August 12, 2008


Siyafundisa, Be The Change International’s African HIV/AIDS youth prevention and education partner, producing results in South Africa


   According the Anglican AIDS Healthcare Trust's first newsletter, the Siyafundisa youth peer-to-peer HIV/AIDS prevention program is working in South Africa.

    Siyafundisa - funded by PEPFAR and run in partnership with FreshMinistries, Anglican AIDS Healthcare Trust and Be The Change International - targets youth of all faiths between the ages of 10 and 24 with its prevention message.  According to the AAHT newsletter, Siyafundisa is currently on track to reach several hundred thousand young people by 2010. Its overriding message is abstinence until marriage, and faithfulness within marriage and monogamous partnerships.

    Siyafundisa currently has eighteen filed workers who personally meet and mentor the youth. Each field worker is trained and mentored by a national training manager. The program's two program officers coordinate and assist with the training of peer educators, supervisors and life skills facilitators. Siyafundisa uses the existing infrastructure of selected Anglican parishes of each South African diocese to distribute its message to the youth. The youth peer trainers receive clearly defined curricula and outcomes and require that once the young educators complete training, they organize and lead small group sessions in their home townships to their peer groups.

    Carola Meyer, Communications officer for AAHT, wrote:

With more than two years to go, the positive impact of the project is already reflected in the participant's feedback:

      • Young people involved in the programs say they have gained an extraordinary amount of confidence in themselves - not only are they comfortable speaking with adults about topics in their courses, but also have the will and the confidence to resist to resist peer pressure to do what they don't want to do (drinking, drugs, sex and more).

      • Youth are beginning to treat their fellow youth in "a more equal and  dignified way." They are also extending that respect to their parents and other adults, thus improving relationships between youth and adult.

      • Horizons and outlooks are expanding; young people are engaging adults on all kinds of issues that affect their lives - not just HIV and AIDS.

      • Attitudes toward problems are changing: The teens realize that they can be resources to each other and the community, and vice-versa, in resolving rather than adjusting to difficulties.

      • Youth are working on their peers (and adults) to increase understanding about living with people who are HIV positive. Through this approach they are reducing the stigma attached to those living with HIV/AIDS.

      • As a result of peer-led VCT mobilization, more community members know their HIV status and are willing to disclose it and be involved in counseling with HIV positive community members at the clinics.

      • Integrity associated with keeping confidences is spreading and building self-esteem.

      • Knowledge of what contributes to an unhealthy lifestlye is contributing directly to healthier lifestyle choices. Individuals are choosing safer and healthier lifestyles - condoms (if sexually active) and abstinence in other cases.

      • Compassion is growing, as reflected in visits to a local orphanages, candlelight services and the mobilization of parishes to provide food for people in need.

    To demonstrate the programs success, a three minute video produced in a two week time period, was chosen as one of the top 5 -- out of hundreds of entries -- "Portraits of Compassion" video contest winners to be premiered during the White House National Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI) in Washington, D.C. on June 26-27, 2008. Over a thousand people attended the conference and learned about Siyafundisa's success.


The video may be viewed on our partner's websites: "Be The Change International":http://www.bethechangeinternational.org/Programs.html

"Anglican AIDS Healthcare Trust": www.anglicanaids.net

or on "YouTube": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKRJFJw6v5c