AHAPPY

AJAN has just launched its AJAN HIV&AIDS Prevention Programme for Youth (AHAPPY). Twenty-five Jesuits and co-workers involved in HIV prevention attended an AJAN workshop in Nairobi from 15 to 19 June 2012 to receive “training for trainers” in AHAPPY, which is a unique education package created by AJAN for Jesuit schools and other educational institutions in Africa. The participants came from eight countries, including seven that will be part of the AHAPPY pilot project. One of the participants, Time Baluwa of the Jesuit AIDS Project in Zimbabwe, reflects on the workshop:

There are many reasons why the AHAPPY programme is a masterpiece but this reflection dwells on just five. First, its unique ability to go beyond prevention and to touch on integral youth development, embracing psychological, spiritual, social and physical aspects. AHAPPY is not just a response to the pandemic but a response to social and moral degradation in our communities.

The second reason why AHAPPY will be relevant to young people is its architecture. It has been designed in the belief that young people are active agents of their own formation. They were profoundly involved in the development of the programme, which emerged from the substantial collection of experiences gathered from over 20 Jesuit initiatives on HIV prevention in Africa and Madagascar. There is a big difference when people respond to a programme because it has been made for them and when people contribute to a programme because they have made it and feel it is theirs.

The third reason why young people will embrace AHAPPY is its ability to respond to contemporary culture. AHAPPY recognizes behaviour trends among young people, their attitudes, beliefs and perceptions. Tapping into the culture of young people, AHAPPY finds a way of bringing out the Magis (excellence) in what they do. During the workshop, facilitators and trainers emphasised the importance of assessing the contextual environment so that the programme will be implemented in response to the “signs of the times”.

The fourth reason why AHAPPY will be successful is its emphasis on experience. Young people learn more from doing than from reading or listening. There is an old saying: “If you tell me, I will forget, if you show me, I may remember but if you engage me, I will not forget”. AHAPPY will create opportunities for young people to be engaged in formative experiences such as visits to hospitals, where they may volunteer to help, visits to homes for the elderly and nursing homes, and clean up campaigns. The experiences they go through will enable them to reflect and, in so doing, inform their actions (experience, reflection and action).

The fifth reason is life-skills, the essential abilities that young people need to maneuver in their context: communication, assertiveness, negotiation, decision-making and stress management. All the participants showed appreciation for the work being done by AJAN House in compiling, consolidating and leading the process of designing AHAPPY with its manual and other materials.

(I have written this article for AJAN but I would like to share with you too. Link: http://www.ajanweb.org/ajanweb.org/index.php/component/content/article/31-latest-news/57-ajan-launches-unique-hiv-prevention-programme-for-youth)

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