Track One Funding for Red Cross will continue to support The Together We Can (TWC) program will

expand geographically into Regions 1 and 9 in FY 06. In FY08 the joint Guyana and American Red Cross

Together We Can Youth Peer Education program for HIV/AIDS Prevention expects to reach an estimated

15,000 youth between the ages of 10-24 years in the promotion of positive behavior change aimed at

preventing HIV/AIDS. Targeted youth will be reached via three main interventions: 1) Curriculum based

TWC peer education workshops; 2) Peer to peer outreach; 3) Edutainment Events.

1) Curriculum Based interventions via 12 hour 17 activity TWC Workshops:

The highly participatory workshops are designed to help youth avoid HIV infection by providing them with

knowledge and skills so they are empowered to make informed and healthy choices concerning their sexual

behavior. Each workshop is facilitated by a pair of peer educators for approximately 20 youth and usually

takes four weeks to complete. In FY08 the GRC expects to reach approximately 1,500 youth through TWC

curriculum based workshops. For each TWC workshop the project will try and maintain a balanced 50%

male - 50% female breakdown for gender, and a breakdown by age cohorts of 30% each for the 10-14, 50%

for 15-19 age groups, and 20% for 20-24 year olds. The GRC estimates that nearly 60% of the total

number of youths reached through TWC workshops will come from region 04, while in regions 1 and 9 the

numbers will be closer to 20% of the total target. In FY08 the GRC expects that 10% -15% of youth

reached through curriculum based workshops will come from non-traditional sources such as street and out

of school youth, police, and religious groups versus youth from more traditional sources such as a school

based programs.

2) Peer to Peer Outreach:

Peer Educators ask each participant in TWC workshops to share HIV prevention messages with 5-7 of their

peers as ‘take-home assignments'. This outreach strategy is referred to as the ‘multiplier effect' due to the

vast networking power of using youth as a vehicle for transmitting key behavior change messages to their

siblings, schoolmates and friends. In this manner, youth attending TWC workshops are not passive

learners, but are directly implicated in HIV prevention in their communities. In FY08 the project will strive to

reach approximately 5,000 youth (3,000 from region 4, and 1,000 each from regions 01 and 09) with key

project messages and information through take-home assignments. To ensure that this goal is reached the

GRC will pilot new take home assignments, provide YMs with a broader number of materials with key

project messages such as brochures, stickers, and calendars, initiate a new and easier to use

counting/track sheet, and train PEs to re-emphasize this activity.

3) Edutainment Events:

Edutainment events (also referred to as community mobilization events) include concerts, community and

public fairs and celebrations, street theater, film viewings, and sports events. They are designed to

disseminate vital prevention and solidarity messages to larger groups of youth ranging from several dozen

to several thousand per event. During FY 2008, project expects to reach 8,500 youth through edutainment

events in Guyana. The project expects to reach about half (4,250) of the youth through edutainment events

in region 4, about 30% (2,550) from region 9, and another 20% (1,700) from region 1. In addition, the

project will pilot a new form of edutainment event specifically targeting youth who have already completed

the TWC curriculum. Peer educators and field managers will facilitate these knowledge and skills based

events for smaller numbers of youth in order to assure they are participatory in nature. These follow-up

interventions will occur at 3-6 and 9-12 month marks at major project sites with ‘graduates' of TWC

workshops such as schools and youth centers and will use booster messages based on gaps in knowledge,

attitudes and skills as identified by project specific data garnered through pre-post questionnaires as well as

population level behavioral research. Through the follow-up intervention methodology the project expects to

reach an additional 500 youth.

Individuals Trained to Promote HIV/AIDS Prevention:

To reach the targeted numbers of youth in this program through the TWC methodology the GRC needs to

optimally maintain 40-50 active peer educators. In FY08 the GRC expects to retain approximately 25 PEs

in region 04, 12 in region 09, and around 20 in region 01. Due to PE desertion the project expects that it will

need to train 15 new PEs in FY08. Other PEs and project management staff will receive normal program

refresher training.