SUMMARY:

Life Choices is one of the implementing organizations that run the Western Cape Peer Education Program

for the Departments of Education and Health. Life Choices was the first organization integrated in this

program that was not funded by the Global Fund or Conditional Grants. Life Choices is also a founding

member of the Western Cape Youth Peer Education Association. This association aims to provide quality

standards and ensure sustainability of the provincial peer education program. The Life Choices Program

aims to reach young people with a powerful abstinence and be faithful (AB) message early in their lives, and

to change social norms (gender roles, violence, discrimination, etc.). The intent of the program is to reach

56,000 young people in a period of four years. Life Choices believes in providing a quality Life Skills

Program combined with a structured Peer Education Program to youth that will help them to maintain or

change behaviors. In order to create a supportive environment around youth, Life Choices also run

programs with the stakeholders in their lives - teachers and parents. Each year Life Choices chooses

different themes in order to ensure that youth aged 10 -14 delay sexual debut, older youth 15 -24 practice

secondary abstinence and those who are sexually active stay faithful to one partner, know their HIV status

and are given full information on consistent and correct use of condoms. Some of the themes that Life

Choices uses are - 'True Love Waits,' 'Spread Love not Gossip,' 'NO, I value LIFE,' 'I am the choices I

make,' among others. The emphasis area for this activity is gender and human capacity building. The target

population is adolescents, teachers, religious leaders and most at risk population which will include the

street youth, persons who engage in transactional sex, but who do not identify as persons in sex work and

incarcerated populations.

BACKGROUND:

The Life Choices Program was launched in FY 2005 in the Western Cape with the support of PEPFAR.

Three main communities were selected by the Western Cape Department of Education: Athlone, Delft and

Mannenberg. The schools within these three communities are the main target for the Life Choices Program

and became the base for program activities. Life Choices brought a comprehensive program that aimed to

change social norms (with components on HIV and AIDS, self-worth, gender, violence, and substance

abuse) to 11 high schools and 10 primary schools. Besides these three communities, Life Choices also

reaches youth around Cape Town in 'Street Youth' Shelters, churches and in one correctional center. The

Western Cape Departments of Health and Education coordinate the Life Choices school activities. Once a

month Life Choices meets with the Government and reports back about the monthly activities and quarterly

written reports are also submitted.

ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS:

ACTIVITY 1: Training of Trainers - Human Capacity Development

In FY 2008, 18 trainers (nine women and nine men) will be trained on an ongoing basis in order to increase

the quality of their service delivery. Four major trainings will be organized during the year. These activities

will build on last year's success in counseling, and parental and facilitation training skills.

ACTIVITY 2: Development of Behavior Change Communication Materials

Behavior Change Communication (BCC) materials on Abstinence, Be faithful and gender issues will be

finalized and field tested in FY 2007. These materials will include pamphlets and other media, and will

comprise topics related to Life Choices messages (self-worth, reproductive health, relationships, gender,

violence, coercion, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, etc.). Furthermore, these materials will also need to

be approved by the Western Cape Government, and teachers' and parents' associations. Once the

approval has been obtained, the BCC materials will be used to reinforce the message around changing of

social norms which discourages gender violence and coercion of young women and girl children and

address issues of cross generational sex and multiple concurrent partnerships in an interactive way during

the delivery of the program. Some of the AB and gender materials will be given to the youth for free and

they will be distributed by Life Choices facilitators, Peer Educators, teachers and church leaders.

ACTIVITY 3: Delivery of the Program to the Salesian -Based Centers

The Life Choices program will continue to implement Life Skills in the Correctional Center targeting high risk

groups with behavior change activities. The work with Parish Youth Groups will also be maintained.

Unfortunately last year, Life Choices did not achieve its goal of training 30 parish youth leaders. In FY 2008,

Life Choices continue training youth leaders. These youth leaders will work in male-female pairs to reinforce

and enhance their status as role models to their peers. They will also receive additional training to ensure

that they are well informed to reinforce the AB message. Each pair of youth leaders will reach 50 youth in

their respective parishes.

ACTIVITY 4: School-Based Program

In FY 2008, Life Choices will continue to work in the 12 high schools where service are already established

and will expand to an additional two high school. The program will also continue in the ten primary schools.

FY 2008 expansion activities in primary schools will include targeting youth in the lower grades (Grades 4,

5, 6 and 7) and providing them with abstinence messages. In addition, a Health Promotion Program will be

initiated in high schools and primary schools where health services will be made available to school

learners. These include comprehensive health screening like TB screening, voluntary counseling and

testing, reproductive health services to provide an integrated prevention package.

Youth will be trained on an ongoing basis to become role models, to educate their peers in informal and

formal ways, to identify and refer peers with problems, and to advocate for change. Youth camps will be

organized to ensure the value, accuracy and consistency of the message given by the peer educators to

their peers. All the target schools will also continue with the Life Skills program that will reach learners. In

FY 2008 the Life Choices program will continue working with teachers by conducting quarterly workshops.

Expansion activities for FY 2008 include the implementation of a parent program. Both programs will aim to

improve teacher/parent-teen communication and to create a safe environment for positive behaviors among

youth.

Activity Narrative:

ACTIVITY 5: Youth-Friendly VCT

The Life Choices Program, in agreement with New Start (a PEPFAR partner), will continue providing youth-

friendly VCT at designated schools via voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) mobile centers. The program

will continue organizing VCT campaigns in high schools where youth above 14 years of age will be

encouraged to test for HIV. These campaigns are used as powerful prevention tools. In a country where

very few HIV-infected people know their status, it is essential that ongoing VCT campaigns are organized in

the communities targeted by the program. New Start and Life Choices will continue establishing referral

networking systems for youth who need further support, including those who are HIV-infected, have been

abused, or are sexually active.

This Salesian Mission activity will contribute to PEPFAR achieving the overall goal of averting seven million

new HIV infections.