Year 1 Quarter 2 Report on HIV/AIDS sensitization campaign

1. Overview /Introduction

The second quarter of the Global Funds for HIV/Aids Project started on September 1st, despite it being originally scheduled to last 3 months, it was later informed by the principle recipient that the second term will end January 2006. The main objective of this project is to provide knowledge and skills on STI/HIV/AIDS prevention among the youths in selected communities in Sierra Leone. Target beneficiaries of the project include youths, adolescents and school children in selected communities.

The second phase of the implementation of the project was based on the following activities: 

• Conduct visits and talks in all operational areas
• Organize series of one-day sensitisation sessions for youth and adolescence and school children to serve as channel to talk to their peers and community members in selected communities.
• Training of trainers (TOT) workshop for youths at district level
• Provide training through social events like Football Gala
• Development and dissemination of IEC materials
• Training of youth representatives on life skills programme at district level
• Training of  youth counsellors from youth groups in counselling skills

2. Situational report or summary

 Activity One: Pre-implementation Visitations

Visitations and talks were conducted in targeted communities and schools with the view of informing them of the second quarter of the project and consulting with them on appropriate days for specific project activities.

conclusion:

The outcome was that each community was able to agree on dates and time for the sensitisation sessions. Seven informal sectors were visited and ten schools within the Freetown Municipality. Five schools including the Kambia Community were also visited

Activity two: sensitization sessions

 Series of one-day sensitisation sessions were held in both the formal and informal sector.

The informal sector includes:

1. Western Area Youth Development Organisation (Ataya Base Network) at Regent and Sackville Street junction
2. Regent Reforestation Youths, Regent Village
3. Mandela Youths at Ross Road
4. Fire Stone Community
5. Kroobay Community
6. Hill Station Youth Development Organisation [Black Brains]

7. Sweissey Jewellers Organization at Lightfoot Boston Street
8. Clozet Creation Social Club, Tintafor Lungi
9.  Kambia Youth Development Association, Kambia District

Secondary schools in Freetown constitute the formal sector. They include the following:

1. St. Edwards Secondary School, May Park Kingtom.
2. Bishop Johnson Memorial Secondary School
3. Government Model Secondary School, Berry Street
4. Government Rokel Secondary School, Tower Hill
5. Albert Academy Secondary School, Berry Street
6. St. Joseph’s Convent, Brookfields
7. FSSG, Brookfields
8. Annie Walsh Memorial Secondary School, Kissy Road
9. UMSSG, Circular Road
10. Ahmaddiya Secondary School, Kissy Dockyard

 The average audience of each of these target groups was sixty young persons in the informal sector and over ninety school children in the formal sector.  In each of these communities and schools, PCSL resource team made presentationson the following topics:

       1.      Basic concepts of HIV/AIDS – the immune system, the reality of the existence of     the virus and disease, symptons of HIV infection, who has HIV, etc;

2.      Prevention of HIV/AIDS infection, STDS and other related complications, condom demonstration

3.      Misconceptions and Myths about HIV/AIDS

4.     The role of young people in the process of prevention and control;

5.      Encouraging and helping people with HIV/AIDS

6.    Voluntary testing: encouraging people to know their status by being tested voluntarily for the disease

7.    Safe sex techniques; assertiveness, negotiation skills, etc.

1.      After each presentation, discussions were held followed by questions and answers.

conclusion

PCSL team observed the following:

• Disbelief among some members of the target communities about the existence of the HIV/AIDS;
• the fear of undertaking volunteering test for fear of being tested positive and in the event create “shame and stigma’’;
• ignorance about the existence of treatment for the disease on one hand and the access to it even among those who may know about it existence.

                  Activity three: TOT for youth Reps in life skills programme 

On the 26th and 27th September 2005 a two days Training of Trainers workshop on life skills was conducted at the conference room of PCSL and on the 2nd and 3rd November 2005 at Kambia Town Hall. Participants from various youth groups both in Freetown and Kambia were in attendance and resource persons were taken from college lecturers and social workers to facilitate the programme.

