1. Global Fund Malaria Project Donor/ Partner: The Global Fund for Malaria, Catholic Relief Services
Country: The Gambia
Timeline: October 2006 – September 2009
NSGA’s Global Fund for
Malaria project focuses on the signs, symptoms and treatments
of malaria using education,
counselling and behavioural change
techniques. Targeted behavioural changes include the regular cleaning of communities,
especially in the rainy season to discourage mosquitoes from breeding, the
proper diagnosis of malaria and then the appropriate, rapid treatment.
This three year project puts into action all of NSGA’s education tools
and strategies for engaging and informing communities in The Gambia. These
are:
1. Peer Heath Education
2. Drama Education
3. Community Video Shows
The project is funded by The Global Fund for Malaria and administered through
Catholic Relief Services (CRS). NSGA works together with CRS to offer comprehensive
malaria interventions across the country. Through partnerships with other organizations,
NSGA aims to avoid duplication of efforts and to best utilize the resources
within the country. 2. Landmine Sensitization and Education Donor: UNICEF
Country: The Gambia
Timeline: November 2007 – December 2008
Landmine education is the Nova
Scotia-Gambia Association’s latest initiative
toward creating an equitable and sustainable future for youth. This project
exemplifies the versatility and effectiveness of our community video shows.
Since November, 2007 staff have been travelling to remote villages along The
Gambia-Senegalese border to educate communities on landmine awareness. The
Cassamance region in Senegal lies along The Gambia’s southwest border.
Intermittent conflict in this region over the past twenty years has left many
landmines planted in fields on both sides of the border. Funded by UNICEF,
the video shows aim to reach Senegalese refugees in The Gambia who will eventually
be returning to their home villages. Landmine awareness also benefits Gambians
who find themselves in the nearby fields—often women gathering firewood
and children playing. NSGA has presented educational community video shows
in 43 of these border communities. Staff have also designed educational signs
to be placed in the communities as a further prevention mechanism. Considering
the dangers attributed to landmines worldwide, the need for an awareness campaign
in this region is high on UNICEF’s agenda. An incident in The Gambia
in December, 2007 reinforced this urgency, as two school children were tragically
killed when they stepped on a landmine. NSGA will continue to visit the border
communities to ensure sustainability of the vital education messages. 3. The Bright Faces of West Africa—Illuminating
the Success of Canadian-African Development Efforts Donor: Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA)
Country: The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Canada
Timeline: March 2007 – July 2009
War. Poverty. Sickness. These are the words most often associated with Africa. Seldom shared are the stories of resilience, hope, and success. The Bright Faces of West Africa project is countering these stereotypes. Funded by CIDA, this two-year initiative aims to inspire and educate Canadians about international development work and what we can learn from the tenacity and strength of West Africans.
Documentary films depicting these objectives were made in Sierra Leone and The Gambia in 2007:
A Nation in Healing – Documentary on Sierra Leone (click here to view the video) Hear Our Voices – Documentary on The Gambia (click here to view the video)
A third film, The Bright Faces of West Africa, focuses on the positive images of everyday African life, experiences of Canadian youth volunteers, and the results of Canadian development work in West Africa. (Click here to view the video online)
A fourth film, The Exchange, Six Faces of The Gambia, is meant to challenge's Canadian's perceptions of Africa and Africans. By documenting six individuals from various backgrounds, professions, and geographic areas in The Gambia, the film surprises audiences by countering the typical media portrayal of Africa. The film leaves the audience feeling that we in fact have much to learn from people in Africa and that our view and approach to 'helping' is often far from what is actually needed. (Click to here to view the video online) 4. Promoting Gender Equity and Youth Leadership through Health and Human Right Education Donor: CIDA
Country: The Gambia
Timeline: July 2008 – September 2011
This three-year project uses NSGA’s highly recognized Peer Health Education program to work with schools throughout the country in the area of sexual reproductive health, HIV, and the role that gender plays in the health of a person and a community. The project is funded by CIDA.
NSGA will partner with a total of 75 schools and communities over three years and work closely with The Gambia’s Departments of State for Education and Health to ensure the project is sustainable and effective. Peer Educators and Teacher Coordinators will be trained in every school and be responsible for spreading important health messages to their peers, families, and communities.
A one-month summer school will be offered every year to give Peer Educators and Teacher Coordinators an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge in these topics, share experiences, and problem solve any issues that have arisen over the year. 5. Health education, voluntary counselling
and HIV testing among selected at-risk or vulnerable groups in Sierra Leone Donor: CIDA, Canadian Auto Workers
Country: Sierra Leone
Timeline: April 2007 – August 2010
This project aims to reduce
the spread of HIV and other infectious diseases among selected
vulnerable groups, especially youth (teachers and students)
and those whose professions or life circumstances put them
at risk to contract HIV/AIDS (for example, drivers, footballers,
market women and motorbike riders). The project works in
the rural areas of Sierra Leone using Peer Health Education
and group counselling, voluntary HIV testing, and individual
pre- and post-testing counselling programs.
The project is funded by the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA) and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). It is
unique due to its strong partnerships within Sierra Leone
and in Canada. The project works closely with the National
AIDS Secretariat of Sierra Leone to support existing government
HIV/AIDS programs. The Nova Scotia Sierra Leone Program also
partners with Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
to send medical professionals to Sierra Leone to provide
voluntary HIV counselling and HIV testing. Using Nova Scotia-based
MedMira’s rapid HIV test kits, individual adults from
vulnerable groups are able to know their HIV status within
minutes. The counselling component ensures that persons found
to be HIV positive receive free treatment programs available
from the Government of Sierra Leone. Pre- and post-test counselling
provides essential information on ways to prevent the spread
of HIV and how to keep individuals and their family disease
free. An additional component of the project is the use of
Peer Health Educators in schools across the country to focus
on disease prevention among students and within their communities. 6. Youth Resettlement and Reintegration Project Donor: GTZ
Country: Sierra Leone
Timeline: May–August 2009
As part of a larger five-year project, NSGA has been selected by the German Technical Cooperation, GTZ, to work in partnership on a pilot project. This project will resettle 30,000 youth back to their original villages – after they were forced to leave throughout the 11 year civil war. NSGA will play a crucial role in ensuring that the reintegration process is peaceful and that all the youth and community members are working together to build healthy communities.
The three-month pilot project runs from May–July 2009 in 14 villages in rural and remote areas of Sierra Leone. Each village will have reintegrating youth, as well as existing community members, trained as peer educators in the areas of hygiene, water and sanitation, reproductive health and HIV. The staff will also work with district health teams to offer rapid HIV voluntary confidential counselling and testing as well as community video shows to reach further within each community.
