SUMMARY:

Youth for Christ South Africa (YFC) will promote HIV risk reduction through abstinence and being faithful

(AB) activities among youth 10 to 18 years of age. The activities will take place in at least 250 schools in

five provinces, namely Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape. The

organization will recruit and train young adults to work in the programs as youth workers and peer group

trainers. The emphasis area for this program will be gender and human capacity building and training. The

target population will include children and youth, adult, teachers and religious leaders.

BACKGROUND:

YFC is a youth development organization that directly addresses problems and needs of youth. YFC South

Africa has established several training centers and local offices in five provinces of South Africa. YFC runs

a number of programs aimed at preparing youth for the future. YFC has been funded by the National

Department of Health (NDOH) since 1995 and received PEPFAR funds through the CDC cooperative

agreement with the NDOH starting in 2005. As of FY 2007, YFC will become PEPFAR prime partner and

will no longer receive PEPFAR funds through the CDC cooperative agreement with the NDOH.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

Many YFC activities promote behavior change through promotion of AB messages and activities. YFC will

continue to empower young women through counseling and education, in an effort to improve general life

and sexual decision-making skills. The abstinence-focused messages are geared towards children ages 10-

14 in primary schools; messages to high school students ages 14-19, out-of-school youth and young adults

focus on abstinence, delayed sexual debut and faithfulness. Full information on correct and consistent

condom use is provided and referral to relevant service sites, but the focus is more geared towards AB

messages. This is consistent with the PEPFAR ABC guidance.

ACTIVITY 1: Peer Education in Schools

Building on activities of FY 2007, YFC will continue to train a network of unemployed young adult volunteers

from faith-based organizations to provide peer education in the form of training, support and referral

services for students. YFC has developed effective models of working with, and empowering, youth who will

be trained to share AB information and correct decision-making skills with their peers. YFC will work with

the provincial Department of Education (DOE) to identify appropriate schools in which to implement these

activities. YFC will also collaborate with school principals and the local communities. The young volunteers

will be placed in schools to serve as coaches and mentors for peer groups, and these volunteers will

encourage students to form support groups and clubs both in- and out-of-school. The volunteers will also be

trained to run informative workshops and community events in their schools on a host of issues relating to

HIV and AIDS, peer pressure, self-esteem, and goal setting.

ACTIVITY 2: Life Skills Training

Young volunteers will be trained to conduct life skills sessions at schools and in camps to educate youth on

making informed decisions about life and sexuality. YFC will use the Rutanang curriculum, which has been

endorsed by NDOH. Rutanang's peer education model highlights the importance of delaying first sex

secondary abstinence and consistent and correct use of condoms, as well as respect for others. YFC has

developed holistic prevention programs that incorporate key players from all levels of a community to bring

about a positive school environment. It is the responsibility of each local office of YFC to maintain and

sustain the work that they initiate in their localities. YFC will use drama, music and dance to effectively

communicate the life skills and AB messages. Topics to be covered will include male norms and behaviors

as well as gender roles and equity to discourage discrimination, violence, coercion and abuse against

women and girl children YFC will also work with the DOE to implement this activity.

ACTIVITY 3: Creative Educational Teams

YFC will set up and use edutainment for support of the prevention program for both in- and out-of-school

youth. This will be done by using drama, dance and discussion groups to educate youth on HIV and AIDS,

and to promote AB life styles. YFC will recruit, train and deploy five itinerant teams to work and support

work done in schools and communities to educate youth on these issues. YFC itinerant teams will present

HIV and AIDS productions in high schools, youth centers, churches and prisons. These teams will spend

three to five days in each school, giving assembly and classroom presentations, and creating informal

discussion times. YFC will work in partnership with the NDOH and the DOE to reach the target audience.

The provision of community programs will help to de-stigmatize HIV and AIDS in communities. YFC aims to

have teams set up in each region.

ACTIVITY 4: Capacity Building

During FY 2007 YFC has established and is implementing an Internship Program. This program targets

unemployed youth volunteers, active in faith-based organizations, and placed them in the various YFC

offices. The purpose of the year-long internship is to provide the interns with on-the-job training in a

program or project linked to the organization. Examples of activities that interns participated in include: life

skills programs; leadership training; training camps; HIV and AIDS workshops. The Internship Program is

based on the great emphasis on training and capacity development of the YFC management. Using FY

2008 funding, YFC South Africa intends to increase the number of Interns and Youth Workers placed in

schools.

ACTIVITY 5: Gender-Based Camps

Using FY 2008 funding a new activity that will be implemented is that of gender-based youth camps that aim

at tackling issues of gender stereotyping. YFC will run camps for boys and for girls. The purpose of the

camp will be to create a space for youth to dialogue about sexuality, gender, and gender stereotypes in the

context of HIV and AIDS.

Activity Narrative: ACTIVITY 6: Parent/Child School-based Seminars

In addition to the activities listed above, YFC understands that it is important to focus on building

relationships between youth and their parents. YFC will establish school run, school based seminars to

facilitate dialogue and increase awareness and understanding between youth and their parents, to foster

good relationships and bridge the gap of misunderstanding created by lack of communication. Talking about

sex, sexuality and boy/girl relationships continues to be taboo in many families and communities. This

increases the risk factor of young people with regard to HIV and AIDS as they seek information from peers

and other sources, unguided by relationship and communication with their parents, families and/or

significant adults in their lives.

