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Senator Desmond Haynes was the man of the hour in the parish of St John yesterday.

Haynes usually does his talking with the bat, but yesterday the former West Indies opener took the podium at the Lodge School hall, warning over 200 children about the dangers of the HIV/AIDS virus.

Haynes also took part in a specially arranged limited over cricket match, but that took a secondary role, as he spoke to students from Lodge, Society Primary and St John Primary about the dangers of what has become the world's deadliest pandemic.

Haynes, who played 17 years for the West Indies, was invited by the Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventist Churches to speak about the dangers of HIV and AIDS to students of the Lodge School and the neighbouring primary schools.

I thought it was a great success, Haynes said after his 45- minute session before opening the innings in a specially arranged limited overs match a the Society ground.

Government has placed a serious emphasis and spent a lot of money in the fight against AIDS, and I believe we have to reach out to the younger children to get the message across.

The children were really attentive, probably because the message was coming from a sportsman. They watch television. They've been exposed to the American culture, and they understand what sportsmen go through when it comes to women and sex, so I believe they truly understood the message I came with, Haynes added.

Haynes, who entered the Upper House as a senator two months ago, believes the AIDS fight should also be taken to the primary schools across the island.

When it comes to AIDS, age doesn't matter anymore, because children are having sex at a very young age now and are much more active sexually, so they need to be educated about safe habits from as early as possible, he said.

Co-ordinator of the event, Dayle Haynes, Desmond's cousin, was pleased at the outcome of the campaign.

I could see the children were glued to his every word, because people usually listen to sportsmen when they tackle serious issues, the youth director of the Caribbean Conference for Seventh-Day Adventist Churches, said.

Students who attended the campaign also heard from acting Lodge Principal Courtney Pilgrim, and medical personnel were also on hand to administer blood sugar and blood pressure tests.

© The Barbados Nation