Aiding Youth for Life

In July, 2002, AYL sent five Canadian university students on a working visit to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The team participated in a four-week internship at the Aga Khan Hospital that allowed them to meet people with HIV/AIDS and that exposed them to the nature of primary care in a developing country.

They also organised and implemented an HIV/AIDS awareness and education campaign addressing young high-risk Tanzanians. The team's strategy began with the composition of a letter in an attempt to arrange various small forums to share messages of awareness, prevention, and education. They then mapped out what kind of efforts are already in place by other NGOs like Kihumbe and the government - knowledge gleaned through visits to local NGO offices and government officials. This assessment stage also included meeting with 20 student volunteers from local secondary schools to find out which schools had HIV/AIDS curricula and to learn about means of increasing public awareness that are culturally sensitive and appropriate to each setting.

On the basis of this information, the team arranged intervention activities including the following:

• visits to local nightclubs and other informal places where youth tend to gather to distribute awareness items (pens and pamphlets) and prevention items.
• HIV/AIDS awareness days at secondary schools in Mbeya
• work with a local drama group to help communicate the message to those who don't speak or who aren't comfortable with English
• a booth with youth at the five local khanes (Ismaili mosques/places of worship) with the AYL banner, some posters, a brief powerpoint presentation of their work, pictures, and brochures
• a presentation about the issue of peer pressure in sexual relations (i.e. one person wanting to use a condom and the other not) at Muhimbili College of Health Sciences, which does not deal with the social stigmas surrounding the disease
• an HIV/AIDS Awareness Gala Event at a local banquet hall for hospital staff, students, and the media that featured distinguished keynote speakers and a panel discussion involving dignitaries and NGOs.

HIV/AIDS, Youth, Education.

Composed of a team of five volunteers in their early 20s, AYL is in the process building its organisation by establishing chapters at each of the major Canadian post-secondary institutions, starting in Toronto. Though AYL is also seeking additional parterships with aid groups and HIV/AIDS research organisations, it is in the application stages of obtaining official non-profit/NGO status through Revenue Canada.