Teenage Life Programme

This project uses personal contact to spread information about HIV/AIDS in the street, in schools, and at public meetings. Teenage Life has also conducted workshops and presentations at various Tanzanian universities and schools, as well as in local communities and 30 cities all over the world. The organisation has visited various places in rural and urban contexts to share information about HIV/AIDS and the MDGs, with a specific focus on how these issues relate to youth.

Use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the media - video, television, and radio - is central to Teenage Life's work. For instance, the organisation has taken part in interviews about youth issues on radio and television stations (e.g., MTV, SBS, ABC, CBC, BBC, TVT, DTV/Channel Ten, ITV, Morocco TV). In addition, the organisation travelled to Botswana to conduct research and then to prepare a video documentary titled "The Impact of Mass Media in Combating HIV/AIDS in Youth in Botswana Compared to Tanzania". This documentary was shown on TV several times. In addition, Teenage Life prepared a documentary called "The Impact of HIV/AIDS among Tanzanian Young People", which was also aired on television.

Entertaining strategies such as the use of music to inform people also shape Teenage Life's activities: the organisation has recorded songs on HIV/AIDS and MDGs.

Intercultural exchange is a key Teenage Life focus as well. Teenage Life participated in the International Student Week in Tanzania, which involved students from 60 countries, in September 2002. During the World Youth Congress 2003 in Morocco, organisers shared their experience in HIV/AIDS and the other issues in which they are involved. Teenage Life travelled throughout Tanzania in 2004 conducting workshops with Oxfam International Youth Parliament Action Partners (OIYP) as the outcome of a programme that had been launched in Sydney, Australia. To cite just a few other examples, Teenage Life participated in and/or attended: the Student of Sustainability 2004 Conference in Melbourne, Australia; the International Youth Conference on Humanism 2004 in Kampala, Uganda; the Political Strategies for Youth Organization in Saarbrucken; the Student Days One World 2005 (where they addressed over 1,200 students in Karlsruhe, Germany, about the MDGs); addressed the pupils on the issue of HIV/AIDS at the "Q"Fund’s Chimoza Community School in Zambia; and, in late 2006, attended the Community-to-Community Conference in British Columbia to present its work.

Young Teenage Life participants have taken active roles at these types of events. For example, in 2006, one programme member gave presentations at both the youth pre-conference for, and at the actual, International AIDS Conference in Canada in 2006. Other Teenage Life participants have taken part in activities such as getting involved in (the singer) Bono's trip 2006 to Tanzania, and making the film "Legends", which was created by the MTV Staying Alive campaign and shown at the MTV 48 Fest 2006 (held in Canada).

Collaboration and partnership shape much of Teenage Life's work as well. Working in partnership with Bariadi Agape Orphanage Center, Teenage Life helps run an orphanage centre for Tanzanian children. Also, working together with Angaza Comedy, the organisation has produced a TV spot on HIV/AIDS, which is aired regularly on various Tanzanian TV stations. By participating as founders of the Tanzanian Youth Network, members of Teenage Life have organised various seminars and events.

Youth, HIV/AIDS, Cultural Exchange, the Millennium Development Goals.

In addition to continuing with the above-described activities, Teenage Life plans to develop a resource centre, launch a "Mobile Youth Container Bus Center in Tanzania”, and write a book called “Biographies".