Originally published November 8 2005
African youth founds organization to raise AIDS awareness
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Youth Change Impact (YOCI) was founded by young Chris Zimba in 2002, and the organization aims to raise awareness of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV, among Africa's youth populations.
Zambian youths in communities, schools and colleges face various challenges on how best they can avoid contracting HIV/AIDS.
This calls for appropriate interventions by those concerned, affected and donors alike.
"We realise that abstinence is the best yet the most difficult intervention to implement the fight against AIDS.
"We believe in what we call young heroes to effectively implement the concept of abstinence, these are young people who have lived the talk and have managed to abstain as opposed to those who practice rhetoric and empty pronouncements.
We endeavour to deal with the problem of how to abstain," Zimba said.
The organisation has a school and communities outreach programme and has been actively engaged in capacity building and training of peer educators and is seeking to establish rehabilitation centres.
The organisation has received funding from Community Response to AIDS (CRAIDS) programme in Zambia to boost its schools and community outreach programme.
Though YOCI is happy and rejuvenated by this gesture Mr Zimba registered displeasure with some donors who have previously turned down the organisation�s proposals adding that their methods of selecting projects to fund is not good.
"A sad development about donors is that they do not provide funds for administration, they emphasise so much on volunteerism on the part of NGOs.
Because there are no wages for key workers in an organisation they tend to look elsewhere for sustenance hence the AIDS projects tend to suffer.
Zimba said though the fight against HIV/AIDS in Zambia is headed in the right direction a lot remains to be desired especially that donor funds have a lot of conditions tied to them.
"They create a fake impression of the AIDS fight in Zambia when those of us who are effectively working with communities know that the fight against AIDS in Zambia is not even 50 percent won," Zimba said.
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