“Why Wait” is an advocacy project to prevent young people in Rwanda from AIDS. Teaching teachers and students about AIDS, helping them to understand how to prevent infection and that a pure life based on faith and trust can help to curb the spread is a community based approach used by the “Why wait” approach. Community-based responses to HIV can result in positive health outcomes and improved quality of life for individuals and communities at large. During youth camps young people are encouraged to participate in accountable and trustful peer relationships.
WHY WAIT? Because I am SPECIAL and worth waiting for!
WHY WAIT? is a life skills curriculum that gives youth sensible reasons to abstain from sex so they can make healthy moral choices regarding their future! Truths and values such as “Human dignity”, “Family reflects the image of God”, “Love provides and protects”, “Human responsibility”, “Servant leadership”, etc. guide the curriculum. WHY WAIT? is built on meeting the human needs for security (a sense of belonging) and significance (a sense that one’s life has meaning, that one is able to contribute). The primary/secondary curriculum is divided into an eight-year program for ages 10 to 18. Rwanda has a sad history of genocide leaving many orphans behind as well as people infected with HIV. Teenage pregnancies are also a big challenge in Rwanda. This program is a good tool to help youth make good life choices. A 4-day teacher training is given to prepare teachers to use the lesson plans and teach the lessons to their students.
(This curriculum is developed by Sub-Saharan Africa Family Enrichment (SAFE) – www.WHYWAITAfrica.com)
