DOKOLO – Platform for Community Empowerment (PLACE) has continued its students mentorship program at Bata Secondary School in Dokolo District, bringing together medical professionals, teachers and mentors to guide learners as third term nears completion.
Senior Medical Officer Ambrose Ogwang Awitong, who was the key speaker, challenged students to embrace three key pillars for success: prayer, discipline and hard work.
Mr. Ogwang Awitong said no student can excel in academics and life without God, self-control and commitment to studies.
”Prayer gives you direction, discipline keeps you focused, and hard work brings results,” he told the students.
He also educated learners on the dangerous effects of alcohol on human health, explaining how alcohol damages vital body organs including the liver, brain and heart, impairs judgment, affects academic performance, and can destroy a young person’s future.
He discouraged students from engaging in alcohol consumption and other substance abuse, noting that many young people have lost their education and lives due to peer pressure and drug abuse, especially as third term approaches its end.
He urged students to choose good company, listen to their teachers and parents, and concentrate on building a better future.
Another mentor, Sarah Akullo, sensitized the learners on the effects of teenage pregnancy, urging students to desist from early sex and teenage pregnancy, which she said has ended the education dreams of many girls.
Benard Oribo, a teacher at St. John Bosco SS, challenged students to reflect on their identity as learners.
”Do you have characteristics of what you want to be called (Student)? Success in somebody’s brand is changing from what you like doing which you are not supposed to do,” he said.
He posed two reflective questions to the learners: “What is that you like doing which you are not supposed to do and what is that you don’t like doing which you are supposed to start doing?”
He added, “Let’s not sleep for long as if we are competing with the dead yet we want to win people alive.”
The Chief Executive Officer of PLACE, Francis Osik, advised students to take care of themselves for future value.
”We need people to teach because when we share knowledge, we learn more,” he said.
According to Osik, “We need people who love us, promote us and mentor us.”
The mentorship program is part of PLACE’s ongoing efforts to prevent the common culture of indiscipline and misbehaviour in schools as third term nears completion, and to shape a disciplined, focused and responsible generation under its mission of Information for Community Transformation.