 The content of the training included the following:

     1.      What are life skills?

2.      Life skills and Peer Education: Theory and practice

3.      School Life skills for HIV/AIDS Prevention

4.      Processes of life skills education

5.      Verbal methods of life skills education

6.    Peer education

7.    Project Design, Implementation and Management

 The purpose of the workshop was to give participants the necessary tools and knowledge to be able to conduct similar training in their respective communities and groups.

 conclusion:

At the end of the session participants were encouraged to come back with feedbacks as they go on implementing the skills they have got from the training. The TOT Manual was distributed to all participants. This was going to be the basis for their intervention in their communities.

                           

 Activity four: Training of Counsellors from Youths Groups in counselling skills

 On the 13rd and 14th October and on the 4th and 5th of November 2005 training sessions for youth counsellors were conducted at the PCSL conference room and at Kambia District council hall respectively. These attracted 60 participants from among youth representatives of groups, local leaders and community workers PCSL has been working with, in the selected zones.

 The content of the training included the following: 

     1.      The content of the training included

2.    What is Counselling?

3.      Psycho-social effects of HIV/AIDS

 4.   General principles of HIV/AIDS Counselling

5.    HIV/AIDS Counselling and testing

6.    Counselling Support

Social workers and a team of PCSL team facilitated and served as resource persons for the session.

Activity Five: Training of Rural and Social Animators

On the 1st to 3rd October 2005, a training of animators' workshop was conducted at the conference room of PCSL and on the 2nd and 3rd November 2005 at Kambia Town Hall at exactly 9:00 am. Participants were drawn from among youth representatives of groups PCSL has been working with.

The main objective of this scheme is to utilise 'Youth resources for HIV/AIDS prevention and control'. From the one thousand applicants, 100 dedicated youth volunteers were selected from both Feetown and Kambia who were provided with a two-day intensive training on HIV/AIDS, first aid, life skills, peer pressure training, drug and alcohol abuse etc. These volunteers were provided with a Resource Kit and an Identity Card. Thus the service of 100 Trained Youth Volunteers can be ensured throughout Freetown and Kambia. The service of these Rural Social Animators will be a great blessing in time of handling HIV/AIDS issues, drug and alcohol abuse, life skills, etc.

 Activity Six: Football Gala

On the 6^th November 2005, a football gala aimed at sensitising the youths of Central Freetown was held at Regent Square Municipal School Grounds at Lightfoot-Boston Street. This Gala was organised by Peace Child Sierra Leone in collaboration with the Natural Friends Club. During the opening ceremony, traditional dancers (bubu), the local council chairman and other distinguished personalities graced the occasion. This football gala attracted well over one thousand people. It lasted for four weeks and at the closing ceremony a cash prize of 200 thousand leones was given to the winner of the championship trophy together with certificates and other consolation prizes for the runners up. During this football gala, mass sensitisation campaigns that centred on HIV/AIDS prevention and control were carried out. Posters, T-shirts and banners with messages of HIV/AIDS prevention and control were also disseminated to spectators.

  Activity Seven: Radio Discussion (phone-in programme) and cultural show       

A radio discussion programme was conducted at Radio Kolenten in Kambia District on the 4th and 6th November 2005 at about 7:00 pm. Panellists in this radio programme include members of youth groups in Kambia and PCSL team. The discussion focused on the reality of the Virus, its impact in the community, voluntary testing and the role of youths in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. The Kambia community responded positively thereby stimulating an informed and lively debate.

Further, as a way of reaching out to all sections of the community in Kambia a cultural show was organised within their tradition with performances by local singers and dancers. This enabled the dissemination of the HIV/AIDS message to those who cannot understand Krio or English providing an effective means of interacting with the local people population who would otherwise be marginalised.

             Activity Seven: Development and Dissemination of IEC Materials

Information, Education and Communication materials were developed. These include T- shirts, posters, signposts, billboards and flyers which were disseminated in all operational areas including Kambia in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone.

 Objectives

The following are the objectives of the project:

     -         To provide knowledge and skills on STIs and HIV/AIDS prevention among youths.

-         To plan with various operational communities to be involved in the implementation process.

-         To conduct series of sensitisation activities for youth and adolescents in schools and local communities to serve as channel of communication to parents and community members.

-         To conduct TOT workshops for youth representatives on HIV/AIDS related issues in different capacities as peer educators, animators, counsellors and representatives in life skills programmes.

-         To organise social events through community based quiz, essay and drama competitions, radio discussions, and talk shows.

These objectives were carried out in the form of visitation and talks, sensitisation sessions, workshops, radio discussion, cultural show and football gala.

