to make decisions that have proved to be of benefit in her life.
“I am having an affair and the skills I have learnt from the programme have made me to negotiate safer sex with my partner, “she said.
She said that many girls in the area have found themselves unplanned pregnancies as a result of knowledge gaps on sexual reproductive health.
One of her friends, Fanny Chimangeni who has just joined the group bemoans having delayed to join the club.
“I was discouraged by some members of my family not to join the club as they said that youths that were going to the club were going to discuss pornography, “she said adding that, “The delay had its own cost as I am now having a child as I did not have negotiation skills for safer sex and yet alone knowledge on sexual reproductive health.”
Village headman Moffat said that the initiative has since changed lives of many young couples in his area.
He said that many young married couple was now not regularly coming on his courts with cases of infidelity or abuse by a member of the union.
Penjani Kalua Field and Communication officer at Pakachere Institute of Health and Development communications said in an interview the programme of out of school youth that is being implemented in eight districts and it has had marvelous impacts on the lives of marred youth especially in the rural areas.
He said the programme is being funded the National AIDS Commission and it aims at equipping the young couples with sexual reproductive health knowledge so that they understand the risk of being involved in a sexual network.
Kalua said the Maziko Programme which airs on local stations carries messages that are relevant with the latest research findings.
He said most of the messages revolve around simple issues that are appealing to the young people so that the messages can easily reach their audiences.
Kalua said research has indicated that many married young couples that have more sex partners are those that have little negotiation skills of sexual needs of their partner and they end into having affairs with many partners to find sexual satisfaction.
However Kalua said that most of these youth end up at putting themselves at the risk of HIV infection.