LOCAL NEWS 15.4.10 - BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION WORKSHOP HELD. By Bedan Lomor.

Behaviour change communication workshop was today held at St. Teresa Pastoral Centre Lodwar for evangelical religious leaders. Speaking at the workshop St. Augustine's VCT counsellor Mr. Thomas Ewoi said that the workshop's main objective is to empower the religious leaders, i.e. pastors, evangelical bishops, etc, to become the agents of behaviour change transformation in their respective Churches and communities, in the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic. The workshop was jointly organized by International Rescue Committee (IRC), Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) department in partnership with the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar and Lodwar District Hospital (VCT) staff. The participants who received this training were 35 in number drawn within Lodwar. Empowerment of the religious leaders to become the transforming agents of the community was the major issue in this workshop. Speaking to one of our reporter at the venue the pastor of Redeemed Gospel Church Lodwar, Rev. Joshua Masika, said that the religious leaders have turned up in full swing in the fight of HIV/ AIDS stigma in the larger Turkana region and they will go and give the right information to the right people so as to assist in reducing the HIV/AIDS prevalence within their churches. The community are encouraged to come out and know their HIV status so as to know how to plan their lives.