Slide 1 : Linking & Educating Youth about Global HIV Locally:
US-NAMIBIA HIV/AIDS Education Initiative
February 4, 2011
Connect Online 2011 Conference
7am US EST/ Toronto, Canada EST
Hassanatu & Hussainatu Blake
Founders & Executive Directors
Focal Point Global
Focal Point Global : Focal Point Global Founded 2009
Nonprofit organization strategically links & educates youth globally about social issues using innovative technological learning tools.
Targets youth between age 12 -19 in underserved areas; provide a global experience to students without the financial burden
Focal Point Global : Focal Point Global GOALS:
strengthen global youth education through global exchange and partnerships
&
Empower youth to lead social change in their communities
Slide 4 : What do you know about Global HIV epidemic?
What do an American teenager and Namibian teenager have in common?
Issue: HIV and Youth : Issue: HIV and Youth UNAIDS: Young people aged 15 to 24 account for 2 out of every 5 new HIV infection globally.
Most still do not have access to valuable information to enable them to prevent HIV infection.
Issue: HIV in Namibia : Issue: HIV in Namibia Southwest African country
HIV Prevalence rate of about 18%; aged 15-24 male 3.4%, female 10.3% (UNAIDS/Namibia’s Sentinel Survey 2008)
Swakopmund -coastal city; rate around 25% (UNAIDS)
Issue: HIV in US : Issue: HIV in US United States HIV prevalence rate less than 1%; 15-24 age group: female .7%, male .3%(CDC/UNAIDS)
Major cities losing the battle though: Baltimore, MD - prevalence rate just under 2.5% (Baltimore DHS)
Slide 8 : What can youth in these countries do to combat HIV ?
US-Namibia HIV/AIDS Education Initiative : US-Namibia HIV/AIDS Education Initiative online 3 day interactive cross cultural exchange
between 4 American and 6 Namibian high
school students to discuss HIV/AIDS in their
respective communities.
Project & Curriculum Description : Project & Curriculum Description Launched Feb 2010
In partnership with local educational organizations:
Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust
(Baltimore, Maryland USA)
Sisters Together and Reaching
(Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
Mondesa Youth Opportunities
(Swakopmund, Namibia)
Project & Curriculum Description : Project & Curriculum Description Day 1: Awareness – In a 3 hour preparation session, participants were provided with HIV facts and information from reliable health resources to create HIV presentations for the peer conference
Day 2: Peer Education – Presentations of HIV/AIDS epidemic in their respective countries via Skype; Follow by Q&A with peers.
Day 3: Call to Action – Share projects they can implement to combat HIV/AIDS in their own communities; Followed by Q&A with peers.
Project & Curriculum Description : Project & Curriculum Description Pre and Post assessments conducted via online surveys and Skype conferencing to evaluate the participants’ knowledge of HIV before and after the pilot project.
2 youth participants from the US & Namibia each wrote and submitted a journal entry about the conference.
Outcome : Outcome *y axis: Scale is from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent)
Outcome : Outcome Youth were left empowered to inform others about global HIV.
Some youth projects shared were HIV service clubs in Baltimore high schools & Community HIV play to encourage young people to get tested in Swakopmund.
Slide 15 :
Testimonies : Testimonies “Great experience. Learning about our global HIV issue, seeing how it affects different cultures in different ways, I feel inspired to inform others about this cause.” ~Dania Moore (US)
“It helps me to see life from a different perspective. There are quite a lot of solutions... We can start campaigns to educate people. “ ~ Frieda Mukufa (Namibia)
Conclusion : Conclusion Project example of how valuable global education and exchange amongst peers are in empowering youth to address critical social issues, like HIV.
Focal Point Global is using lessons learned from the pilot project to:
develop and continue more interactive educational exchanges to reach more youth,
employ qualified facilitators to further develop curriculum and assist youth projects
make site visits to ensure quality youth projects are implemented.
Stay Connected : Stay Connected Focal Point Global
http://www.focalpointglobal.org
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Slide 19 : Thank You!!!!