We do this through:
- Educating young people through our Esteem programme
- Sharing our expertise on these issues through delivering Esteem training and providing resources to those who work with young people and communities, including youth workers, teachers and health practitioners
- Providing support to parents on how to talk to their children about relationships and sex
- Training and mobilising churches to facilitate conversations around relationships and sex
- Working with and training international partners who share our vision and mission and who are committed to mobilising the church to promote healthy relationships, improve sexual health and respond to the HIV pandemic
- Providing a channel for donors to support the work of our international partners in delivering education and training, and care for those whose lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS
Why we do what we do
Our heart for young people
Young people are growing up in a world where the meaning of sex is often diluted, porn is accessible at a click of a button, and where there can be an underlying message that relationships don’t really have to be good as long as they look good.
There is a lot of pressure to look a certain way and behave in a certain way and this can have a deep impact on how young people view themselves and how they make decisions.
Various research, including our own, demonstrates that young people are in need of support to navigate through these issues and that they want trustworthy, relatable and trained people to deliver their relationships and sex education in a way that engages and inspires them.
Instead of traditional solutions that merely address the biology behind sex, we and our international partners, and the people we train, offer relationships and sex education that invests in the development of young people’s self-esteem and attitudes, encouraging them to value other people and value sex.
Why we do what we do
The HIV landscape
We began in the 1980s as a compassionate response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The HIV landscape, has of course, changed considerably since then. There have been substantial advances in antiretroviral treatment and vast improvements in the accessibility of the medication.
However, stigma and discrimination are still present, in many countries not everyone who needs the treatment has access to it and HIV still has a significant impact on the lives of millions of adults and children across the world. Therefore, helping to facilitate the delivery of HIV prevention, care and support programmes in a number of key communities continues to be a priority for us.
