FHI - Namibia Youth Program

The Programs

A central component of the FHI Namibia program is the mitigation of the impact of HIV and AIDS on youth. FHI Namibia mitigates the impact by building the capacity of local institutions to provide youth-friendly comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support services through schools, churches, youth clubs and youth-friendly centers. The program targets in- and out-of-school youth with the primary aim of building young people's capacity to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS and to cope with the impacts of HIV/AIDS. FHI currently supports the following initiatives targeting youth:

'The Namibian YouthPaper'

At national level the FHI Youth Program has supported the "Reproductive Health" page in The Namibian YouthPaper since the supplement's inception in March 2001. The YouthPaper is published and distributed as a weekly insert in The Namibian, the only English daily newspaper in the country. Multiple copies of the YouthPaper are also distributed to over 520 schools countrywide, reaching over one third of all schools in Namibia.

The YouthPaper provides information on employment, continuing education, social, cultural and sports events, and health and other social issues. It runs periodic writing and poetry contests with prizes for the best entries. Regarding HIV-related issues the FHI program sponsored two YouthPaper essay contests and published the winning entries in two booklets, the first titled Caring for People Living with HIV and AIDS: Essays by Young Namibians and the second titled How to care for our OVC. The latter was launched at the Second National Conference on OVC in 2002.

For information on the YouthPaper email info@namibian.com.na or see http://www.namibian.com.na

"Feeling Yes, Feeling No"

This is a participatory program for schoolchildren being implemented by Lifeline/Childline in Namibian schools, focusing on improving children's verbal communication skills in interacting with peers and adults, and on teaching children how to express their feelings about sexual abuse and domestic violence, drugs and HIV/AIDS.

The Lifeline/Childline program started in Namibian schools in 1998 with support from the European Union and Standard Bank Namibia. Since February 2002, FHI support has enabled the program to expand to 8 regions of the country. The focus of the FHI-supported program is to reach all schools in the Khomas, Erongo and Oshana regions. Currently the program reaches over 95% of all third graders in the Khomas Region. A film in support of this program is regularly aired on national TV during school holidays. A copy of the film: "Feeling Yes, Feeling No" can be obtained from Lifeline/Childline.

The "Feeling Yes, Feeling No" aims to improve children's verbal communication skills through participatory drama and role-playing of their YES and NO feelings so as to enable them to verbalize their feelings in a convincing way in their interaction with adults and peers. The program also teaches children about sexual abuse and how to prevent it, and aims to give children the skills to respond to unwanted sexual approaches, whether from their peers or adults. It teaches children about sexuality and HIV/AIDS before they become sexually active with a view to encouraging them to delay the first act of intercourse. In support of the program, Lifeline developed a set of 8 collector cards, each with a different message. Eight messages focusing on human rights, and safety and protection of one's body, such as: "Everybody has the right to say no, including you", were produced as small collector's cards like baseball cards, and children are encouraged to collect the complete set by swapping cards with their friends and school mates. Cards are available at schools and libraries and are given out as rewards.

In support of the program lay counselors and school teachers are trained to recognize abused children and to provide them with initial support and counseling and referral to specialized counselors and child protection services as needed.

Walvis Bay Multipurpose Center

The Walvis Bay Multipurpose Center built by the US Department of Defense and managed by FHI with USAID funding, opened in July 2001. It provides a youth-friendly atmosphere and access for young people to a variety of social services, and to education and training in a range of fields through interactive and participatory activities supervised by full-time professional and volunteer staff.

The center runs computer classes for young people, and provides training in health outreach, peer education and participatory drama. It also provides life skills and environmental education, and runs a gardening project. Trained youth are now employed in the MPC workplace program, school outreach and computer training programs. Others have found gainful employment in local industries and AIDS service organizations. The training at the center is supported by the US Peace Corps through the provision of Peace Corps and Crisis Corps volunteers. Various church and faith-based and non-governmental groups run activities at the center.

Participatory drama and cultural performances by and for youth focusing on life skills and healthy lifestyles provide information through fun and entertainment. The school holiday program attracts young people during school holidays and provides young learners with a safe and youth-friendly place to spend their holiday. With additional support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation the in-school program has greatly expanded the outreach to youth, with programs in each school in the Walvis Bay District.

The WB MPC provides office space for NGOs providing social and health services, including Catholic AIDS Action (OVC, counseling and home-based care) whose services complement the WB MPC activities. WBMPC volunteers are working with the Social Marketing Association of Namibia to conduct HIV prevention outreach work at night at pubs and shebeens (informal pubs) in the port city of Walvis Bay.

The center is the seat of the Walvis Bay District AIDS Committee and the meeting place of the support group for people living with HIV/AIDS. In a recent workshop on the local authority response to HIV/AIDS a senior official of the Walvis Bay Municipality described the Walvis Bay MPC as being "the heartbeat" of the Municipality's external (community) program of response to HIV/AIDS. For more information on the Centre and its activities, please go to

The newest addition to the WBMPC is the New Start Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center co-funded by the EU and USAID, through their respective implementing partners, FHI and PSI.

