Drugs, Alcohol and Mini-Skirts - A Survey of Ugandan Youth

In my endeavor to create an Aids Education Program that is relevant to the Ugandan youth (age demographic 14-23), I constructed a 13 questions survey about Sex, Culture, Christianity and Aids. Hardly intended to be scientific at all and really just a survey of Christian youth, it still gave me a glance into the perspective of Ugandan youth. And honestly, I really wanted to determine if the church had adequately addressed these sensitive issues with their youth. I was encouraged to find that ALL believed that sex outside of marriage was a “big deal.” And furthermore, that their Christianity was the largest determining factor in their decisions about sexual relationships. Some of the things they wrote down were…. helped equip me to resist the devil; helps to overcome temptation; to live morally well; I learned to abstain until marriage, kept me safe from sexual immorality; that I am a temple of Christ and I need to protect it; I love my Jesus more than anything; taught me to relate with opposite sex in godly manner; Helps me to keep my thoughts pure; It provides boundaries for me; I know God will honor a pure life; Christianity has provided me something bigger to look forward to – that’s heaven.

And, worthy of special note…. “The Church taught me to only have one wife.” This is not a response you would find on any survey taken of American youth!! However, that is reality here. I have often asked a teenager how many sibling they have, and to get an answer of 25 is completely normal! (The woman are reading this thinking… that is not humanly possible!) But, this is because a man will have several wives, sometimes one in each village he travels too or he keeps one on Tanzania, one in Kenya and one Uganda. (Now you, men, are thinking… I’m moving to Uganda!) However, the Uganda Christian church is constantly battling this tradition of multiple wives. For example, when someone gives their life to Christ and decides to join a church, which wife do they keep? What happens to the children of the non-wife? These may seem like obvious answers on paper, but the reality is that sorting through the nature of these familial relationships is no easy task to communicate and implement.

This probably gives you the perspective Africa/Uganda seems like a backward, if not morally weak society. But, the lens of the cultural perspective is always relative. When I asked the Ugandan youth their impression/opinion of the United States Culture, the majority of responses were that our American Culture "is bad because it’s where mini –skirt (half-naked styles) came from and are practiced.” That it is “bringing bad things into Uganda like prostitution, taking drugs and putting on mini skirts.” Now, I must admit that having mini-skirts, grouped in with such sins like alcoholism, drug use, and promiscuity, made me chuckle a bit – and still does – hence the title of this Blog. Nevertheless, morality here is not determined by your family relationships, rather, your morality is demonstrated by your modesty. The fact is that morality is probably found somewhere in the middle, but it is interesting how the culture affects where the emphasis falls.

Now to be fair, not all of their perspectives were mentioned our problems with mini-skirts. Other responses were…

• It’s relative; it has brought the gospel, sent missionaries, equips church leaders, enhances values, but it also encourages immorality via pornography, homosexuality and divorce.
• They should change some of their behaviors and lifestyles, like the movies they put out and other people copy
• The worldly people are totally destructive, but those that know God are really compassionate
• American Christian culture is perfect
• American Parents are so busy that their children do whatever they want to
• I don’t want to judge them because they are people too - with struggles

Now to the main topic – that which is my motivation behind the survey – that of HIV/AIDS. And the dialogs confirmed that contrary to our youth’s experiences in the United States, ALL youth in surveyed personally knew at least one person dying of AIDS, and many knew more than could be counted on two hands. I asked how Aids affected the lives of these people, and some of their responses were: They have no hope for tomorrow; hopeless; unhappy; they are always sick; they have unanswered questions; they all died; they cursed God before dying; hated their lives; makes them miserable; they have given up on life and don’t care if other people catch it.

Despite the cultural differences, Ugandan teenagers face the same struggles as American youth. All the Ugandan youth said that a lot of their friends or acquaintances at school (this is both high school and university level) are already sexually active. Furthermore, the majority admitted to being tempted or also received peer pressure to engage in sexual encounters. This is not surprising, really. The same Satan that is out to kill, steal and destroy in America is at work here too and he employs every means necessary to do so.

If you’ve made it to the end of this long Blog, I’m impressed and honored to keep your attention for so long.