Teen Peer Education in Mali

In Mali, some of the most at risk members of the population are youth, and more specifically, teen girls. However, providing education in a safe and effective environment can greatly reduce the risk of transmission among this age group. GAIA Vaccine Foundation has found that the best way to communicate the risks of HIV to young people in Mali is through peer to peer education. 

Our Teen Peer Education Program has been proven to help raise awareness within the adolescent population about the risks they face. GAIA Vaccine Foundation employs teenage educators through our local partners in Bamako, Mali. These teen educators are trained by our adult HIV educators and collaborate frequently with local health services to revise and implement communication skills for these adolescents by providing weekly discussions. 

Our Teen Peer Education Program hosts a weekly discussion session with the goal of allowing Malian teens to talk about issues they may be facing, and how to avoid risky sexual encounters. By hosting these meetings, adolescents in the community are able to broaden their HIV knowledge, a statistic that GAIA Vaccine Foundation will evaluate before and after participation in the program in order to gauge its effectiveness. 

In time, our program hopes to greatly reduce the number of teenage girls who contract HIV. In doing so, we would need to expand our reach, which would not be possible without your support. With a donation of $10, you would be sponsoring 2 teens in attending a program session. With a donation of $20, you would be sponsoring 4 teenagers. With a generous donation of $50, you would be providing one of our HIV educator’s entire salary. If you were to donate $75, it would be because of YOU that GAIA Vaccine Foundation is able to host an ENTIRE session! We thank you for your continued support for our ongoing programs, and are hopeful for the future of GAIA Vaccine Foundation.

Studies have continuously indicated that important information can be spread effectively to the youth, by the youth. GAIA Vaccine Foundation has employed this tactic through our Teen Peer Education program, an informative initiative meant to raise awareness amongst the younger population about HIV and how to avoid becoming HIV+. Our program emphasizes a safe environment for at-risk youth. 

The most vulnerable sector of the younger population is teenage girls, who not only risk becoming HIV+, but also unwanted pregnancies, and social or financial abandonment. GAIA Vaccine Foundation is looking to avoid these cases through our Teen Peer Education courses.

Our teen educators are trained by adult HIV educators to ensure information is accurate and up to date. These educators come through our local partners in Bamako, Mali. Our educators work alongside local health services to create communication tools for adolescents in Bamako by providing these weekly discussions. Free condoms and HIV testing are also available for students during our sessions. 

The goal of our ongoing program is to continue to reach both adolescents in school and those who are not. Our educators seek to provide a safe environment for teens to talk about any issues they may face, as well as learn about risky sexual behavior and how to avoid those scenarios. In time, we hope our program will help to greatly reduce the number of HIV+ cases in Mali. 

The Teen Peer Education Program would not be possible without your help. With a donation of $10, you would be paying for two teens to attend one of our educational sessions. With a donation of $20, you would be paying for four teens to attend a session, helping us expand our outreach and include even more young members of the community. With a generous donation of $75, you would be sponsoring an ENTIRE SESSION. It would be because of your generosity that a group of children in Mali would acquire the education necessary for them to protect themselves from becoming HIV+, thus potentially saving their lives.