Minister denounces casual sex among nursing students.

PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER in Ekwendeni, Malawi, has warned male and female nursing students not to exploit the proximity of their accommodation by engaging in casual sex. "Please take yourselves as students with an agenda to fulfill," said Rev. Maurice Munthali, the acting general secretary of the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. "Bringing you together should not be interpreted to mean you should be engaging in sexual relationships. This is the place of God. Try to keep it holy."

Munthali was speaking at the opening of the Ekwendeni School of Nursing in May. The facility, which cost two million Malawi kwacha ($21,037 Cdn), has 22 beds for male nurses. Attracting men to the nursing field in Malawi is a relatively new phenomenon, as the profession has traditionally been the domain of women.

The northern area of Malawi has a high incidence of HIV/AIDS in a country ravaged by the pandemic and where the medical profession has been stretched to its limits in recent years. Munthali said when students forget their mission and start engaging in sexual relationships, it affects their school performance.

The Presbyterian Church in Canada is active in Malawi as supporters of Ekwendeni Hospital, which operates orphan feeding programs, breastfeeding assistance for new mothers and medical attention and moral support to AIDS patients.--with files from ENI