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 100 schools in five provinces, namely Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape. The organization has recruited and trained Youth Workers as facilitators of the prevention program for a period of a year. An itinerant Creative Arts Team, consisting of 20 youths, shall also be recruited and trained to deliver messages using dance and drama. Emphasis areas for this program will be families, gender, 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 six provinces of South Africa. YFC runs a number of programs aimed at preparing youth for the future. The organization has in the past been funded by the National Department of Health (NDOH) since 1995. YfC receives PEPFAR funds through a CDC cooperative agreement with the NDOH starting in 2005. As of FY 2007, YFC then became a PEPFAR prime partner directly receiving PEPFAR funds from CDC through a cooperative agreement that is in place. Youth for Christ has worked in various communities amongst sexually active older youths through risk reduction programs and messages. In South African communities, there is also a high ratio of unemployment amongst out of school youth of 18-25 years of age, which has been seen as a further contributing factor to their risk status. Primarily, programs for this target group have sought to develop skills and norms to promote abstinence or delay of sexual initiation, secondary abstinence, fidelity, and partner reduction. The risks of serial monogamy and concurrent partnerships should also be highlighted. Those youths who were not practicing abstinence were then presented with risk reduction information and skills building in correct and consistent condom use and encouraged to access and use condom supplies. Approach to risk reduction education for this group is consistent with values based on concern and care for the lives of young people that seeks to help them remain uninfected. Reaching out to this group, at community level, has expanded access to prevention programs, including peer outreach, and training that has empowered them to make better and informed choices in their relationships. Recent evidence that has come out from the Human Sciences Research Council's Survey of Prevalence, Incidence and Behavior Communication (HSRC 2008), partly funded by PEPFAR/CDC funds, there has is reported very encouraging outcomes and data: That HIV prevalence has decreased among youth aged 15-24 years, with especially a substantial drop in the age groups of 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 year olds, in 2008, compared to previous surveys. There also has been a reported increase in exposure to one or more HIV and AIDS communication programs, with 90.2% of youth aged 15-24 years of age reached. The report asserts that, it is commendable that there is such evidence coming out of South Africa against a number of indicators vital for an effective response to the epidemic (HSRC 2008).

ACTIVITY 1: Capacity Building

YfC intends to have a one week national training event for all personnel and staff that are involved in the prevention program, in training in Facilitation and Training; Basic HIV and AIDS; Communication of AB; Team Building; Peer Education; Reporting; etc. YfC's Prevention Programme recruits unemployed Christian youth who are active in local churches and organizations, that are then placed in schools at the various YfC sites/offices. The purpose of the year-long internship is to p+B13rovide 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 by YfC South Africa.

ACTIVITY 2: Lifeskills Education

Youth for Christ trains and places in schools, Youth Workers who facilitate Lifeskills sessions in, conjunction with the Life Orientation curriculum that the Department of Education uses. Youth for Christ cooperated with other Christian Youth Organizations and developed a Lifeskills Manual, Imbizo Bangani, that is meant for this age group, both junior and senior high school. Youth Workers visit schools and do facilitation in classes for a minimum of one day per school, whereupon a schedule from the LO Educator is provided for them to visit classes. The Imbizo Bangani Manuals (Grade 7-9; and Grade 10-12) focus on the areas of Health; Personal Growth; Emotional Intelligence and HIV and AIDS. Under these Lifeskills areas, relevant sessions presented cover the four areas, thereby effectively reaching and impacting the learners. The sessions addressed in the manual primarily focus on: challenging young people to sustain a healthy value system regarding their sexual behavior; support and develop peer education systems; activate positive community support and participation; arrange media events which expose communities to healthy value systems about sexuality and HIV/Aids (including the challenge for pro-abstinence; teach life-skills to young people; provide confidential voluntary counseling and HIV testing; training of young leaders in the schools and discussions on sex and sexuality norms to promote AB.

ACTIVITY 3: Peer Education

Building on the activities and experiences of the previous two years, Youth for Christ will continue implementing Peer Education in some of the same schools since FY 2007. In the last two years it has been a challenge to implement Peer Education in the schools as the Department of Education has become more reluctant to give permission to organizations to operate in schools. Schools have been as well not very willing to have learners deliver sessions, thereby loosing class time. On the other hand the Department of Education has been in the process of developing their own Peer Education model that shall be released in 2010. YfC has been working with the Centre for the Support of Peer Education (CSPE) since FY 08 to implement an evidence based model of Peer Education they developed called Rutanang. This model has been endorsed by the National Department of Health and is being adopted by various provincial Departments of Education. The Rutanang model of Peer Education trains and equips groups of learners in a school to deliver a series of sessions of AB message dosages using a HIV prevention curriculum.

ACTIVITY 3: Creative Arts

For our 2010/11 COP YfC envisages the recruitment, selection and training of an HIV Aids Specialist Production Team consisting of 20 people. The number of participants/team members relates to the high standard of professionalism and excellence that is envisaged for this team. This group of young people will be professionally trained in the arts, i.e. music, dance and drama and their productions will address the following key topical areas relevant topics and issues such as Sexuality; Peer Pressure; Self Image; Gender Oppression; Father and Mother Relationships; Substance; Abuse; Decision Making, i.e. learning to make informed decisions and choices).

The training of this Production Team will equip them to not only work in schools, but also in community settings with the OSP Program such as community halls, churches, shopping centers and open venues. The team members will be trained to delivers and present mini productions that will cater for all age groups, i.e. school learners, out of school youth, parents and other.

In addition to their training and equipping in the creative arts, team members will also be trained as Lifeskills Facilitators and equipped to divide into 5 smaller teams of 4 people each enabling them to maximize their influence in class rooms and small group settings. The main aim of this team is to have high impact and high visibility in all the key areas/communities and schools YfC works in. As a key Combination Intervention Strategy all our other activities will compliment the 'thrust' of this production team.

The Creative Arts Team will be used nationally, in every district and community where Youth for Christ has a program. The Team shall have an itinerary of up to two weeks in an area giving presentations and productions that are supporting existing prevention programs and activities in the area. A Creative Arts Production Team will be used as a stimulus ('hook') in the community for the prevention program like the Family Matters Program, creating an interest among parents and their children.

ACTIVITY 3: AB Prevention/Awareness Camps

In FY 2010 YfC aims to use camps to further reach groups this group. Awareness camps shall be organized over weekends and school holidays, based on a series of workshops that follow a Lifeskills and HIV Prevention curriculum that promotes AB messages, a delay in sexual debut and secondary abstinence for this group.

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