There are countless instances where the members, all young people infected or affected with HIV, have overcome significant obstacles to fight stigma and to help assure fair access to medical treatment.

One of the most incredible stories of late is about Sarah and the lion of stigma that the association members tied up. Sarah is a member of EFA’s Youth Empowerment Network and during this past year, her HIV progressed to such a degree that she had to begin anti-retroviral treatment to stay healthy.

The stigma in this story came from Sarah’s mother who refused to allow her daughter to take the medication and instead saw her HIV+ status as a punishment and blamed Sarah for becoming infected in the first place.

Sarah’s fellow association members flew into action. They first gained the support and understanding of Sarah’s siblings. The siblings and some of the association members approached Sarah’s mother and convinced her to care for and support her daughter on her road to recovery. However, the story does not end there. The support of the associations did not end there. The association members visited Sarah time and time again. It became evident that even though the mother was now committed to helping Sarah and caring for her, she did not know how to best help.

The association members flew into action again to support Sarah with individualized trainings for Sarah and her mother about the ins and outs of treatment, adherence, dosage and timing. Over the course of just a few weeks, Sarah’s improvement was dramatic. She is doing more than just surviving, she is thriving. The network of support has surely saved Sarah’s life.

Through the Circle of Love, you can help to assure that we have more stories like Sarah’s. The formula is simple…assure that people have access to the medical treatment that they need and provide the social support so that the treatments are successful.

With your support, as another “spider”, we can continue to tie up more lions. Thank you for uniting with us and for joining in our efforts.

In the absence of a cure for HIV, for the past 30 years this question has been the center of debate. For those of us who have dedicated our lives to the fight against AIDS, recent research has given us a glimmer of hope—and may have finally ended this debate.

In May, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released results from the HPTN 052 study which indicate that putting an HIV-positive person on treatment as soon as HIV infection was detected reduced the risk of them transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by 96%. Ninety-six percent. The evidence was so compelling that the trial was actually ended early and results published years before expected. For anyone who has worked in the uncertainty of research, this just doesn’t happen.

EFA’s beneficiaries have experienced these benefits first-hand. Since receiving treatment, their improved health status has empowered them to become HIV advocates, peer educators, and leaders in their communities, gaining the respect of those who once stigmatized them.

Today is World AIDS Day

Today, on World AIDS Day 2011, over 50 EFA peer educators are conducting community-wide education events in over ten communities. Some members are sitting down with local religious and traditional leaders to explain how they can help achieve an AIDS-free generation. Others are going door-to-door, encouraging people to get tested for HIV at the local health center, and describing why an AIDS-free generation is important to their community.

We have the technology. For the first time ever we can actually see the way forward. We can envision an AIDS-free generation. Not a generation free of HIV, but free of AIDS.

Treatment IS prevention

So, forget the debate—treatment IS prevention. Putting people living with HIV on treatment early will not only extend their lives, but will also prevent new HIV infections among their HIV-negative sexual partners.

The tragedy is that this innovative and groundbreaking research comes at a time of declining levels of funding for HIV, of donor “fatigue” for financing national HIV programs, and of re-shifting priorities away from HIV strategies and towards broader health sector initiatives.

The United States government has taken a significant step. During a speech delivered by Secretary Clinton at the National Institutes of Health in November, she re-committed the U.S. government’s development efforts towards supporting the global AIDS response in achieving an AIDS-free generation. It is time for other governments to meet this call.

Education, empowerment, and enterprise

Since 2005, EFA has supported children, youth, and families in Cameroon. Our Youth Empowerment Network supports HIV positive youth in nine communities in northern Cameroon and provides ongoing support through education, empowerment, and enterprise.

Through our Peer Education program our members learn the tools they need to stay healthy, live positively, and they receive education on antiretroviral drug adherence and strategies. Our peer education program trains members to go out into their communities and educate others about the basics of HIV transmission and prevention, and the importance of getting tested.

In 2011, our peer educators provided basic HIV education to over 20,000 people, and over 5,000 people were referred to their local health center to get an HIV test.

