Integration of Sara Communication Initiative in Kenya Girl Guides Association's HIVAIDS Prevention P

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Integration of Sara Communication Initiative in
Kenya Girl Guides Association's HIV/AIDS
Prevention Program

• Honorine Kiplagat, Margaret Mwaniki (KGGA),
• Charity Muturi, Stephen Mucheke,
• John McWilliam (Family Health International)

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Sara Communication Initiative

• Conceived in 1994 by UNICEF to provide media
  resources and develop facilitation skills for
  working with adolescents on HIV/AIDS-related
  issues in the Africa Region.

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Underlying Principles

• Entertainment education using comic book
  characters and
• animated film to communicate messages
• Interactive communication on socially
  sensitive issues affecting
• young girls, primarily
• Careful formative research for the formulation
  of the Sara
• concept 14 African countries over five years,
  10,000 people
• including youth involved in interviews/ focus
  group discussions
• to evolve concepts, characters, names, themes,
  storylines, and
• visual images of Sara

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African Countries using Sara

• formative research countries
• SourceUNICEF

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Sara Comic The Empty Compound

• Sara's cousin has died, leaving his young wife,
• Sofia, and their baby son. Although Uncle says
• his son died of cancer, everyone knows he died
• of AIDS. Then Uncle starts blaming Sofia for his
• son's death and banishes her from his compound.
• Sara is pleased when Sofia comes to stay with
• her family but whenever Sara and Sofia go out
• together people whisper and point at them.
• Some even call Sofia a witch. Sara and her family
  
• show how and why it is necessary to confront
• prejudice and acknowledge the realities of AIDS.

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Sara Comic The Trap

• Mr Mbuta, the shopkeeper and local "sugar
• daddy", tries to trick Sara into becoming yet
• another of his "girlfriends". Sara's mother is
• away and so Sara cannot turn to her for help.
• Then her grandmother tells a story about men
• who turn into monsters. Sara realizes she has
• to take decisive action against Mr. Mbuta and
• the potential diseases he is spreading. With
• some quick thinking and help from her
• friends, Sara turns Mr Mbuta's trick around.

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Sara Comic Choices

• Sara really likes Musa and Musa is more
• than a little attracted to her. But it seems that
  
• most boys are only interested in sex being
• friends is not enough. And the more girls they
• sleep with, the more boys feel they can prove
• that they are "men". Sara wants to wait. As her
• teacher say, why throw away your education
• and your future just to please a boy? Then
• Sara's friend Tamala falls pregnant, and the
• boy responsible is somebody Sara may know....

• And Other Life Skills Stories
• Daughter Of A Lioness
• The Thief
• Sara Saves A Friend
• Special Gift

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Kenya Girl Guides Association IMPACT Program in
Kenya

• 7 day TOT course for teachers/guide leaders in
  life
• skills curriculum
• Trainers impart skills to Girl Guide patrol
  leaders and
• provide supportive supervision
• Patrol leaders use life skills curriculum to
  train Girl
• Guide peer educators
• Peer educators do outreaches in school and
  community

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KGGA's Peer Education Materials

• Life skills curriculum stressing abstinence
• Handbook for Guides to earn AIDS badges
• 'Talking Points' to stimulate discussion of
• peer education sessions
• HIV/AIDS badges

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Achievements of Peer Education Program

• Over 1400 head teachers sensitized on
• HIV/AIDS
• Over 5500 in-school peer
• educators trained
• Over 350,000 girls reached through
• in-school- youth peer education
• between October 2003 and Todate

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Integration of Sara into Peer Education Program

• Fits within KGGA's
• value-based program
• Provides new role
• model for girl guides
• Supplements life
• skills manual with
• 'living' examples of
• making the right choices
• Stresses abstinence and delay
• of first sexual encounter

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Integration Strategy
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Guide Activities

• After reading Sara stories, Guides share
  comics with other
• students in school
• Poems, skits, songs and public speeches are
  made up and
• recited in schools based on stories
• Guides invited to community gatherings to
  recite/ act Sara
• conceived materials
• Schools are put in clusters of five each and
  Guides invited to join
• in debates, produce dramas or watch videos of
  Sara stories
• Competitions among Guides to present the best
  Sara
• conceived story

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Benchmarks of Sara Initiative in Kenya

• 900 teachers oriented
• 50 guide leader coordinators trained
• 875 guide leaders trained
• 80,000 pupils reached
• by Sara program
• 1,500 girls earn
• Sara badges

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Results of Sara so far

• 800 schools have been reached
• through the Sara Communication
• Initiative
• 43,200 copies of Sara comics have
• been distributed to schools

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Lessons Learned

• Girl Guide program is the largest girl child
  program in Kenya
• (and Africa) and can use its already existing
  patrol structure
• for HIV education.
• Sara materials adapted to African context by
  design and are
• already printed and available No development
  costs.
• Materials supplement existing peer education and
  classroom
• reading in schools. One comic is read by multiple
  pupils. Videos
• serve whole classes.

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• The Kenya Girl Guides/ IMPACT Project is funded
  through The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
  Relief through United States Agency for
• International Development managed by Family
  Health International
• Through Cooperative agreement
• No. HRN-A-OO-97-00017-00