Three hundred young men and women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently performed a vaccines awareness service project while attending a youth convention.
Arising early on a Saturday morning, youth aged 12-18 donned matching t-shirts and hand-delivered vaccine awareness pamphlets to local settlements and villages.
Eddie Alembo, the Church’s Country Welfare Manager organized for the youth to receive training from representatives from medical professionals. Dr Mohammad Salim Reza of the World Health Organisation (WHO) was surprised at the number of youth that turned up, willing and ready to help.
“I didn’t expect such a large group," Dr Reza said. "I am impressed that they are excited, enthusiastic and have so much energy."
Other health experts who spoke to the group and responded to questions included Rhonda Tisap, Dr Fiona Kupe and Anthonia Robinson.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
The theme of the service project was “Fully Immunize and Protect the Next Generation." The key initiative of the activity was to educate parents about the importance of immunizing their children against measles.
Measles is a respiratory disease which causes fevers and rashes. It can lead to pneumonia, brain damage, deafness or even death. Even though the vaccines are free at the medical clinics, 70,000 cases of measles were reported in Papua New Guinea in 2015.