We empower our members to advocate for their rights. In September, when all of the public hospitals in northern Cameroon hit six months without the laboratory reagents necessary for monitoring the efficacy of their treatment regimens, members of the Youth Empowerment Network visited a private hospital in the area and negotiated that all members of EFA’s network would be able to access these important monitoring tests at the private clinic, while paying the normal public facility costs.

We promote enterprise through collective and individual income-generating activities. Our members work together to create employment opportunities for themselves and other association members, so that they may financially provide for their own medical needs and for their families.

We can do this together

We are proud of our work and proud of the accomplishments of our HIV-positive beneficiaries. We have turned a new page in the HIV response. Today, on World AIDS Day 2011, it is time for us to look back at all we have accomplished and look to the future. Look towards an AIDS-free generation. We can do it. We can reach that goal through our collective efforts. We can do this together.

EFA is doing its part and we would like to graciously thank you for the support you’ve given us over the past six years. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you, but we’ve still got a long way to go and count on your continued support.

We are together. Nous sommes ensemble,

Andrew Koleros
Co-Founder and Member, Board of Directors
EFA International

Irene* is petite, with almond-shaped eyes and a brillant smile. She is married with one child and an eighth grade education. Irène is HIV-epositive. These facts alone are enough to make her story brave, exceptional. Many women in northern Cameroon are told than an HIV diagnosis is a death sentence and are rejected by their families.

In 2006, Irène connected with EFA International, where she met with other HIV-positive individuals and learned how to stay healthy and live positively. She underwent EFA’s comprehensive 6-month peer education training and now teaches her village about the importance of HIV prevention. That they can protect their children and families from the scourges of AIDS in a country where one in 20 adults has HIV. That they too can defy stigma and face an ominous diagnosis to manage what has become chronic disease: requiring daily awareness, discipline, and resources, but something that does not keep them from following and fulfilling their dreams.

Then I learned that Irène was suffering from a uterine tumor. The unmonitored tumor had grown to such extent that she could feel its presence by pressing on her abdomen. If Irène was not operated on immediately, then she would not survive. She did not have the money to receive the operation. Could we step in to save the life of a woman in whom we had invested so much, and who had given so much in return?

Some colleagues warned that if EFA officially stepped in, it would open a floodgate of medical requests. Most of EFA’s youth empowerment network members do not have the luxury of insurance or extra income to cover health emergencies and rely on family and friends. But I could not stop thinking about Irène’s smile, her energy and willingness to give back to something greater.

A week passed. I received an update from EFA’s regional office. Irène’s community, family and friends had collected the money she needed for the operation. EFA saved Irène because its programs had empowered her. Her village valued the hope and knowledge that Irene was giving to young people. Irène is more than her HIV status. She is a change agent within her community.

Unfortunately, we cannot pay the hospital bills of each individual. Our Circle of Love project has just been launched on GlobalGiving to fill financial gaps so HIV-positive individuals can afford medical tests. But EFA’s peer education empowers HIV-positive individuals to mobilize and know how, when, and where to seek medical care. By staying healthy and practice safe behaviors, they are less likely to transmit HIV within their communities. This positive prevention is one of EFA’s core values.

* Name has been changed to protect individual’s privacy.

Empowered HIV+ Youth Educating Their Communities

It is often said that in reality, it is not HIV/AIDS that kills–it is stigma that does. It is because of stigma that people are afraid to get tested, ashamed to admit their status or to seek treatment, and embarrassed to even talk about the realities of the epidemic. Stigma isolates people, strangles discussion and spreads the virus. The dream of Education Fights AIDS (EFA) is for “the idea of stigmatization to be completely erased.”

Albert, Sali & Hamidou

EFA’s goal is to empower youth aged 15-35 who are affected by HIV/AIDS by helping them to create associations. Each one is independent, unique and has their own activities, but they all share three primary goals: empowerment, education and enterprise. These associations are given technical assistance, training and some funding by EFA, but ultimately they want them to be completely autonomous and independent entities.

EFA also runs a peer education program, in which they train members of the associations to go back into their communities to “sensibilize” people–which means to educate them in order to remove the stigmatization and discrimination that surrounds HIV/AIDS. Each peer educator we met had a unique story, but they all had a common thread: thanks to EFA and to the associations, they were transformed from a lost, humiliated and hopeless person to a confident and passionate advocate who is respected in their communities.

