By Anja Schneider | Content and Community Manager
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.
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