Youth in Action

Youth in Action is the newest program implemented by Women in Action. This program is used to teach students in three schools in Arusha and three schools in Babati about lifeskills, youth empowerment, HIV/AIDS, gender based violence and the consequences of female genital mutilation. This program is especially important because these topics are not covered in most school curriculums, so this is the only opportunity for most students to learn about these important issues.

WIA will train five students as peer educators in each school who will organize Youth in Action groups for their school. In addition, one teacher will be chosen in each school to oversee the organization and implementation of these groups. These groups will learn about the aforementioned issues and will conduct debates about the topics they find to be most important. These groups will offer a safe place for these students to discuss issues in their own lives and become more aware of their rights. Many school age children face many issues including rape, violence and discrimination based on gender, so WIA would like to improve these conditions by learning about the children they serve.

In addition, these groups will also take part in improving the environment by learning about environmental issues and planting and caring for trees in their area. Women in Action intends to use these groups to further improve their educational programs. They will listen to the needs of the youth members and tailor their programs to those needs in the future. In the future, WIA intends to develop an exchange program between the peer educators in Babati and Arusha in order to encourage the sharing of ideas between youth in both areas. Women in Action’s vision for the future of this program includes expanding the exchange to include the peer educators of Youth in Action groups in Uganda as well as Babati and Arusha.