Experiences of youth workers working in NGOs implementing HIV and Aids preventative peer education programmes at high schools

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have been identified as being the mostsignificant target grouping affected by HIV and AIDS in the world. South Africa has one ofthe highest HIV and AIDS prevalence rates and has adopted two broad strategies to curbthe HIV and AIDS pandemic. The first strategy is costly involving anti-retroviral treatmentwhich the government has only been able to roll-out to a very few HIV positive people.Currently in a depressing global economy, international donors are finding it difficult toincrease funding for HIV and AIDS, more particularly as the poor countries of Sub-SaharanAfrica, particularly in Southern Africa have been mostly affected by the HIV and AIDSpandemic.The second strategy is an HIV and AIDS prevention strategy with the primary aim ofkeeping citizens free from contracting the HI virus. Although this strategy is acomprehensive strategy where governments embark on large-scale campaigns of raisingHIV and AIDS awareness, there is very little scientific evidence that these campaigns havebrought about a significant decrease of HIV and AIDS prevalence amongst young people.Raising awareness does not necessarily lead to positive behavioural change. Most youngpeople in South Africa attend high schools where HIV and AIDS life-skills education hasbeen made as a compulsory component of the life orientation curriculum. In South Africa,a National Aids Council has been established in South Africa to co-ordinate HIV and AIDSinterventions and develops national HIV and AIDS policies aimed at curbing the spread ofHIV and AIDS at a national level, yet the HIV and AIDS prevalence amongst young peoplehas not significantly abated.On their own, governments cannot address all the socio-economic needs of their citizens.Partnership need to be formed with Non-government organisations and a broader range ofstakeholders to address the spread of HIV and AIDS. Youth workers from NGOs currentlyimplement HIV and AIDS preventative peer education programmes at high schools as partof the South African government's broad strategy of HIV and AIDS prevention amongstyoung people.The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of youth workerswho were employed at NGOs implementing HIV and AIDS preventative peer education programmes at high schools. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitativeapproaches in the research design. A literature review was conducted to research aspectsof the study such as the features of NGOs, high schools as a setting and the role youthworkers played when implementing HIV and AIDS preventative peer educationprogrammes. Books, articles, journals, the internet and peer education manuals of NGOsall produced relevant information pertaining to the subject of HIV and AIDS preventionamongst young people.Twenty youth workers from three NGOs that is currently implementing HIV and AIDSpreventative peer education programmes was purposively sampled, to be primaryrespondents of an empirical study. The researcher conceptualised and constructed aninterview schedule with pertinent qualitative and quantitative questions based on theliterature review. After the questionnaire was piloted with three youth workers, theinterviewing process ensued. A considerable amount of time was spent on analysing andinterpreting the data. Various themes emerged pertaining to different aspects of theprogramme. An empirical investigation was concluded with various results. Some of theresearch findings were in accordance with the literature review which supported the viewof several authors that peer education programmes were an effective strategy for HIV andAIDS prevention amongst young people. Based on the literature study and the empiricalstudy, various recommendations were made to improve the implementation of the HIV andAIDS preventative peer education programmes at high schools.One of the most significant revelations of the empirical study was how important the properselection and recruitment of peer educators were to the success of the peer educationprogramme. The research findings point to a strategy that encourages the nominations oflearners from each classroom so that they could represent their classes and deliverlessons in a much more practical way than is currently being done.Another equally important finding was the management role that NGOs need to play inenabling the appropriate resourcing, monitoring, evaluating and improvement of thesustainability of the organisation and subsequently enriching the experience of youthworkers who implement effective HIV and AIDS preventative peer education programmesat high schools as part of a broad strategy for HIV and AIDS prevention amongst youngpeople in South Africa.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University