Daraja Programme

Each three-day workshop works with adults on the first day and young people on the second day. The groups then merge on the third day. Adults and youth learn about preventing HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancies. Through role playing activities and discussions, the youth also build self-esteem, while both groups practice expressing their feelings and concerns.

During these dialogues, participants practice communicating effectively across barriers of age and authority, which organisers say is a new skill for many parents, who are often concerned that discussing sexuality with their children will invite disrespect or be perceived as an endorsement of sexual activity. Adult-only sessions emphasise how, on the contrary, effective dialogue can help youth avoid harm and delay sex. In separate sessions, youth discuss the physical, social, and emotional changes of adolescence. They also learn that talking with grown-ups can help them navigate these changes. Since April 2011, 450 adult-youth pairs have attended the discussions on Zanzibar's main island, Unguja.

As part of the Daraja progamme, community awareness events are also organised. These typically last for about 2 hours a day, consist of a dance competition (usually between kids from the crowd), a drama presentation, and then a question and answer session. To finish off the event, two teams are picked from the crowd to participate in a tug-a-war contest. There is also Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) offered for free to anyone in the audience who would like to be tested for HIV/AIDS.

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Youth

According to the project, a large number of youth and parents are beginning to accept that open parent-child dialogue lays a firm foundation for youth to lead a healthy life.