Youth Activists Organisation

As of this writing, YAO runs two programmes, the Community Youth Football and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) Camps, and Athletes Advantage.

First, since 1998, the Youth Football and Sexual Reproductive Health Camp has worked to educate boys aged 14-24 years. The purpose of the programme is to increase men's participation in sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, and child health issues in their families/communities. The Camp also works with girls to foster their communication and to improve gender balance in their relationships. Other audiences include participants' parents, community-based organisations, neighbourhood health committees, and community members.

YAO reaches an average of 7,000 people in one site in 7 days. On-site activities include communicating messages about reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and family planning, and other public health issues as identified by the community. These messages are incorporated into soccer training techniques during the camp, which is offered for 50 boys at a time. Other activities carrying similar messages include mobile community video shows, school outreach sessions, girls sessions, couples sessions, and mother's and women's clubs. The camps are based in very rural Zambian villages.

Specifically, one-on-one interviews are conducted to establish existing knowledge levels. Then, each morning, campers are taught football skills by an official Zambia Football Coaches Association (ZAFCA). Each afternoon, the young participants are introduced to issues related to SRH, sexually transmitted diseases (STD's), HIV/AIDS, and family planning through workshops and peer education sessions. The boys are trained to be peer educators and encouraged to reach their peers. This training includes clarification of the educators' expected roles, opportunities to practice presentations on key topics such as STDs/HIV/AIDS and sexuality, care and support for people living with AIDS, and practicing skills-building exercises such as correct condom use. In addition, the boys are taught how to start clubs and societies that work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The following activities and training sessions are held throughout the week:

• A group of up to 8 local football coaches are selected and trained in football coaching and SRH, STD's, HIV/AIDS and family planning.
• Young mothers attend a family planning session.
• 'Safe practices' with all medicine men from surrounding villages
• Session with village elders
• SRH session with parents
• SRH session with community-based organisations (CBOs) and neighbourhood health committees (NHCs) to encourage them to address village SRH issues
• RH peer education outreach sessions with schools in surrounding schools and clinics
• Every evening, a mobile cinema unit is set up in a different local village field showing films depicting village life and SRH situations. A live discussion on the issues raised and how they are and should be addressed in the village follows.

Second, in 2004 YAO introduced a new initiative called Athletes Advantage. Athletes Advantage (AA) is a programme designed to empower young girls in and out of school with life skills in decision-making, negotiation, communication, as well as improving their self-esteem. The programme is aimed at creating support networks for girls to enhance gender equality, abstinence promotion, taking care of people living with HIV and AIDS, and mitigating stigma in the communities.

AA organises camps and inter-schools competitions for girls aged 10 -19 years in both rural and urban areas using a variety of sports. Apart from addressing reproductive health issues, the girls are trained in peer education approaches - in particular the integration of sports and HIV-related messages, and theatre for community action.br>

AA also reaches out to the parents, boys, traditional and church leaders, teachers, and other community members.

Youth, HIV/AIDS, Family Planning, Health, Gender, Children, Agriculture.

According to organisers, this project involves men in an effort to draw on men's leadership in many aspects of community and family life, as well as their often-dominant roles in decisions related to women's and adolescents' reproductive health. Furthermore, YAO focuses its efforts on rural communities in light of the fact that the organisers have concluded that these communities have been neglected in the national HIV/AIDS campaigns due to their geographical locations and poor access to radio, TV, and general information on health and community mobilisation.

As a result of these efforts:

• Clubs have been started in schools that did not have any AIDS programmes prior to YAO's work
• In some Rural Health Centres, the following were observed:
  
  • A reduction in the number of unplanned pregnancies
  • An increase in community participation in spontaneous meetings
  • Greater youth involvement in community affairs
  • An increase in voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), especially among engaged couples; and
  • A heightened awareness among the community at large regarding the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS.
• Community Family Planning (FP) educators have been linked to the local clinics for continuity of awareness programmes.
• The church and traditional leaders are fully involved in advocating for continued support towards HIV and AIDS in all the Youth Camps.
• The Peace Corps Zambia office has made the Youth Camp programme part of the orientation during training of new Peace Corps Volunteers.

To date, YAO has run 83 Youth Football and Sexual Reproductive Health Camps, reaching over 500,000 people. Many of those trained by YAO in peer education have instigated new SRH activities and many others are now positioned in NGO's across Zambia. For example, in October 2000, a camp was conducted in the Chikomeni Rural Health Centre catchment area. Six months later, there was a reduction in the number of unplanned pregnancies; an increase in community participation in spontaneous meetings; greater youth involvement in community affairs; an increase in VCT, especially among engaged couples; and, a heightened awareness among the community at large regarding the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS.