Guatemala: Hundreds of young people march with anti-smoking messages
Children were among the hundreds of Seventh-day Adventists who marched through the streets of Guatemala City, with messages on the dangers of tobacco smoking, on Apr. 27, 2013. The march launched a series of anti-smoking activities to take place this month leading up to the World’s Health Organization’s World No Tobacco Day to be celebrated on May 31, 2013. Images by Asdrubal Batz.
May 11, 2013 – Guatemala City, Guatemala…Gustavo Menendez/IAD Staff
Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventist children and young people marched through the main historic streets of Guatemala City last month to spread anti-tobacco messages.
Holding up signs and banners and singing songs, Adventurers, Pathfinders, and Master Guides from the metropolitan area made their message loud and clear during the three-kilometer walk. The march received national coverage on television and radio and in print.
Young people walk some three kilometers holding up anti-smoking messages through streets of Guatemala City.
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church promotes a healthy lifestyle free of addictions,” said Estuardo Guerra, health director for the church in Guatemala and one of the coordinators of the march, “and we wanted to send the message that it is possible to stop smoking.”
The march was the first in a series of anti-smoking activities that will take place in May throughout Guatemala. Other events in the series will offer free medical, psychological and nutritional assistance to persons who want to quit smoking, said Guerra.
“We wanted to take part in these activities leading up to the World Health Organization’s World No Tobacco Day on May 31, to draw attention to the health risks in the consumption of tobacco and encourage effective policies to reduce tobacco use,” explained Guerra.
Pastor Ever Roblero, youth ministries director of the Metropolitan area in Guatemala City and main organizer of the event, said the march needed to send a clear message to young people who are starting to begin the smoking habit at an early age.
Pastor Ever Roblero, youth ministries director for the Metropolitan church region in Guatemala City, speaks to television media on the march and the church’s message for a smoke-free lifestyle.
“The consumption of tobacco is the main epidemic affecting the community, and statistics show that more and more adolescents are introduced to smoking by simply imitating the adults around them and the advertising messages to consume cigarettes,” said Roblero.
During the march, Emily Mckay, Pathfinder club member of the Central Adventist Church, challenged young people to stop the habit.
“Smoking takes your life little by little, it affects your organs and can cause cancer,” Mckay said. “Don’t try cigarettes. Read and study on the consequences smoking can have on your health.”
According to the WHO, there are 1.1 billion smokers around the world, one-third of them between the ages of 15 and 24. Studies reveal that the consumption of tobacco is the second leading cause of death in the world and is responsible for the deaths of one in every ten adults, or 5.4 million deaths every year.
For more on the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Guatemala and its activities, visit
www.uniondeguatemala.org