One of our current projects receiving funding from Grants for Ministries with Young People is a project in Burundi. Burundi is pretty central on the continent of Africa. You will find it directly below Rwanda on a map – it’s always a good time for a geography lesson! The project funded is title Workshop on Sensitization of Young People in Fighting Against HIV/AIDS. We’ve received updates from the project coordinators on how the workshop went. Many of the participants gave testimonies about what they learned about HIV/AIDS and the victims of it. There was even a member of the parliament of Burundi that came as one of the facilitators. He is the chairperson of the parliamentary group in charge of the HIV/AIDS program. Through this program, they became aware of the GREAT need of workshops in other districts. They are now working to raise more funds for additional trainings. Some of the goals set for this workshop training were: To know all the causes of HIV/AIDS within 3 days of the workshop; to motivate the participants to share information with at least 10 persons in their community within 3 months; to bring hope to victims of HIV/AIDS who have lost hope and to break cultural barriers which discourage people to talk openly about the issues. I have attached a few testimonies from the conference. There were able to train 100 people on the causes of HIV/AIDS and ways to teach others about how to change attitudes and behaviors. They hope to one day be able to hold a 5 day workshop because there is so much more information. The ages of the youth involved in the training either on the planning side or as participants ranged from 14-28 years old. Remember, in some countries, you are considered a youth until about 30 years old; sometimes 35.
I encourage you to read the testimonies attached. This is a United Methodist Church doing incredible things. If your church is doing something you want to share, let us know or go ahead an write a post and send it to me (youngpeople@gbod.org). I would love to post your story on how your church is making a difference in your community or in your life!
Progress report 2 Sensitization testimony