Sam Nujoma Multipurpose Center

On 11 April 2003 the Ongwediva community in far northwestern Namibia celebrated the launch of this community development project aimed at improving the quality of life of people in the area. The Sam Nujoma Multipurpose Center in Ongwediva, dedicated to President Sam Nujoma for his commitment to the development of the Namibian people, was officially opened by His Excellency the President at a special ceremony attended by dignitaries including US Ambassador Kevin McGuire, Namibian government ministers, regional and local government officials, and NGO, business, donor and community representatives.

The Ongwediva Town Council built the Sam Nujoma MPC in 2002 with assistance from Ongwediva's two sister towns of Lommel and Ardooie in Belgium. Additional funding was received from USAID and Oshana Connect to furnish the library, main hall and computer center. The MPC is governed by a multisectoral steering committee, of which both USAID and FHI are members. As a result of the HIV/AIDS impact assessment of five cities conducted with FHI/USAID support(see full story), the Oshana regional government and the community recognized the need to empower the people of Ongwediva to meet their educational, social, health and development needs. Through a consensus-building workshop organized by USAID Namibia with the community and other stakeholders, the Ongwediva Town Council developed a variety of programs and community services including youth programs, OVC and HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support programs. The US Peace Corps has assigned Crisis Corps Volunteers to assist with the training and FHI is providing technical and financial support to build the capacity of the MPC to empower the Ongwediva community by providing quality reproductive health education and social support programs to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the community. The MPC Coordinator is a staff member of the Ongwediva Town Council.

Ombetja Yehinga (Red Ribbon) Program

Since late 2002, FHI has supported the Ombetja Yehinga Program, an HIV/AIDS awareness initiative operating in the Kunene and Erongo Regions in coastal and northwestern Namibia. With FHI funding the program has expanded its outreach into the Erongo Region. The program is aimed at reaching school-going youth through a participatory process with teachers and learners in the education system and with HIV/AIDS Clubs.

As part of the program in the Kunene Region student members of the HIV/AIDS clubs wrote songs, dramas and poems about HIV/AIDS to reach young people, and developed and participated in a series of role-playing exercises for youth. Many of their productions were staged in their own region and in the capital city of Windhoek. Flowing from these endeavors was the idea to produce short video clips on HIV/AIDS using the students as the actors. Each of the final five video clips, collectively titled Love Can Cry, addresses a different aspect of HIV/AIDS in Namibia, highlighting the options available to young people for self-protection, abstinence and delay of sexual debut and the role youth can play in raising HIV/AIDS awareness within their own community, the tragedy of suicide and the pain of losing parents to the disease. The combined film was very well received and successful in Namibia, and was one of 20 films selected from 270 for screening at the Festival Panafricain du Cine et de la Television de Ouagadougou (FESPACO). With additional support from FHI/USAID one of the young actresses represented Namibia at the festival The film will be used in schools as a discussion topic and will be distributed along with a teacher's guide. (For additional information, go to the Communication Initiative website.)

Namibia YouthNet Program

YouthNet is one of FHI newer programs to be implemented in Namibia. The Namibian YouthNet Program focuses on reaching younger youth (8-16) through churches, parents and church-affiliated youth groups. It aims to reach youth before they become sexually active. To implement the initiative YouthNet has partnered with Change of Life Styles, a Namibian faith-affiliated NGO based in Windhoek, to Strengthen the capacity of churches and FBOs to support activities that focus on enhancing the RH and HIV prevention knowledge and negotiation skills of youth through development/adaptation of a two-tiered Christian family life education (CFLE) curriculum for the purpose of delaying the onset of sexual debut. Support church and FBO efforts to delay sexual debut and improve youth RH and HIV prevention through development of a multimedia campaign addressing parents and different segments of the targeted youth population. Share lessons learned from the CFLE and multimedia campaign activities with the broader youth, RH, HIV prevention and development community.

The initial activity began with an assessment using the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methodology to obtain perspectives of youth, religious leaders, and parents on the reproductive health (RH) and HIV prevention needs of young people. The participatory process involved in-depth training for 59 youth selected from churches, faith-based organizations, youth councils and youth centers from Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Six hundred youth aged 8-16 years were part of the participatory process. The findings from the participatory process were shared by the youth at a half-day workshop with forty-nine stakeholders representing government sectors, churches, faith-based organizations and non-governmental organizations including youth groups. The tools youth used included, among others, "body mapping", "problem ranking", and "my universe." During "body mapping", participating youth drew representations of the human body. The drawing of "my universe" included their families, friends and communities, which helped them view sexual and reproductive health issues on multiple levels from individual to a broader context. When asked to identify the individuals in their universe they could talk to about sex, many couldn't identify a reliable person. Some said they were too young to discuss sex, but others identified their friends first, their brothers and sisters in second, and some mentioned their parents, especially those kids who trusted one of their parents. Some boys and girls expressed that they were scared to bring up sex as a topic for discussion with their parents for fear of being punished.

Findings from the PLA were being used in the adaptation of the CFLE curriculum, which has been pilot-tested in three churches, and training of youth has started.

Visit the YouthNet Namibia home page