Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Post | Tags: Africa, AIDS, Cameroon, Cameroun, Camp, Education, HIV, HIV/AIDS Awareness, Peace Corps, Peer Education, Post, Volunteer, West Africa
We Teach: Youth HIV/AIDS Peer Education
Exciting news! We volunteers in the Northwest of Cameroon just had our Regional Project for 2011 approved to seek funding. We’ve been designing and planning the project since September. Now with all the logistical details and content sorted out, all we need is funding! Read about the Peer Education Program.
The Northwest Region of Cameroon has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the country at 8.7%, and it is really important to promote awareness of the situation. We are targeting youth at the most critical ages of 14-18, and will give them the tools to go out and teach & inform their peers. Here’s more on the project:
The “We Teach” Peer Education Program is a collaborative effort of ten volunteers in the northwest region of Cameroon. Twenty students from ten villages will be invited to participate in the program. The program consists of three phases that all have the expressed goal of providing motivated youth with the life skills and knowledge necessary to become education leaders in their communities including their peer groups. Phase 1 of this program is a 3-day, 3-night workshop to be held in the regional capital. The lessons to be conducted during this workshop are as follows; Basic Facts about HIV/AIDS, Peer Education Techniques, Action Planning for Peer to Peer Sessions, Life Skills, Behavior Change and Communication, STD/HIV Prevention, HIV/AIDS Disease Progression and Support, and Culture and Stigma Surrounding HIV/AIDS in the Cameroonian Context. There will also be a day-long practicum in which the students will prepare and present various relevant topics to different groups in specific settings such as Youth Day, Health Clubs, School Gatherings and at the camp itself. Phase 2 of the program will involve each participant carrying out peer-to-peer training sessions in each of their respective villages. All participants will work closely with PCVs to organize and present peer-to-peer education sessions. Phase 3 will be a sustainability follow-up of the participants in their peer educator roles done by each PCV and compiled regionally. The data will be analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
Please try to spread the word about our project, or donate, so that we can help the children! Here you can donate to the Peer Education Program
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Teacher Training, Travel | Tags: Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Education, Excursions, ICT, Information Technology, IT, Peace Corps, Post, Seminar, Teacher Training, Travel, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel
Delivering ICT Seminar in WUM, Northwest Region, Cameroon
A busy time it is, indeed. Just when I felt my responsibilities were waning slightly and I might begin to focus some of my time on preparing to return to the United States, I was given the opportunity to embark on a seminar tour to teacher training colleges in the Northwest. I had designed a program of ICT seminars a while back, and had done a few pilot programs, but had no way to fund the travel and expenses to take it outside of Bamenda. Recently however, my counterpart, the Inspector Coordinator of the Regional Inspectorate of ICT, a very dynamic woman, arranged for the seminar tour including all of the logistics. I was very happy to take the program on the road, and all in all, it’s been going very well.
So far, we have visited the towns of Ndop, Mbengwi, Foundong, Wum, and have more to go, delivering seminars on topics including Researching though ICT and Learning Through ICT. In short, I’m working with the student teachers to improve their ability to utilize Information and Communication Technology in the classroom to enhance the learning of pupils, as well as give techniques for internet research to improve the teaching process.
I’ve enjoyed traveling, as grueling as traveling can be in Cameroon, and have been taking in the new scenery, meeting new people and colleagues, and have been doing good work—so far I’ve reached over 1,000 student teachers!
Presenting to student teachers in Wum, Northwest Region, Cameroon
Year 3 - Volunteering in Cameroon 