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Several hundred thousand desperately poor people live in the Mathare Valley and the neighboring slums, one of the largest and poorest slums in Africa. More than half are kids and there are few playing fields - consequently, few chances to play sport. Their homes are often surrounded by garbage and sewage, both major causes of disease, which debilitate, cripple and kill many, both children and adults.
Over 75% of the people living in the Mathare Valley are hard working single mothers who have been abandoned by their husbands. They earn income through small-scale businesses. Open communication between parents and their children rarely exists any longer since the parents have little time to spare. The responsibility to share important information with kids is thus left to peers, resulting in an increase in teenage sex, pregnancies, abortions, drug abuse, cross generation sex, short term relationships and HIV/AIDS. The lack of a reliable source of information is a problem that hinders healthy development of the youth of Mathare. This is where the MYSA peer educators come into play.
How we influence behaviour change among the youth
The MYSA HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness Project started in 1994 with the main aim of promoting behavioural change among the youth and members of the community, by integrating sport and life skills through peer education, peer counselling, games, music, drama, puppetry and other cultural and recreational activities. Central to success and sustainability is capacity building. The strategies that the programme uses are based on participatory approaches, which have proved to be an efficient, and an effective mode of communication.
We train and empower our peer educators who in turn train fellow youths and other members of their respective communities.
One of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The fundamental elements of sport in MYSA make it a practical tool to support the achievement of this goal. Sport has an impact on health and reduces the likelihood of many diseases. Sports programmes serve as an effective tool for social mobilization, supporting health activities such as HIV/AIDS education and immunization campaigns. Sport can be a significant economic force, providing employment and contributing to local development. It is also a key site and natural draw for volunteer involvement. Furthermore, participation in sport supports the preservation of a clean and healthy environment.
Activities to support HIV/AIDS awareness
- Life skills training and courses among top MYSA youth leaders, coaches and players on counselling and movement games in relation to HIV/AIDS, drug use and abuse, reproductive health and other health related issues.
- Field work support for peer educators and peer counsellors
- Networking with youth organizations working in the same field
- Meetings, exchange programmes and visits to children’s homes by peer educators.
- Providing schools and communities in MYSA zones with healthy information during our school and community awareness campaigns
- Facilitating Youth Resource Centre for educational and referral purposes and counselling.
- Documenting best practices, success stories, approaches and different methodologies used in sport and community development as an advocacy tool for youth participation. This may also be used for fundraising and sustainability of the program.
- Developing information, education and communication materials that may be used for fundraising and income generation for the sustainability of the programme.
Key Achievements
- Positive behavior change: teachers and parents have been responding positively to how students and pupils express themselves openly on reproductive health issues.
- Most youth that were reached, were between the ages of 6-21 years. They participated in discussions and games and they asked and answered questions so that we could evaluate their understanding.
- Effective voluntary counselling.
- As a result of the programme, six students have been attending counseling sessions at the MYSA Counseling and Resource Centre.
- Information Education and Communication (I.E.C) materials distribution: information, educative and communication materials are distributed after each discussion that we have with the students.
- Apart from facilitation, group discussions and lectures, the outreach programme has integrated other programs such as movement games, edutainment (drama) and counseling.
Key Challenges
- Inadequate funds
- Lack of time
- Lack of co-operation and collaboration from some schools and irregular pupil attendance
- Lack of space - venues where the programmes were carried out were very small making it hard to accommodate all the youth.
Our Partners
- Kicking AIDS Out Network
- UNICEF/ESARO
- International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
-Population Council
- Kenya Association of Professional Counsellors (KAPC)
- Blue House
- Nairobi Youth Centre
- Family Health International
Future Aims
Despite the challenges that were encountered the programme was successful and we will continually strive to reach more schools within the community.
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