In these associations, HIV-affected youth find a second family and a newfound purpose in life. Youth who were once kicked out of their homes after finding out their HIV status were now invited back as favored children after proving that they could be productive members of society, thanks to their associations’ income-generating activities. Now, parents approach EFA directly, asking them to help their HIV-positive children–something that was entirely unheard of just a few years ago.

Sali did not have a choice when she was married off at the age of 13. She found out she was HIV+ a year after her husband died of AIDS. At the time, she didn’t know much about HIV–she was taught about it in school but she thought that it was “only for prostitutes, and that married couples were spared.” This is exactly the kind of stigmatization that she now fights against. She is currently the president of her local association and is determined to allow her daughters to marry who they want, when they want–no matter the social pressures. Thérèse Pehlem, 32, has been a member of her association since 2006. She described her feelings when she found out she was HIV-positive: I had no hope, I was alone, I was stuck, I was lost. I told myself that life was over. Now, she is not only a peer educator, but a trainer of peer educators: “I used to be scared, but now, put me in front of a church, a crowd, a whole community! They ask me left and right to talk about my experiences!” When I asked her if she could say something in a video, she leaped at the request, ready to talk, and it was clear that this was where she excelled and shined–speaking about HIV to teach others.

Albert Jumbo, 36 years old, has been a member for 5 years. Having lost his wife to AIDS just a year ago, he raises four young children on his own. When he first found out he was HIV+, he told himself that he would just sell all his things, and live the rest of his life in isolation and idleness: “I didn’t care about associations, and I didn’t even want to be near these people… but now I’m a peer educator, and I’m not even scared of sensibilizing a whole church congregation!”

It was truly inspiring to hear about the personal transformations of the individuals we met, and they were so vibrant and passionate that it was almost hard to believe that they had once lost all hope. Amazingly, not a single member of all of EFA’s associations has passed away in the past two years–a testament to the life-changing effects of EFA’s associations.

Watch Thérèse’s video thank you to EFA’s supporters

Sali Aïssatou talks about her experiences

Albert’s message to donors

EFA International’s peer educators and support associations continue to expand with increasing projects and activities. In March and April, a TrustAfrica grant enabled EFA International’s peer educators to reach more than 8,000 community members in more than 10 communities with talks about sexual- and gender-based violence (S-GBV). Peer educators focused on discussing preventing S-GBV and communicating gender equality education messages.

EFA association mural showing benefits of ART

EFA International’s Treasurer, Andrew Koleros, and Secretary, Kayt Dickens, also visited the regional office in Maroua, Cameroon for a couple weeks this quarter as part of a consulting and monitoring and evaluation visit. While in Maroua, Kayt attended several of the associations’ meetings; visited two associations’ enterprise projects; conducted computer trainings in Picasa, Google Docs and Google sites with regional office personnel; and conducted follow-up interviews with participants of the S-GBV trainings.

Andrew conducted site visits to associations while in Maroua, and associations also set their goals for 2011. Goals include additional member recruitment, increasing the number of community education sessions, and improving income generation activities. Associations also identified their strategies for achieving these goals, as well as discussed what technical assistance EFA International can offer to aide in meeting the goals.

This quarter, the Maroua regional office hired an accountant. The office also is improving operations by implementing weekly staff meetings to discuss both current and upcoming projects. EFA International’s technical assistants are continuing to develop new associations in the communities of Pete and Bogo, both in the Extreme North of Cameroon. EFA International’s Program Manager, Technical Advisor and Peer Educator Trainer are in the planning stage of a project to design and produce image and educational resource materials for Peer Educators.

In June, the coordination committee for the Youth Empowerment Network will meet for two days. EFA International also plans to officially register an association in Tokombere.

In addition to the Trust Africa grant S-GBV trainings, EFA Board member in-country visits and other special activities conducted this quarter, habitual activities also continued, including home visits, community education sessions, association meetings, and enabling association members to get care, treatment and CD4 tests, as needed.

