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COTONOU, Benin, March 23, 2005 — Project Panther, a far-reaching peer education program for out-of-school youth now in its fourth year, has touched the lives of more than 100,000 young people with its HIV/AIDS educational outreach. Project Panther is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Peace Corps and PSI with financial support from USAID. The program trains out-of-school youth to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention activities in towns and villages in Benin, where over 16,000 people are infected with HIV each year. Research has shown that young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 not enrolled in school are one of the more at-risk groups. Project Panther was devised as a way to reach these populations using proven peer education techniques. Each year, Project Panther recruits 12-15 Peace Corps volunteers. Each volunteer, in turn, recruits a community leader and two out-of-school youth volunteers to form a team that spends the next 12 months working in their communities, educating peers about HIV/AIDS and promoting abstinence, fidelity, partner reduction and consistent and correct condom use for those who are sexually active. Twenty-one-year-old Imorou Zorobouragidi is from the far northwest corner of Benin where he earns a living by collecting rent on a small parcel of land. Kamal Moussa Toure and Robertine Sounon, both 18, dropped out of school in their early teens to work and support their families. Four years ago, these three young men, acting on their common desire to protect their friends and community from HIV/AIDS, were brought together by Peace Corps Volunteer Kevin Mackey to form a Project Panther HIV/AIDS prevention team. Imorou, Kamal, Robertine and Kevin's involvement with Project Panther began with a three-day workshop organized by PSI and Peace Corps, during which they learned about HIV/AIDS, studied communication and social mobilization techniques, listened to emotional accounts from HIV positive individuals and practiced innovative ways to spread information about HIV/AIDS to their peers along with 14 other teams from different parts of Benin. "It was wonderful to see these individuals, who started off very timid, find their voices toward the end," recalled Kevin. And find their voices they did. Fifteen Project Panther teams from
around the country, using a combination of radio shows, basic educational
activities, demonstrations, mini-workshops, music, and dance reach more
than 20,000 of their fellow Beninese each year. In its wake, Project Panther leaves behind not only those who have benefited from these behavior change campaigns, but also a cadre of out-of-school youth who are able to become important members of their community, gain the confidence of their peers and become leaders. At the end of their 12-month involvement, if all has gone well, the project pays for technical training of these peer educators (computer classes, auto mechanic training, secretary school). Some of the peer educators PSI has worked with have continued similar activities in collaboration with local organizations and health services. Imorou, Kamal, Robertine now live in Kandi and continue to implement HIV/AIDS behavior change communication activities with other organizations. — Jim Malster, PSI/Benin and Marie-Laure PSI/Washington
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