ENVISAGED PROCESS

The intention is to use Haiti (where the numbers of HIV/AIDS infection are highest, within the carribbean Islands) to pilot our approach. We are aiming to reach 10 thousand students over a two year process that is living within each District.

The intervention will be carefully monitored and evaluated, (baseline studies have already been conducted) and recorded in order to make replicability in other Caribbean Islands and by other agencies possible. In order to achieve success in the pilots, we are seeking to enter into a partnership with the District Governments in hope for them to provide access to the students for a two year period. The grants will be administered by the central office of Health Us in the capital Port-au-Prince district. Health Us funds, raised from member congregations, will be used to cover administrative costs and program supplies. The Health Us district offices will be responsible for up date educational materials, and providing peer counseling and all administrative and ensuring that grants are appropriately used. Detailed reports will be provided to District Governments, and funders to achieve this. Health Us will employ approximately 4 trained community Peer Educators workers in the capital Port-au-Prince District to remain in constant contact with each school we work in. Costs of these community workers will be covered through the Health Us administration fund.

However, we believe that, for the project to succeed, extensive community training is needed in the form of intensive interventions with professionals from the following fields: Educators; Religious community leadership (clerical and lay); Health professionals; Social workers; District government officials in other categories. It is for this work that we are seeking support from compassionate individuals, we are aware that your emphasis is on education and training to uplift humanity. Training, which will involve both theoretical and practical work, will be made specific to each group, but, in general, will cover: Identifying AIDS in the community; HIV/AIDS – causes and impacts of the epidemic; The needs and care of at-risk children; Counseling at-risk children – psychological, social and health counseling; Providing support to households headed by teenagers; Setting up and running Peer Education Training for professionals. Each group will consist of a minimum of 15 participants and a maximum of 30. The groups will be run in each district. The intention, therefore, is to reach between 150 and 300 professionals across the districts. Because of the importance of involving both men and women in this work, we will aim to have 50% of the participants from each gender group. Training will be conducted in four three-day sessions per year over 2 years, making a total of 24 day training. We are seeking for a known HIV/AIDS training agency to agree to accredit the training at certificate level. This means that it will approve materials and do quality control on delivery of training. Certification qualification will be assessed at the end of the two years by evaluation of project involvement. This will be done by Health Us and personnel with quality control by the agency that provides sponsorship training course.

In addition, it is our intention to hold quarterly co-ordinating sessions at which Representatives of each of the identified groups in a district can share experiences and work out ways to co-ordinate activities. We see this as a two-year process, at the end of which we believe that the district Communities will be able to sustain their efforts without our direct support. All the training interventions will be aimed at creating district community level independence and cooperation. Health Us will, however, continue to administer the material grants for at least a further three years, as per our agreement with the District Governments. Training will be conducted by skilled and experienced community workers based on materials developed for the project by experts in the field. The intention is to draw on Materials from other countries and to make our materials widely available through the Internet. We would welcome suggestions from any and all qualified HIV/AIDS Education NGO with regard to us being able to access existing materials and to make our materials available to others.

PROGRAM OUTLINE: HEALTH PEER EDUCATION DAY.

Program will be held from9:30 am through 2 pm. Number of attendees: Students 100, School Staff 20 = 120 Program:

9:30- 9:45 am: Program Coordinator Introduce Organization, Sponsor, mission of the day and Staff.

9:45-10:00 am: Material Supervisor and help, distributes school supplies (1 notebook, 1 pen, 1 pencil) to each student.

10:00-11:30 am: HIV/AIDS presentation begins. Jean D. Maurice, Jesula Desravine and Geuline Desravine; delivers the history, transmission, treatment, stigmatization, prevention and community affects of HIV/AIDS and STD’s.

11:30-12:15 pm: Lunch is served.

12:30-1:30 pm: Cholera Education; Jean Alsuma, Fabienne Louis and Sophonie Dolne delivers the history, transmission, treatment and prevention of Cholera and other germs.

1:30-2:00 pm: Open for questions and discussions, and guest speakers.