Tanzania: Health Education Program

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• Click here to visit the SPW Tanzania website: www.spwtz.org

Tanzania has one of the highest national HIV and AIDS prevalence rates in the world. As the largest country in East Africa, it bears a large share of the global epidemic. The estimated HIV prevalence rate is 8.1% among adults aged 15-49 years. 60% of new infections occur among youth aged 15-24 years.

Volunteers are…



• Placed in single-sex pairs (1 national, 1 international)
• Based in secondary schools in rural communities of the Iringa Region
• Close to at least one other school (the closest being only a 15 minute walk away) but vary in their proximity to the SPW office and nearby towns

Volunteers will be…



• Teaching non-formal timetabled health and social education modules
• Developing life skills the students will need out of school
• Empowering young people, particularly girls
• Facilitating a range of extra-curricular activities after school (e.g. sports, music, drama, art, newspaper and debate clubs)
• Raising awareness of health and social issues relevant to youth in schools and in the wider community
• Teaching in nearby primary schools
• Organizing activities to raise awareness of health issues for in- and out-of-school youth (e.g. high-profile festivals with performing arts competitions on health-related themes, inter-school events, community sports leagues and seminars, training for teachers, and educational trips to hospitals and local HIV testing centers)
• Establishing a resource center in the school to provide youth-friendly publications and offer confidential advice and informal counseling

Case Study– Makambako Community Football League




Makambako is a rapidly growing ‘truck-stop’ community, located on the junction of two major roads. Consequently it also has rapidly increasing HIV and STI infection rates. With this in mind, the volunteers coordinated an STI awareness campaign, with a special emphasis on ‘Youth and HIV and AIDS’ to run alongside a 3-week football league for 8 different youth and community teams in and around Makambako town. The Makambako League involved seminars and lectures about HIV and AIDS from health workers and experts before each match and at halftime. With at least 800 people attending each match, the campaign was able to reach a phenomenal number of Makambako residents. Using football as a medium to attract people proved very successful. At the final of the football league, a staggering 3000 people attended the match!

Staff Support:



• Main office in Iringa, additional offices in Mbeya, Njombe and Dar
• Volunteers receive two scheduled visits from SPW staff at appropriate times during the course of the program
• Extra visits are made as necessary, e.g. to resolve problems or to give help and advice to volunteers
• Communication varies greatly between placements

Country Information




Background: Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa, with borders on 8 countries, 3 lakes and the Indian Ocean. It includes Africa’s highest mountain (Mount Kilimanjaro), the Great Rift Valley, the exotic island of Zanzibar, the arid plains of Dodoma and the lush hills of the Southern Highlands. Tanzania is home to more than 100 indigenous tribes, mainly of Bantu origin.

Language: Swahili and English are official languages, though many indigenous languages are spoken

Religion: About 40% of the population is Christian, 35% is Muslim, and the remainder follow indigenous beliefs

Food:



• Staple - maize meal porridge, known as ugali, and rice
• Meat - bananas are used in meat stews as well as with fish and poultry
• Vegetarianism - accepted easily; feast on soups, eggs and vegetarian curry dishes, usually involving coconut milk and/or banana
• Other - local liquor is a lethal white-rum-style concoction called konyagi.

“Truly, I’ve never known an NGO like this, who has the approach of going straight to the villagers and living with them in this difficult environment. I would like to say ‘SPW, we need money,’ but this is not a solution. SPW, do your best to give us knowledge like this, which will endure.” ~Ibrahim Chang'a, Villager, Kiwere