PASHA

What is your organisation?

PASHA stands for Prevention and Awareness in Schools against HIV and AIDS.

It started with the aim of educating students on how to prevent HIV/AIDS and early pregnancy in primary and secondary schools in the Mtwara region.  It began in primary schools in Mtwara in 2006 and was later introduced in secondary schools.

Such sessions work by PASHA training either a teacher, elected by students, to act as a counsellor and teach classes at the respective school about sexual health, supplementing the curriculum. PASHA also co-ordinate sessions where two students in each class are elected as peer-peer educators and are trained by PASHA on matters concerning sexual health, as to allow them to teach their peers. In such cases, a teacher co-ordinates these peer-peer sessions, answering questions and summarising the session at the end. PASHA also recruit medical students from the Clinical Officer Training College Mtwara to co-ordinate these sessions too.

What are your goals; what is your mission statement?

Increase awareness of HIV and AIDS to primary and secondary school students.

Prevent early pregnancies – a big problem in Mtwara.

To make sexual and reproductive health knowledge a priority in Mtwara.

Contact details:

PASHA,

Regional Co-ordinator for Mtwara: Beatrice Masanja

Umoja Secondary School, Mtwara

Email: masanja.beatrice@yahoo.com,

Telephone: +255 (0) 787472167

Other:

PASHA are eager to recruit more volunteers to act as co-ordinators and also people who want to get involved generally. They are also eager for further funding to expand their projects.