June 2010 Award Winners

In June 2010 The Staying Alive Foundation awarded 38 grants. Out of these grants, 23 went to organisations already supported by the Foundation, and 15 went to brand new projects.

It was a highly competitive round as we received over 900 applications.

We are particularly excited about working with the brand new grantees, many of whom are carrying out projects in countries SAF has not yet been present.

To find out more about where these projects are and what they plan to do, read below.

YEAH

Location: Australia

YEAH is planning to roll out the Red Aware project which was funded by SAF in the past 12 months. Red Aware consists of a toolkit with materials to raise awareness on HIV and host events. They plan to produce additional toolkits; engage volunteers to create links with other organisations and festivals which could host Red Aware activities; raise awareness in the media about HIV; and develop their website.

NUR

Location: Azerbaijan

Continuing activities over its three year grant, NUR will hold its annual and very successful AIDS Candlelight Event on national TV on December 1st. As with previous years, political and social leaders, celebrities, and young people will speak out about HIV/AIDS. NUR will also continue to train 100 peer educators from all over the country to reach 1500 people with messages about HIV prevention.

PACT

Location: Botswana

PACT (Peer Approach to Counseling by Teens) clubs will be set up in rural villages for in and out-of-school youths. Here, youths will become trainers in life-skills and teach HIV prevention through plays. At least 500 people will undergo VCT, and football tournaments will be held alongside life-skills classes. The winning football teams are those where the most people go for testing. 5000 youth will be reached in rural villages in the Western district of Botswana.

Fundacion OAH

Location: Colombia

This organisation will develop their current project by training an additional 20 peer educators from the most vulnerable and poor areas of Barranquilla. Each of them will organise 10 HIV awareness sessions in their communities, schools, and colleges. Other activities include visiting 20 vulnerable communities to reach out to young people and set up 'listening points' to raise awareness about HIV.
Also, HIV awareness campaigns in 5 universities will be organised.

The Help

Location: Burma

Building on their experience of the past 2 years, The Help will now focus on engaging young gay men who have tested negative for HIV and using them as examples for other young men. They are planning to organise 9 workshops with 'negative' gay men; distribute condoms; refer people for testing and counselling; distribute educational materials among the general population; hold awareness meetings with government officials to reduce stigma and discrimination of gay men; and hold capacity-building trainings for young gay self-help groups.

SOS Femmes en Detresse (Women in Distress)

Location: Burundi

This organisation aims to raise awareness about HIV by training 30 young people in puppetry. They will do monthly puppetry shows around HIV in schools and public spaces. They will also carry out radio programmes over 4 months and hold forums with people living with HIV (PLHIV).

United Vision

Location: Cameroon

United Vision aims to raise awareness about forced marriage and 'mortgaging girls' and the risks related to HIV. 9 advocacy groups will be formed where 3 people form each group will be trained as peer educators. Capacity-building sessions will take place and there will be weekly sensitisation meetings. Female condoms will be distributed. Single teenage mothers, PLHIV, and other young women will be targeted.

Armario Abierto

Location: Chile

Armario Abierto wants to raise awareness about HIV and discrimination of the LGBT population by producing a monthly podcast; putting up banners and videos on youth websites; organising peer education training for 25 people; and organising outreach activities in public spaces.

GYCA

Location: Egypt

GYCA Egypt will provide HIV prevention knowledge and knowledge about Female Genital Mutilation to 125 young girls in the slums of northern Egypt. It will train 25 girls from 5 different NGOs in peer education, and hold 5 workshops - each targeting 20 girls. Injecting Drug Users will also be taught HIV prevention and given condoms, clean syringes, and links to VCT services. Activities will also include a painting gallery and open-air VCT.

Vetri Kootam

Location: India

This organisation will tackle discrimination and stigma associated with HIV. Led by a woman who grew up in a low caste family affected by HIV, this organisation will create youth community support groups in 5 low caste villages. 40 boys and girls will be trained as ‘change-makers’. Awareness-raising will reach 300 young people through cricket and other games.

Human Touch

Location: India

Human Touch wants to build on the past 12 months of training peer educators, forming clubs, and organising educational games. This year will focus more on stigma and discrimination and also include more boys. An additional 50 peer educators will be trained and 20 additional village clubs will be formed. There will be monthly games; a week-long festival; community events focussing on stigma and discrimination; and encouragement of young pregnant women to be tested.

Amra Pradatik

Location: India

Based on the success of the past 12 months, Amra Pradatik will roll out their project to new districts in Kolkota. Over the next 3 years they will train an additional 5 peer educators in 22 Amra Pradatik 'units', train a peer leader and create a resource centre in each unit, train 20 young people in drama and script-writing who will organise 'magnet theatre' sessions in each of the 22 units; hold screenings of a documentary developed by the group, and create graffiti walls with awareness-raising messaging.