These activities will contribute to PEPFAR's goal of averting seven million new HIV infections. In addition,

the activities support the USG Five-Year Strategy for South Africa by increasing effective faith-based

activities and creating support for positive gender norms.

SUMMARY:

Youth for Christ (YFC) will promote HIV risk reduction and prevention activities by conducting life skills

programs, awareness campaigns, and distributing and promoting correct and consistent use of condoms

among school leavers, and young adults 18 years and older. YFC will recruit and train unemployed young

adults as youth workers. After training, the youth workers will be placed in Youth Clubs where they will

assist in expanding YFC's HIV prevention campaign by distributing condoms to communities and the youth.

Gender is an emphasis area for this program as it addresses the extreme vulnerability of young South

African women to HIV, and male norms and behaviors. While the target population is youths aged 15-24

years, adults aged 25-30 will not be excluded from these prevention activities.

BACKGROUND:

YFC has been involved with prevention programs in schools for several years. The National Department of

Health (NDOH) has funded YFC activities since 1995. The organization was PEPFAR-funded from 2005

through the NDOH cooperative agreement, and is now a PEPFAR prime partner. YFC's prevention activities

will focus on distribution and correct and consistent use of condoms, and on gender issues, which will be

addressed through life skills programs. The life skills programs will focus on empowering young women,

and challenging young men to question gender stereotypes. In addition, this program forms part of YFC's

comprehensive prevention strategy and is linked to activities in the AB program area. A particular focus of

this linkage for this the "B" (be faithful) activities.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

ACTIVITY 1: Condom Distribution

YFC's prevention program will ensure condom distribution that is coupled with clear and consistent and

correct messaging around condom use. The condom distribution and condom use program will be aimed at

school leavers and out of school youth, as these young adults are likely to be sexually active, and have a

higher risk of exposure to HIV. YFC will distribute government-provided condoms at community-based sites

and public health facilities. This activity aims to empower and positively influence men to practice safe sex

and to use preventative methods, while empowering young with condom negotiation skills. YFC peer

educators and interns will interact with their peers and challenge gender stereotypes, and at the same time,

serve as mentors and positive role models.

ACTIVITY 2: Behavior Change Campaigns

This activity will focus on the development and implementation of behavior change campaigns around HIV

and AIDS. Information, education, and communication (IEC) publications developed by Khomanani, a South

African communications company, will be distributed along with the condoms. These materials address key

communication issues around issues of prevention, care and treatment of HIV & AIDS. Peer educators and

interns will encourage discussion around condoms and HIV and AIDS, and this activity will help to alleviate

stigma and discrimination in the communities in which YFC is working.

Interns and peer educators will be recruited from school leavers who are unemployed and who actively

participate in faith-based organizations. These youth will be trained using the YFC peer educator programs

including the Rutanang peer education manuals by the Department of Health and life skills manuals by the

Department of Education section. In addition, peer educators will be trained in community mobilization and

will play a role in informing their peers about local healthcare services, including counseling and testing. The

peer educators will educate their peers on the benefits of HIV counseling and testing and will refer their

peers to counseling and testing services in their communities. Parents will be targeted and provided with

information on raising responsible and informed children. Community awareness programs will aim to

destigmatize HIV and AIDS in communities and YFC will develop infrastructures to provide community

support for HIV-affected families.

ACTIVITY 3: Life Skills and Leadership Camps

In FY 2008, two kinds of camps will be run for school leavers. Outdoor-based camps aimed at training and

developing resilience and Leadership Skills. Young people will also be equipped with critical personal and

inter-personal skills to enable them to dialogue with and impact their peers, friends and those they relate to.

Important aspects of these camps shall be team building, leadership and communication with activities such

as abseiling, hiking, canoeing, swimming, etc. Conference/Seminar-Based Camps will also be organized as

"Youth, HIV & AIDS Seminars" to empower youth on current developments on the pandemic as they relates

to youth specifically and to allow youth to understand the latest trends and developments in the fight against

it. In all the activities, it shall be a general requirement that there be a gender ratio of at least 40% male and

60% female.

ACTIVITY 4: Intensifying Education about Responsible Sexuality

Condom promotion will not be done indiscriminately but by educating young persons and encouraging

abstinence as the best and only completely safe option, within a mentoring and peer counseling context.

However, since the majority of youth targeted in this component of the prevention strategy are already

sexually active, activities will focus on the B component of the AB messaging and linking the being faithful to

correct and consistent condom use. Efforts to engage youth shall aim to educate them in the correct and

consistent use of condoms whilst also educating them on the risks involved in sexual activity. With FY 2008

funding, condom distribution, and efforts to ensure condom accessibility and availability will be

accompanied by strategies that encourage youth to be responsible and accountable in decisions regarding

their sexual behavior. With older, out of school youth, YFC will also tackle critical issues such as gender-

based violence and cross generational and transactional sex, which the aim of fostering and encouraging

behavior change among this group.

Through the distribution of 15,000 male and 5,000 female condoms and through behavior changing

messages, YFC will support prevention goals as outlined in the USG Five-Year Strategy for South Africa to

avert 7 million new infections.

Activity Narrative: SUMMARY: