If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

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If I kept it to myself Vidah Bossa The peer to peer approach helps young people to share freely and express openly their views about health, social and economic lifestyles. 26 My name is Vidah Bossa, a 27-year-old woman from Uganda holding a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from Makerere University of Uganda I joined the YWCA at the age of 15 as a youth volunteer and served as a member of the youth committee. As she was leaving the YWCA of Uganda, the former youth coordinator encouraged me to apply. She had so much trust and confidence in me that although I was not really interested in the position, I applied anyway. A few weeks later, my friend died, and I decided to follow in her footsteps, as she had desired. As I started my work as youth coordinator, a national survey carried out at voluntary counselling and testing centres (VCTs) and schools revealed that youth are not open to discussing issues affecting their lives with available educators because they do not identify with them. Inspired by this research and realising that young people do not have a voice, I started a peer education outreach project in January 2004. The aim of the project was to give a voice to young people by creating a platform in an organised structure through which they could express themselves. The project targets young women and men in seven of the districts where YWCA operates. Each district has a coordinator and sixty youth ambassadors; of which twenty are HIV positive. The peer approach is conducted through training of youth leaders in districts on prevention, care and support, HIV and AIDS, life planning, reproductive health and income generating activities. Participants are also encouraged to go for voluntary counselling and testing so that they know their HIV status and lead responsible lives. The trained peer ambassadors then train others within the district, who then do outreach within the communities they come from.
Young women intervene in a world with AIDS This approach helps young people to share freely and express openly their views about health and social and economic lifestyles. I visit the districts on a quarterly basis to evaluate their progress and listen to their concerns. This has enabled me to identify the most pressing issues and try to work out solutions for them. The peer approach has reached approximately five hundred young people in each district in the past year. The target age group for training is 7-30. Parents, community and religious leaders are involved in the initial stage, which consists of sensitisation, building partnerships and networking. Involving our elders helps each party share, understand and accept each other’s views regarding young people’s outreach programmes. The district leaders and ambassadors are responsible for running the activities in their regions and take all the necessary decisions pertaining to the project. We continue to follow up and monitor the training programmes through district coordinators and ambassadors. Through workshops, ambassadors emphasise the use of medicinal herbs and better nutrition in the treatment of various diseases. This knowledge has proved cost effective for those in the rural areas who cannot afford medicines. The workshops usually involve group discussions and home visits. The ambassadors also refer the sick to various hospitals and clinics that provide treatment. We find it difficult to use the training manual developed by our funding body, as it does not include active roles for people living with HIV or all of the activities needed. We plan on updating the manual with input from ambassadors and district coordinators, as they are practically involved in training and have valuable insights. We are also in the process of fundraising with other donors and hope to be able to include more diverse activities in the project to meet the needs of young people. Nevertheless, participants still benefit from the training as currently outlined by our donors. Participants receive instruction on the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) through the ‘abstain, be faithful, use condoms’ (ABC) model. They are then taught how to give care and support to those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. The challenge we face is that youth do not receive the abstinence lecture very well. It is also difficult for us to measure the impact of this message, which is faith based, and most of our target groups are not staunch Christians and prefer the ‘use condoms’ option. Poverty is also pushing young people to engage in sexual activities early. Young people who are not in school are particularly vulnerable. We also face different challenges dealing with young men and women. We are able to reach young mothers, but find it hard to work with their partners. Through this peer education outreach programme, the young people who participate not only gain knowledge on HIV and AIDS but also receive skills they can use in their daily lives. We are very grateful for this project and hope to raise more support from different donors to help young people who are involved in this pandemic that has so deeply affected our generation. Born: 1978 Country: Uganda Organisation: YWCA of Uganda Campaigns for: Youth peer education and leadership on HIV 27
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If I kept it to myself - World YWCA

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