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African Youth Outreach is a nonprofit non-governmental secular organization
formed with the aim of sustained HIV education of at-risk children and young
adults in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. This region has the highest
prevalence of HIV (estimated 33% - UNAIDS December 2003 Report), and the most
persistent problems with poverty, unemployment, and violent crime. Children,
and in particular women, are at increased risk for acquiring HIV as they become
sexually active with little understanding of how HIV is transmitted. Rates
of condom use are alarmingly low.
Our organization will operate in concert with Ingwavuma Orphan Care, a group
based in KwaZulu-Natal that works as a support network for children whose parents
have died from AIDS. This group also provides teaching through a life-skills
program designed to provide basic education, self-esteem building, and guidance
to the orphans under their care.
The goal is to provide HIV education to at-risk children and young adults in
the target age group of 9-21. The education will be based on HIV transmission,
prevention, and treatment options, as well as instruction into the damage caused
by the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. The curriculum will be developed with
the help of local physicians and translators. The teaching program will benefit
from the input of schoolteachers and community leaders. In return, training
will be provided to teachers to ensure children in schools are receiving the
proper information. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of delaying the
age of onset of sexual activity and making reasoned decisions, as well as the
importance of condoms in preventing transmission.
Physicians and instructors specializing in sexually transmitted diseases will
provide training to peer educators, selected from the at-risk groups. The training
sessions will have minimal lectures and will be based on group learning, discussion,
and role-playing, with suggestions from the peer educators into how the training
can be structured. In-services will be provided every other month for peer
educators and health teachers within the school system to maintain knowledge
and introduce new developments. The peer educators will be compensated for
their work, ensuring both a steady income for them and their family, as well
as sustaining the education in the community.
Surveys will be performed on an annual or biannual basis measuring the effectiveness
of this peer educator based teaching, for publishing in medical journals. The
test subjects will be randomly selected in the schools and community, to reflect
the broad target of this program. Venues for teaching may include schools (with
the assistance of teachers and community leaders), village gatherings, community
centers, and businesses.
Until the project can be expanded, the goal of the organization will remain
the steady supply of HIV education for a given community.