AHEAD's Teen Action Program (TAP) was established to provide strategies to eliminate the three main factors that fuel the HIV/AIDS crises: poverty, ignorance, and harmful traditional practices.These factors are powerful indicators for the need to develop innovative youth initiatives and programs to educate young people, and guide them towards becoming responsible, productive citizens, while encouraging youth to adopt behaviors that will lead to healthy, wholesome and responsible lives.

TAP is designed to give adolescents and other young people information and skills to help them navigate successfully from youth to adulthood while avoiding negative behaviors that invariable lead to unplanned sexual activities, early pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, school drop-outs, drugs and other mind-altering substances. TAP focuses on helping young people develop life skills in decision making, self-esteem, career development, and goal setting. The primary focus of TAP is "prevention."

A two-pronged approach is utilized that focuses on current and changing values and attitudes towards sexuality and reproduction, proper nutrition and hygiene, education, and participation in community-building activities for youth. Because preadolescents are in the early stages of rapid development physically, socially and mentally, and have a much greater capacity and willingness for accepting new ideas, the focus for this group is on attitude and behavioral development while emphasizing self esteem, gender equity and presonal hygiene.

AHEAD's Health/Skills, Teen Action Programs (TAP)

• Provides life and vocational skills training.
• Provides peer educational and leadership training.
• Conducts youth campaigns for behavioral development and gender equity.
• Focuses on behavioral development for preadolescents.
• Provide Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for youth.

In addition to health education, counseling, education and recreational activities, TAP participants are trained to provide Home Based Care for chronically ill patients. In so doing, they learn empathy and compassion; they understand how people begin to make the transition from active life to near death; they learn that AIDS is a non-compromising disease; and, they learn a most important lession: "HIV/AIDS is a preventable disease." 

During their training, youth participate in community activities to help get the message out about HIV/AIDS prevention and other problems facing the community. They share information with their peers through the use of popular entertainment methods, including drama, music, and poetry. Mass media is used in varying degrees to provide information to the public.

EDUCATION PROGRAM

Education is the key to the TAP. TAP organizers believe that the best contraceptive for adolescent girls is education. Girls face far more constraints than their male peers with regard to access to education and training at all levels. Most often they lack the competitiveness and assertiveness. They are taught from infancy in song by caregivers that they are subservient to boys. Early marriage, pregnancy, customs, beliefs, and social attitudes contribute to the problems girls face. As a result, girls have very limited socio-politico-economic power.

AHEAD believes that education of young girls is basic to their empowerment and improving their social and economic status. It is also the means of attaining equity with males. When girls are educated, they acquire new goals that help them postpone marriage until they are ready. They eat better; take better care of their bodies; and, eventually when they marry, they take better care of their families.

 We must also prepare our boys for manhood: they too need skills and must learn to assume responsibility, respect the opposite sex and acquire skills to prepare them to enter the world of work.

One of AHEAD's key goals is to provide educational opportunities for girls to attend secondary school each year. A committee composed of educators, parents and community leaders recommend girls for scholarships who are orphaned and whose parents are either unable or unwilling to provide financial assistance for them to attend school. The committee also recommend boys who are orphaned and other vulnerable children for scholarships.

Peer Counselors and other AHEAD volunteers provide after-school and Saturday tutoring sessions for students. To date, AHEAD has granted 404 scholarships to students to attend secondary and post-secondary schools.

Kisarawe District Council made an urgent appeal to AHEAD to build dormitories for female students, who must travel far from their homes to attend secondary school and find housing in the village with families unfarmiliar to their relatives. Too often these girls are violated and many fail to complete school because they become pregnant or have other serious problems. AHEAD-Bermuda has responded to this clarion call to build dormitories for secondary school girls. Bermudians raised money to build dormitories and rain-water catchments systems to obtain water so that girls will not have to walk for miles and miles in search of water for drinking, bathing, cleaning and cooking. 

 Northern Virginia Friends of AHEAD sponsored a fundraiser in Reston and presented $6000 towards the dormitory project. 

VOCATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM

AHEAD established its vocational program in 2003, after receiving a grant from USAID to satisfy the following objectives: (1) Improve access, retention and achievement of girls in primary school; (2) prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among adolescents; and (3) prepare females to enter into the world of work. The vocational program provides courses in Horticulture, Electrical Installation/Electronics, Carpentry and Computers. Solar Installation will be added to the curriculum.                

The objectives of vocational program follow:

• to develop life and vocational skills for poverty alleviation;
• to establish small scale industries for apprenticeship and employment;
• to provide training in business management and marketing; and, 
• to increase employment opportunities in rural villages, especially for females.

The establishment of job opportunities in rural communities will help reduce rural-urban migration and enable rural economically disadvantaged adolescents to become productive, more fulfilled and contributing members of their communities.

AHEAD has graduated 288 females and males from the vocation program; at least 50% are gainfully employed, and most have passed the national vocational examination, VETA.