HIV Education & Life Skills

ACE believes that it is the children of the community that are the primary agents of change.

The Child to Child (CtC) HIV/AIDS programme aims to empower children to address HIV/AIDS issues, and equips them with essential life skills. Teachers and Head teachers in primary schools have been trained by ACE in CtC and have set up 60 CtC clubs with over 3,000 members. In the six step CtC methodology, club members identify problems in their community, come up with and implement solutions and then evaluate the successes of their initiatives.

CtC club members utilise public forums such as community meetings to teach people about HIV/AIDS through song, poetry and drama. In a context where children are discouraged from voicing their opinions and HIV/AIDS is a taboo topic, CtC club members are at the forefront of promoting behaviour change and reducing stigma.

Club members promote good hygiene through the use of homemade leaky tins and dish racks at school, and advocate for their use within their communities.

Through ACE Agricultural and Nutrition training the clubs have established school kitchen gardens.

Reaching out to those that are vulnerable in their community is of great importance in the CtC club ideology. Club members visit PLWA and OVC, often the most stigmatised by the rest of the community, and help with household errands, provide food and most importantly offer them support.