RESTLESS DEVELOPMENT VOLUNTEER PEER EDUCATORS WINDS UP

RESTLESS Development Tanzania’s Ruvuma Regional Programmes Office (RPO), an international charitable organization, formally known as Students Partnership Worldwide (SPW Tanzania), has winds its activities for 2009/2010 on 29th September,2010 after working in 15 wards of Ruvuma region delivering life serving education focusing on HIV/AIDS education, livelihood education to in and out of school youth.

According to Ruvuma Region Programme Coordinator (PC), Alpha Mukama, the charitable organization has placed a total number of 33 volunteer peer educators (VPEs) in 3 districts of Mbinga, Namtumbo and Tunduru, to support the region on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Life Skills (LS) education and campaign. 

Ruvuma RPO was launched this year in May by the then Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania Honorable Staffan Herrstorm. The launching of the programme in Ruvuma was a well come news to the regional government which is struggling to term schools girl’s pregnancies and other SRH related problems facing young people.

According to statistics mentioned during the launching of the programme by acting RC Last year about 400 schools girls dropped out schools due to pregnancy related problems.

Alpha named the wards and districts in brackets covered by VPEs as Mkumbi, Maguu, Ruanda, Liparamba and Mbambabay (Mbinga), Msindo, Namabengo, Namtumbo, Mgombasi and Luchili (Namtumbo) and Matemanga, Mtina, Ligoma, Nakapanya and Mchoteka (Tunduru).

During their (VPEs) time in placements, according to the Ruvuma PC the VPEs have been able to implement the following activities; capacity building to community members to enable them continue implementing activities during and after Restless Development phases out in the wards, support, identification and formulation of Community Action Group (CAGs) in respective wards. CAG a group formed by out of school youth to aid development initiatives in their communities.

VPEs Alpha said, have also been to form Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Gender clubs in all the wards they have worked, the clubs help to beef up the fight against HIV and also aid in education and campaigns against various issues affecting young people, in the 75 schools VPEs have worked they have formed clubs as well and worked hand in hand with school counselors to implement the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) 2004 Guideline on HIV/AIDS and Life Skills Education in schools by installing and training class room peer educators in standard 5-7 in primary schools and form 1-4 in secondary schools.

“We have supported training of 273 classroom peer educators in 75 schools of which 141 (69 female and 68 male) from primary schools and 132 (66 female and 66 male) from secondary schools,” Alpha said.

To ensure synergy according to Alpha the VPEs have assisted in identification of potential partners ranging from government departments and civil societies (SCOs) and community based organizations (CBOs).

Initial feedback from stakeholders is that there is a big likelihood of drop in pregnancies in the districts Restless Development is working following SRH and Life Skills education being implemented by the charity.