VCT CAMPAIGN PROJECT

I.INTRODUCTION

VCT Campaign is a project made by Mr. Jean Luc UGIRASHEBUJA (GYCA member) in partnership between the Global Youth Coalition against HIV/AIDS and Rwanda Village Concept Project.
VCT Campaign Project aims to provide accurate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, to parents, children, and youth. Particularly, parents will have specific sessions to train them about strategic approaches that they will use for addressing HIV and sexual issues to their children. Children and youth will also be encouraged to ask for advice to their parents when they face a sexual issue. In addition, home visits and provided transportation will encourage VCT.

II. PROBLEM STATEMENT

More recently, there has been a growing recognition that more rural children and youth are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection than ever before. Besides individual behaviors, certain familial and social aspects (cultural constructs; parents’ inability to address sexual issues and HIV/AIDS to their children, gender inequalities, economic power, youth bad groups, demographic factors…) make children and youth more vulnerable to the infection. From interviews on Radio Salus during WITEGEREZA Campaign (a campaign made by Rwandan National Commission for fighting HIV) youth disclosed the inability of parents to discuss sexual issues with them as a major cause for new infections. And according to the UNAIDS 2007 updates, in Rwanda, the proportion of rural youth having sex with multiple partners is increasing while condom use is decreasing. Again Behavioral Surveillance Survey in 2000 (among the youth aged between 15 and 19) showed that minimum age of the first sexual relations is 14 years among girls and 13 years among boys. And condom use is of 10% among youth who are sexually active. As conclusion from WITEGEREZA Campaign, the most effective approach for youth behavior change must start on family level. These necessitate a youth targeted HIV prevention plan to address sensitizations, awareness and behavior change. Thus the VCT Campaign Project tries to engage, enable and urge parents not to wait to talk to their children about sex (HIV) and encourage them to make VCT as an entry point for HIV prevention and treatment.

III.PROJECT OBJECTIVES

-To involve, engage and urge parents in the battle against HIV/AIDS,
-To provide enough accurate knowledge about HIV/AIDS to parents, children and youth,
-To encourage VCT as an entry point for HIV prevention and access to treatment.
-To provide and facilitate transportation to VCT sites and post test assistance.

IV.PROJECT DESCRIPTION

VCT Campaign Project mission is that after the project, more than 95 percent of parents, children and youth will have enough accurate knowledge about HIV, AIDS, transmission, prevention, and treatment. Particularly, parents will have specific sessions to train them about strategic approaches that they will use for addressing HIV&sexual
Issues to their children. Children and youth will also be encouraged to ask for advice to their parents when they face a sexual issue. Again, more than 65 percent people from different targeted families will be facilitated for transportation to a VCT site to get tested.

The project execution will be divided into three main steps:

-Project preparation,
-Home-Based campaign and
-Follow up programs.

The project preparation includes contacts, training of volunteers and announcement of the Home-based campaign. The Home Based Campaign is an outreach campaign where health workers volunteers will make house calls in MUBUMBANO Sub-sector. Health worker volunteers will visit families in afternoons. During each visit, the volunteers will provide comprehensive information about HIV prevention, transmission, AIDS treatment, and session specific to parents to enable them addressing sexual and HIV/AIDS issues to their children_youth. At the end of the visit, volunteers will explain the advantages of knowing one’s sero-status and encourage family members to go to a VCT location. If they agree, the project will arrange for transportation and post-test assistance. The last
step of the project will be follow up programs. During this step, we will form anti-HIV clubs into three categories (parents, children and youth) and then hold village sessions in order to train more the anti-HIV club members so that they will continue to mobilize their neighbors for VCT after the project ends.

V.COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

During the project implementation we will involve our target group. After being trained through family visits, and village sessions, we will form anti-HIV clubs and people who will join the clubs are them who will help to mobilize their neighbors. We will make this anti-HIV clubs powerful by training them on different important issues so that they will be able to continue implementing the project activities even after our project time ends.