Life Skills and Peer Education for Chadian Youth

We are so pleased to share some updates with you about our exciting project in Chad. This summer Blue Cross Chad held a camp to train 80 new peer educators.  Peer educators are an important part of the project, their dedication and enthusiasm is what makes the students engage, participate and ultimately change their behaviour. Peer education is based on role modeling and the ability of young people to become leaders and agents of change through empowerment and support.

One of the participants of the training told us:

“I am 17 year old female high school student in Amriguébé 2ndU3. Speaking of the training, I really learned things that are very important for me as a girl. Take for example the issue of sexuality, my parents never had to discuss this matter with me once while today I'm 17 already. So as peer educators trained by Blue Cross, we can fully play our roles in service to others for their awareness.”

Antoher participant told us: “ I am 22 years old I am student at Modern High School in Djougoulié class 2ndU5. .The modules on the topics discussed in this training are very useful for us young people so that everyone in his life can change their behavior. Actually, this training was an honor and a learning moment I will never forget in my life because we referred to the various problems that occur in Chad and indeed only concern youth. Consider the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and risk behavior for HIV / AIDS – the most affected are young people. Many thanks to Blue Cross Chad for this training really allows us to raise awareness among young people in the districts and schools. This is our duty as peer educators to really put this training into practice with others so they feel the result.”

Last year, the peer educators were especially successful at creating after school-clubs within almost all participating schools. The clubs are managed by the learners themselves, including the setup of democratic structures. Each club has elected a board and works in the manner of an associational structure. It has the possibility to access micro grants from Blue Cross in order to implement own projects. The clubs then report back on their activities and are financially accountable to Blue Cross. The experience of “small-scale” democracy and leadership, as well as micro project management and accountability, is proving extremely positive for the young people who gain leadership and management skills. In the Chadian context, this approach is ground-breaking.

We look forward to sharing more updates from the field with you and thank you for your continued support to keeping these youngsters in Chad drug and alcohol-free!