PDF (Lessons learned in drug abuse prevention: a global review)

LOCAL
● Selecting and training appropriate peers for peer-based street education:
Children who were previously drug users living in the streets are approached and trained
in HIV/AIDS and drug-related issues. The peer educators (animators) are the most important
agents of the project. They carry out outreach work in the streets, develop
IEC (information, education and communication) materials, and organise exhibitions
on such health topics as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, and hygiene
and nutrition. They ensure that street children are reached in their day-to-day environments.
Peer educators are trained by professional staff from the organisation to perform these
activities. They work on a voluntary basis, but are paid small fees and receive shelter
and food in compensation.
● Increasing the literacy and alphabetisation of the street children and helping
them enrol in the municipal schools of Mumbai: This activity principally targets
children below the age of 14. Before children are enrolled in the schools, and later,
throughout their stay at school, they are given coaching classes to prepare and to
support them.
● Providing street children with vocational training and employment opportunities:
Vocational training in screen-printing, carpentry, handicrafts and other professions
is provided for those older than 15 in order to heighten their chances of gaining employment
in local enterprises. The peer educators also have the choice to engage in these
training possibilities, and can then choose whether they want to continue working with
the organisation or opt for working as craftsmen.
● Counselling and interactive group sessions in a caring and supportive environment
at the residential rehabilitation centre: The residential rehabilitation
centre exists to offer street children an alternative to street life. The project's approach
is to tackle the problem in a holistic way, and to help the development of children as
positive individuals. The Centre is also the place where the training activities occur, and
from which the peer educators work. It provides food, clothing and shelter. The
Centre’s residential programme started in 1995 with 10 boys, but now has the capacity
to accommodate at least 120 boys and/or girls who were previously regular drug users
and/or sex workers.
“Today’s children are
tomorrow’s future.”
Monitoring & Evaluation:
The evaluation of the project is continuous, and is based on a mixture of process and
outcome tools and indicators. Regular staff meetings are held to discuss the results
achieved in relation to initial objectives. These meetings bring project managers and
front line workers together to exchange experiences. At the end of each year, external
evaluators are brought in to evaluate the outcome of the project's activities.
Outcomes:
Number of children /youth reached: 2000
COVERAGE
Number of peers/mediators/educators/teachers etc. trained: 50
Number of families reached: 500
Number of institutions/associations involved: 15
Approximately 2000 children have been reached on the streets by 50 peer educators
carrying out prevention activities. Results from the external evaluation have so far not
been fed back to the organisation, but substantial outputs have been noticed in
several areas:
● The admission of children into schools has increased
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