TITLE: Abstinence and Behavior Change for Youth

The ADRA ABY project works closely with Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) and Community Based

Organizations (CBOs) to build their capacity to implement AB messages and to coordinate life skills-

building activities. Since 2004, the ADRA ABY Project has reached over 342,600 people with AB messages

through 157 outreaches such as community meetings, community dramas, and school debates. Fifty-two

television and 26 radio programs have been aired, reaching over 824,000 youth. Thirty-eight training

sessions have been conducted for over 2,200 facilitators. ADRA has also held young ladies soccer

competitions in which 240 girls in Mwanza and 150 girls in Mara participated, and more than 15,000 people

were reached. Three thousand four hundred and seventy students have participated in the week of the

African Child in Mwanza. A volleyball competition reached over 3,000 people and a week of music

competitions reached over 10,000 people.

In FY 2008, six major ACTIVITIES will be achieved:

Training of Trainers (TOT): First-level training to 60 facilitators, second-level training to 870 facilitators from

different FBOs and CBOs; refresher training to 60 first-level TOTs, training to 90 religious leaders, second-

level training to 90 theatre group leaders and training to 60 youth from high-risk areas. Finalize training

manuals for the blind in Braille; 60 completed manuals to be printed and distributed.

Community Outreach: 118 partners will be financially supported to conduct community outreach activities, in

order to reach 100,000 people directly with AB messages. Trained TOTs will conduct outreach, and two

resource centers will be established and equipped with necessary materials, one each in Mara and

Kilimanjaro regions.

Mass Media: 52 TV and radio programs will be produced and aired twice a week. The radio programs will

be broadcast using local radio stations. Both programs will reach at least 500,000 people. To promote ABY

radio programs, 120 solar powered radios donated by Freeplay Radio Foundation will be distributed among

youth groups and schools in Mara and Kilimanjaro.

Community/Folk Media: Community theatre groups will be trained on the participatory theatre (Theatre for

Development) approach in order to reach people while involving them in dialogue or community discourse.

Risk reduction fairs and competitions: Out-of-school and in-school youth will be involved and reached

through fairs and competitions, as a method to reduce risky behavior. Specifically, sports, debates, and

exchange visits will be held. Young ladies football competitions will be conducted in conjunction with

national events. In Mwanza, the week of World AIDS day, for Mara, the week of World Women's Day, and

in Kilimanjaro, and the week of the African child will be used for ladies soccer competitions. Easter week

will be used for "Choose Life" Choir competitions, while a week of Maulid (festival celebrating for Prophet

Mohamed's birth) for Kaswida (Muslim music festival) competitions will be utilized. Secondary school peer-

educators will conduct inter-school debates and discussions on abstinence as the ideal approach to HIV-

prevention among youths.

Behavior Change Communication: Different promotional materials will be adopted or produced to support

community outreaches, media campaigns, fairs, and competitions. IEC materials to be adopted or

produced include 30,000 fact sheets, 12,000 posters, 4,000 t-shirts for TOTs and theatre groups, five

banners, 5,000 stickers, and 100,000 "Choose Life" salaam club greeting cards. The "Caravan of Hope"

event (a week long youth activity where youth meet and discuss their issues and arrange walks to raise

awareness on various issues of concern in the community) and "Choose Life" events, will be held in

Kilimanjaro. Schoolchildren participating in this project will create drawings to submit in a nationwide

competition, with the winner's picture to be included in a mural painting.

LINKAGES: The project links with other USG PEPFAR projects such as Family Health International (FHI),

TACARE, International Youth Foundation (IYF), and the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF).

Collaboration and networking will include project staff participating in training of facilitators; sharing of

information; educational and communication (IEC) materials; and referrals of youth for services such as

voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). Sexually active youth are encouraged to adopt secondary

abstinence are also linked with AMREF for condoms and VCT services.

M&E: In accordance with the PEPFAR reporting requirements and guidelines, ADRA will use program

monitoring indicators (process) to track key grant-supported activities and use of project level outcome

indicators. CBO and FBO activities will be monitored through regular reports and quarterly TOT meetings

where implementation challenges and lessons learned will be documented and discussed to improve

implementation. General information on mass media-based activities will be tracked by the media technical

advisor in collaboration with the M&E coordinator. This will include number of programs developed and

aired (media station record), type/target of IEC materials adapted (distribution records), type and target of

curriculum adapted, and other educational materials used. Specific information on the number of people

reached through radio broadcasting will be gathered from the partner media houses. Partner volunteer

activities will be supervised and monitored by the project behavior change specialist officers to ensure that

activities are implemented as detailed in work plans, and partners will be expected to provide monthly

reports detailing the activities conducted. Quarterly review meetings will be conducted to review and

address lessons learned and challenges encountered by the partner volunteers during the implementation

period. Semi-annual and annual reports will be prepared and sent to USAID CTO in Washington and the

local USAID mission.

CHECK BOXES: Abstinence among youth both in- and out-of-school, aged 10 - 24 years who are not

married and "Be Faithful" for those already married. A total of 100,000 youth to be reached directly with AB

messages and 500,000 people indirectly reached via media. The project also works with organizations of

PLWHA as facilitators and agents of change for stigma reduction.

SUSTAINAIBLITY: The project builds the capacity of partners in the area of HIV prevention among youth.

The trained TOTs work within partners' systems of operation, strengthening existing systems of operation

instead of inventing new ones. The approach has proven to be sustainable, since partners currently

contribute towards implementation costs, while others implement planned activities entirely on their own,

without depending on project funding. The partners' main contributions are food and accommodation during

training events and community outreach events to their members and the community at large.