 Two training of trainers' workshops were held; one in Freetown on the 26th and 27th September and another in Kambia on the 2nd and 3rd November 2005 at about 9:00 respectively. Participation of these workshops averaged 75 in Freetown and 60 in Kambia. Various topics highlighted above were discussed. The workshops ended with refreshments for participants followed by transport allowances.

Training of counsellors workshops were also conducted in Freetown and at Kambia 13th and 14th October and on the 4th and 5th of November 2005 at exactly 9:00 am respectively. Various topics that centred on HIV/AIDS were discussed. The total number of participants in these sessions were 60 in Kambia and 65 in Freetown.

A radio discussion programme was conducted at Radio Kolenten in Kambia District on the 4th and 6th November 2005 at about 7:00 pm followed by a cultural show that attracted almost everybody in the town.

On the 6th November 2005, a football gala aimed at sensitizing the youths of Central Freetown was held at Regent Square Municipal School Grounds at Lightfoot-Boston Street. It started 4:00 pm every weekend and attracted over a thousand spectators.                          

                 

3. Plans for the next Quarter

PCSL's future plans for the next quarter will be centered in four chiefdoms including Gbenseh in the Kono District, Eastern Province of Sierra Leone and the line of activities will be the same as that of other quarters. Kono is a diamond rich town and is highly populated with people of diverse nationalities including labour migrants many of whom are attracted to its diamond fields and the presence of multinationals. Because of its richness in minerals, prostitution and crime rate is very high and there is therefore the likelihood that the disease is present.

One of the main barriers to control the spread if HIV/AIDS in this country is the low awareness of the danger it poses, or even its existence at all. Lack of adequate information on the disease is spured due to illiteracy, the presence of certain myths and traditional misconceptions. This in turn results in a general reluctance to be tested, and creates an akward silence which must be broken if we are to get anywhere in this all-important battle.

The war is ended and Kono is being rebuilt with a massive influx of people and the poverty that much of its population has found itself in suggest an urgent need for intervention, especially with the aim of spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS and STIs,, reducing the number involved in sex-work, counseling those who have been abused, and encouraging alternative income-generating activities. The majority of cases of HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone are found amongst youths aged 15-34 years. Although, the main reason for this is that these are the most sexually active years of life, the  concentration for this is reinforced by several factors particularly in the Sierra Leonean context. Sex education is still considered taboo in many communities, which further escalates young people's vulnerability as they lack access to adequate and accurate information, and skills in communication and negotiation. Youths can easily be influenced by their peers, or coerced by elders into sexual activities which might be counterproductive in the future.

It is against this backdrop that PCSL will be embarking on a massive sensitization campaign to educate the youths and general populace of selected chiefdoms in the Kono District about HIV/AIDS and its related complications.

4. Constraints and Recommendations

In the implementation of the programme the following constraints were encountered.

- Meagre resources and distant implementing zones: In implementing the project PCSL encountered problems with the meagre resources that were allocated and because of this there was no money allocated for local heads who served as links between us and their people. These local heads expected something from us at the end of the project but unfortunately there was none. The lack of money was exacerbated by the distant implementing zones. Projects in distant provincial towns accrue large transportation costs. Further, given the antiquated road system it takes a lot of tine navigating between localities.

- Slow disbursement process: The manner in which monies and logistics were disbursed for the implementation of projects was very slow. This posed many problems for example; the project fell behind schedule, resources promised at the beginning didn't arrive on time requiring additional payments to obtain many necessary items.

The following recommendations could therefore be made so that the aformentioned constraints will not be encountered:

1. Monies should be allocated for local heads who served as links between us and their people. These are respectable heads in their community and are very vital in the projects.

2. Resources for visitations should be increased especially when implementing in provincial towns. This will make sub-recipients venture out to the provinces. these people need the message like any other people.

3. The manner in which resources and logistics were disbursed should be effective and efficient so as not to tamper with implementation dates. This will also help in the reporting of project activities.               

6. Conclusion

The sensitisation of youths on HIV/AIDS and related issues is a right step in this direction. This will help greatly in combating the disease and experiencing an HIV/AIDS free nation. Information goes a long way in educating the people especially the youths of Sierra Leone about this killer disease that is a threat to both the economic and human resource base of Sierra Leone. What therefore needs to be done is to put all hands on deck to stop this dreadful disease.