EFA International would like to deeply thank all of the donors and supporters who help make our work of enabling African youth to live positively possible. Without your help, EFA International’s projects wouldn’t be carried out, and we are so grateful to you for helping us to conduct them and help individuals in Cameroon!

Our deepest thanks goes to those of you who attended and made the event a huge success. Together you raised over $3,000 USD in support of EFA’s work! Thank you for answering the needs of Cameroonian youth and taking action to improve their lives.

The HIV prevalence in women is significantly higher than in men within Cameroon.  In the north of Cameroon, where EFA focuses its efforts, the societal and traditional experiences that women face increase their HIV risk and exacerbate gender disparities.  To combat these challenges, EFA recently undertook a project to integrate sexual and gender-based violence (S-GBV) prevention education into its programming for EFA’s HIV-positive youth empowerment network.

This network promotes the value of “living positively” with HIV and AIDS while reducing stigma.  A critical part of this youth network are its Peer Educators, who are trained in HIV prevention, leadership skills, and community mobilization strategies. Thanks to a generous grant from TrustAfrica, nearly 50 EFA Peer Educators completed a three-day training this February covering topics such as “Gender, Violence, and HIV” and “Rights and Responsibilities related to HIV.” The goal of the training was to address social norms about gender and sexual relationships in ways that reduce violence, address stigma and discrimination, and set the foundation for gender equality.

EFA’s Peace Corps Volunteer Gena Barnabee, based in Maroua, reports that the Peer Educators “came away having learned a great deal about gender, violence and how these contribute to the vulnerability of women both in terms of HIV and AIDS, but also more generally in terms of how gender equality improves the lives of women, families and communities.”  During the month of March, EFA Peer Educators will work in their communities with the goal of educating 5,000 community members on gender and S-GBV issues and prevention.

The 2011 theme for International Women’s Day focuses on equal access to education, training, and science and technology.  Indeed, it is through training and education that EFA fosters the development of strong, independent thinkers who can help lead their communities towards social change.  In her post, “Time to Make the Promise of Equality a Reality” to mark today’s anniversary, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet writes: “The agenda to secure gender equality and women’s rights is a global agenda, a challenge for every country, rich and poor, north and south.”  Today, we invite you to join EFA and millions of others around the world in recognizing 100 years of International Women’s Day by supporting our work in Cameroon.

International Women's Day, Maroua, Cameroon, 2011. Photo by Lynne Wilkie.

Addie arrived with significant applicable experience. Prior to working with EFA, Addie graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2008 with International Management and French majors and a Peace Studies minor. Afterwards, she spent a year living in Morocco on a Fulbright scholarship where she studied Moroccan Arabic, audited university courses in “Women & Gender Studies” and interned with a non-profit organization where she researched micro-credit, focusing on the challenges and successes of group lending to poor women. In 2007, she interned for a nonprofit organization in Nantes, France where she studied abroad.

Addie had a great undertaking set out for her: to systematically begin EFAs Monitoring and Evaluation process. She was specifically charged with collecting information and working with stakeholders, and synthesizing inputs to develop the M&E system. One of her first undertakings was to take a significant amount of time to interview each and every member of the EFA associations. She carefully recorded each and every response to a lengthy interview. Her work has proven to be an invaluable resource—we can now prove, by the testimonials of our beneficiaries, that what we do has positively impacted those we serve.

In addition, Addie offered great input into our new ventures into work surrounding the illumination of gender- and sex-based violence. She has created a community questionnaire and trained key members of EFA to collect responses within their communities. While Addie was just able, due to time constraints, to participate in the beginning stages of the new undertakings, she got the work started on the right foot with a solid foundation.

Addie was an invaluable addition to the EFA team. She made significant contributions in a short amount of time. While she will certainly be missed in Cameroon, her contributions will be ever remembered.

-Caitlyn Bradburn, Peace Corps Volunteer

Consider where your generosity will go:

• Supporting an HIV-positive father to access the medicine he needs to stay healthy and provide for his family
• Allowing a child who lost a parent to AIDS to continue with school
• Helping young people make the right choices so they pursue healthier lives
• Ensuring that no child is born HIV-positive

We believe everyone in the world should be able to live positively.

Please make a tax-deductible year-end donation by midnight December 31.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2011!