The Tribune

FACULTY members and students from Temple Christian High School paid a courtesy call on US Charg� d’Affaires John Dinkelman at the US Embassy.

During the meeting, school officials officially announced the launch of the Temple Christian High School Red Cross Link’s National Speech Competition.

Temple Christian High School was recently awarded a small grant, made available through funding by the Embassy’s 2012 US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) small grants initiative.

As part of the national competition, high schools throughout New Providence and five Family Islands were invited to present their written speeches, exploring the stigma and discrimination often attached to HIV/AIDS.

Judges will evaluate the submissions and select ten students to advance to a final round, where they will represent their schools in an Inter-School Public Speaking competition to take place on November 16, at the Red Cross Headquarters on John F. Kennedy Drive.

Claudette Thompson, a teacher at Temple Christian said the national speech competition was part of the school’s ongoing HIV/AIDS education programme.

“We want to create a society where young people will feel free to discuss certain topics. For too long we have avoided certain issues, but the problem is not going away and so we need to face it head on,” Ms Thompson said.

During the meeting Dinkelman commended the competition organisers for their commitment to ending the stigma and discrimination faced by persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

The Charg� also applauded the efforts of the students in recognizing the importance of using peer education as an effective tool to promote HIV/AIDS awareness among the youth of The Bahamas.