Hi all, This is a post from grantee Mehwish Maria in Pakistan. Please read about her project's progress below....
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Dear All

Hello! I am Mehwish Maria from Pakistan and I am going to introduce my project to you all. The name of my project is “Awareness raising for HIV/ AIDS prevention in adolescents and youth of urban slums in Karachi.” The mission of the project is to create awareness for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and STIs and provide a platform to young people where they can share their problems, can access information and seek advice. A local NGO The Resource Enhancement for Empowerment (TREE) Welfare Organization is supporting me in the implementation of the project.

It will be implemented from Oct 2009- Jan-2010 in two slum areas of Karachi i.e. Essa nagri, and Golimar. Both of these localities are dwelled by the youth who do different kind of labour work and belong to migrant families from different parts of the country. The youth of these areas are less educated or illiterate. They are subject to all types of abuse, discrimination, harassments and diseases. They are working to provide financial support to their families and have very limited information about their self, their health and especially HIV and AIDS.

This project is being implemented to achieve following objectives:
a. To increase understanding of at least 100 young people of marginalized families in two slum areas of Karachi about STIs/HIV/AIDS vulnerabilities and risk behaviours.
b. To aware young people through recreational and educational activities in target areas.
c. To form 4 youth groups (from out of school, baggers, child labour and domestic labour) for peer education for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and STIs.
d. To develop a referral network of NGOs to ensure the provision of effective and need based counselling, VCT and STIs treatment services.

Activities: 4 youth groups (2 females and 2 males groups) will be formed having at least 10 members in each group. The members of these groups will be trained in two 3-day trainings on HIV and AIDS and on Peer education. Each member of the group will be a peer educator and aware at least 10 peers. In this project recreational activities will be use to raise awareness as well, one youth festival and two sports activities will be organized. In the youth festival, youth from different segments of the society, NGOs, CBOs, medical and paramedical staff, working on HIV and AIDS will be invited to share their work and provide information to young people. Different activities will be conducted during the festival including seminars, street drama, quiz competitions, musical show etc. Special counselling corners will be established during the festival for youth.

In the sports activities one cricket and one football match will be organized during these matches awareness rising will be conducted with audience and teams.
A referral network of different NGOs, CBOs, Government departments and likeminded organizations will be formed to provide support and services to youth.

Hello dear friends,

My name is Nelson and I am from Mozambique. I am implementing a project with support from GYCA trough small grant program. Let me take this opportunity to introduce my project to you. The title is: ``Capacity building and rural youth participation in strategic decisions in AIDS``.

The mission of my project is become the AIDS fight in Mozambique with youth and rural face, once the impact of the syndrome is higher in young people from rural area.

The project has two main activities: one capacity building on political advocacy and another dedicates to influences the next strategic plan to fight HIV/AIDS Mozambique.

The activities will be organised on the way to reach the following objectives:
To give opportunity for young people from rural area from Mozambique to influences the decision on AIDS and become the AIDS fight with youth and rural face;

To build capacity for young people from rural area, on participation and advocacy to influences decisions on youth and AIDS;

To include the ideas from young people from rural areas in the next Mozambican AIDS strategic plan.

To build capacity the project will organises training on political advocacy, inspired by political advocacy training from GYCA those I attended.

Will provide opportunity to young people receive skills, knowledge and abilities to influences the decisions makers.

The trainings sessions will includes: lectures, practical exercises, working groups, study of cases, interactive discussion. The participants will come from local youth organisations and students’ organisations, in total of 16.

The second activity will be sessions dedicate to make recommendations to the next AIDS strategic plan. It includes meetings with local young people, youth representative council, youth organisations, within others.

Additionally will be followed by advocacy campagain to ensure the recommendation are accepted by AIDS council and include in the next AIDS strategic plan.

The activities will include meetings with AIDS council, local authorities, and local media communication, using local community radio. This campaign will involves the local young people, youth representatives’ council and also young people attended the preview political advocacy training.

These activities will be followed by monitoring group to ensure the recommendations will be followed by AIDS council.