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.