25 Messengers

Location: Indonesia

In the second year of a two-year grant, 25 Messengers will continue to develop a sustainable network of peer educators in West Java. Its HIV/AIDS Task Force Forum will be developed, increasing the capacity of local government, mass media, educational and health service providers, to deal with HIV. 25 messengers will also continue to provide information and educational materials about HIV prevention.

Moonlight Ladies Self-Help Group

Location: Kenya

Led by a former commercial sex worker, this organisation will train 25 sex workers on peer education. It will distribute condoms; carry out VCT; and carry out micro-entrepreneurship workshops where sex workers will be taught skills such as sewing. People who trade sex for fish will also be involved and it is hoped that 15000 youth in the general community will be reached.

SOLCODI

Location: Kenya

This organisation is made up of gay men and PLHIV, and will provide HIV prevention education and the promotion of VCT to MSM. 20 MSM peer leaders will be trained; condoms will be distributed; and gay rights talks will be held in churches, mosques and temples. The effects of criminalising homosexuality will be discussed in meetings with the media, legal fraternity, politicians, and religious leaders.

HAPEP

Location: Kenya

This ‘Street Art4Life’ project will train 40 young artists on artistic skills and peer education. HIV prevention messages will be illustrated through wall murals and graffiti. Quarterly street challenges include rap battles, female art, festivals with VCT, and movie nights. Condom dispensers will also be set up. This project targets out-of-school youth, transport workers, PLHIV, entertainers, street youth, and those in the business community.

Onyx Players Youth Group

Location: Kenya

Onyx Players will develop their project over the next 3 years. For youth in school they plan to train 25 teachers as peer educators; place message boards in schools; hold sessions of participatory theatre; support health clubs; organise interschool events; and distribute educational messaging. Outside of school they will train 20 young people as peer educators; hold a yearly workshop for bar tenders on how to manage condom dispensers; train 15 sex workers on HIV and entrepreneurship; train volunteers to perform in participatory theatre; organise outreach activities in churches, military camps and worksites; organise moonlight VCT services; organise talent competitions; and distribute condoms and educational materials. Finally, they will also develop their youth resource centre as a focal point to attract young people.

REPACTED

Location: Kenya

In the final year of their three year grant, REPACTED will provide capacity-building training for 30 peer mentors, set up a resource center, and continue with their theatre outreaches. Skits they perform about condom use and other HIV issues attract people from the surrounding area, and they also perform to prison inmates and school children.

Kisumu Disabled Youth Group

Location: Kenya

As part of a long-term grant, KDSHG will promote partnerships at the local level with community stakeholders including parents of disabled youths and local opinion leaders. It will form school HIV/AIDS clubs where there will be health talks, video outreaches and sporting events. There will also be local exchange visits for disabled youths within the locations and distribution of IEC materials.

RROMA

Location: Macedonia

This creative project is carried out by, and targeted at, Roma people in north-east Macedonia. Young Roma people will be trained to create an HIV awareness and prevention media campaign. This will include videos, flyers, posters, facebook, blogs and comics. 15 youth will become peer educators and the project hopes to reach 1000 people. Self-respect and skills-strengthening is a big part of this project which reaches a population often treated with disrespect.

LIYONEBE

Location: Malawi

LIYONEBE will develop and strengthen the project they started 12 months ago. Their objectives are to strengthen the 10 micro-resource centres that they established; conduct 15 talk shows in schools and community centres; continue to publish their youth magazine; and train an additional 12 people to become actors to perform interactive drama shows in schools and trading centres.

Girls Empowerment Network

Location: Malawi

GENET wants to develop its project aimed at young girls. Over the next 3 years members will organise 8 community performances, create 10 radio phone-in programmes, organise adult literacy classes, train 40 young people as peer educators, train 10 volunteers on counselling and HIV testing, conduct 10 girls empowerment sessions, distribute 30,000 female condoms, and establish and maintain 3 resources centres for girls.

Tipindule Community Youth Organisation

Location: Malawi

In the second year of their three year grant, Tipindule Community Youth Organisation will distribute 6000 condoms to young people at risk including street youth, Market vendors, and bicycle taxi operators. They will also establish 2 youth friendly corners to offer counselling on drug and alcohol abuse, distribute condoms and provide links to rehabilitation centres. 20 youth peer educators will be trained from among market vendors and bicycle taxi operators to teach their peers about HIV/AIDS.

Save Our World

Location: Nigeria

SOW aims to raise awareness about HIV among young Muslims. They will do this by training 30 Imams and teachers to coordinate activities in the schools; training 300 young people as peer educators; developing educational materials; and organising quarterly talks and drama presentations. Young people attending mosques and Quranic schools will be the main target.

