A dozen of peer educators participated in a five-day-long peer-education workshop that was recently held at North Gate Lodge.
The Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force's training coordinator, Clinton Osbourn, stated that the workshop was aimed at providing the necessary skills to peer educators who worked with Munna Ndi Nnyi, which they could use in their peer education and human rights work.
"Our workshop entailed the main aspects of the peer educators' job, such as outreach and running workshops in towns and villages," Clinton said. "They were also given information about issues related to HIV, ARVs, prep and family planning."
Clinton stated the experience of working with peer educators was rewarding, since they were a great team of individuals who all loved life. "They were very interested in the subject and they shared a lot of their knowledge with one another," he said. "The outcome of the workshop is that they are better equipped to support sex workers in the area."
Munna Ndi Nnyi's director, Dr Bardwell Mufunwaini, said that it was high time that society stopped discriminating against sex workers. "The workshop was aimed at helping us who work with, and for, society with regard to human rights," Mufunwaini said.
He added that sex workers were not only people who operated along the streets and in brothels, but that there were also those who operated from the comfort of their own homes. "So, stop calling your sisters and brothers names because you lack understanding," he lamented.
A site coordinator for the peer educators, Tendai Dube, said the workshop was an eye-opener to peer educators. "It has sharpened our skills as we learnt new ideas and approaches to make us more effective and efficient at work," he said.