Aware Girls

Location: Pakistan

Halfway through their 3 year grant, Aware Girls will work towards educating 1500 young women from 30 secondary schools, establish 30 AIDS Discussions clubs, train peer educators, and broadcast radio programs to the public focusing on issues such as prevention and stigma.

CDNF

Location: Pakistan

An HIV/AIDS helpline will be set up to provide information and counselling to those who ring for advice. A confidential service, the phone line will also refer people to face-to-face counselling, VCT, ART centres, STI clinics, and drop-in centres. Staff will go to specific areas such as brothels and prisons to let people at high-risk know about the service.

BALUTI

Location: Philippines

BALUTI will expand its successful peer education program, reaching 10,000 students. It will also carry out voluntary counselling and testing for HIV and hold a ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest on World AIDS Day.

IFMSA

Location: Poland

This project targets young people who go out to parties and have one-night stands. With trams the most popular means of transport, safe-sex stands will be set up to give people information and condoms en-route to clubs. Safe-sex stands will also be set up in tram stops, clubs, shopping malls and cinemas. Safe sex parties will be held in ice rinks and there will be street games. 3000 teenagers will be trained on peer education (1000 university students, 1000 people at parties, and 1000 in cinemas).  Overall, 6000 people will be reached.

Otrazheniye

Location: Russia

Otrazheniye wants to develop its project over the next 3 years by creating clubs of the organisation in colleges and high schools. They will organise a yearly 'Training of Trainers' for 120 students that are part of the branches; set up 4 college or high school clubs; have the clubs conduct 45 trainings on HIV/AIDS for students; distribute posters and educational materials; train 60 new volunteers for the organisation who will do train 200 students; and organise screenings and 3 community events every year.

whycantwegetmarried.com

Location: Sierra Leone

This project aims to give 400 LGBT free access to VCT and condoms, and train 100 LGBT in peer education. It will also carry out media sensitisation campaigns through TV, radio and brochures, and will lobby government about the discrimination of LGBT in sexual health.

Snapshot Mobile Cinema

Location: South Africa

This year, Snapshot Mobile Cinema will focus on educating disabled people about HIV. Moving away from the film projects of the past two years, Snapshot will help develop HIV training and resource materials that address the needs of blind and partially sighted persons, and adapt these into accessible formats for visually impaired persons, i.e. Braille, large print and audio.

Elizabeth Youth Group

Location: Tanzania

This organisation plans to expand its project of reaching young women in transactional sex, and the wider community with HIV information. EYG’s artists (who used to be transactional sex workers and substance abusers) will carry out drama plays, dancing, singing, and rapping to pass on messages about HIV prevention. All performances are based on the real life experiences of members of the group and of the centre. Documentaries will also be shown.

Youth Aid Uganda

Location: Uganda

Youth AID will develop its current project which is aimed at university students at Makerere University. They will conduct seminars on condom use for 90 hostel and student resident leaders; install 7 new condom outlets in 2 university campuses; conduct a student forum; train 60 student leaders on the link between alcohol and unsafe sex; produce educational posters; establish 3 Youth AID clubs at 3 other universities; organise faithfulness and abstinence campaigns; produce 200 quarterly newsletters; conduct 3 seminars on HIV at 2 university campuses; and organise 3 music, dance and drama shows.

Youth Empowerment Initiative

Location: Uganda

As part of their three year grant, YEI will hold HIV discussions with truck drivers and taxi drivers, hold 9 community discussions in the three major market areas,  hold 12 focus discussions with teachers and student leaders in the 12 secondary schools, and advocate against cross-generational and transactional sex through radio and drama.

Body and Soul

Location: UK

Animated films will be produced by young people infected or affected by HIV. These films are based on books that have already been produced about stigma and discrimination. 60 youth between 13 and 19 will produce the films which will be shown in secondary schools, clinics, and selected websites.

Athletes United for Social Justice

Location: USA

Athletes United wants to build on the success of the past 12 months by expanding their project in which they use sport to raise awareness on HIV.  Over the next 3 years they will train an additional 90 college athletes to become coaches able to deliver the 'grassroots soccer' curriculum to 900 students in total.

School Tour Team

Location: Vietnam

The School Tour Team would like to expand their Dance4Life project to additional schools and also focus more on the Act4Life component of the project which focuses on young people becoming 'agents of change'. They plan to organise 32 workshops in 16 high schools; organise art and dance competitions; facilitate online forum discussions; and organise fun fairs in schools.

Youth Dream Club

Location: Vietnam

The Youth Dream Club will develop its project based on contacting young gay men through online chat rooms. They will train 10 Youth Dream Club members as peer educators; give 20 peer educators advanced training on communications skills; reach out daily to young gay men online; create educational leaflets on HIV prevention and stigma; organise monthly in-person meetings with people contacted online; organise a performance on stigma; organise exchange events between students of 10 universities; and refer gay men to friendly health services.