I joined CHRISC Kenya in November 2006 when I was still in college, after finishing my college studies in 2007 I joined the Kicking AIDS Out program, under the Education department of CHRISC Nairobi.
Having taken social work studies in college I felt the need of taking up the responsibility of being a peer leader to educate my fellow peers.
I realized that they knew a lot and got information from different sources, thus they needed to get right information from someone with knowledge about HIV and AIDS, and substance abuse.
As a peer leader one of the best experiences… After being trained on how to conduct Kicking AIDS Out games, I didn’t have the confident to conduct the games alone, then one day during our weekly Kicking AIDS Out sessions in one school in Nairobi, I was left alone to conduct a session to a group of children. I started out with a game called ABC countdown - the kids enjoyed the game and to my surprise even some kids who were not part of the session and were playing in an adjacent field got attracted and joined us. After the game I explained to them all about the game and the importance of ABC of sex and they loved it.
Worst experience was during the CHRISC annual tournament for the street kids called FANAKA tournament. The tournament is organized for the street kids within Nairobi who form teams among themselves for participation. I did a game called Risk Rush and as I was explaining to them how the game is played I used simple terms like Police and Gangsters; I divided them into two groups. One of the participants jumped on an opponent and started strangling him claiming he was a gangster. I had to ask for help to separate them and after talking to him I realized that he was high on drugs.
It is important to focus on peer leader education to the youth, since by educating the youth, they are empowered and it’s easier for them to communicate with their fellow peers since they understand each other better. As a peer one should believe in change and be ready to influence others for positive change, she/he should have knowledge on issues that the youths struggle with each day such as HIV and AIDS, substance abuse, reproductive health and peer pressure. They should be of good morals, have good communication skills and also be a team leader or rather a role model so as to attract fellow peers.
As a peer leader; I have gained a lot of experience in becoming a leader and taking up responsibilities. E.g. I am the current secretary to the CHRISC Nairobi board and the Vice Chairperson of Schools Education Programme and the leader of the CHRISC Nairobi volunteers team funs club. I am also a member of a committee that was set by Equity Bank to over see a school in central province.
Having the responsibility of becoming a peer leader I am now more focused and careful in what I do and the kind of decisions I make, for more peers are looking up to me. I can now advice my fellow peers that it’s good to make informed decisions, for I have learnt that when one makes an informed decision it’s usually for the best. I have learnt to be a good listener too for by that I am able to give better advice and I learn a lot from people’s experiences.
I have always loved sports and having an opportunity to work in CHRISC being a sports organization it has given me an opportunity to explore my self. Kicking AIDS Out activities being conducted in a sportive way gives icing to the cake. During the activities conducted in schools there are soccer trainings which I take gladly. I am a committee member in the CHRISC Kenya senior soccer team; and I am in the sports committee which I am in charge of under 14 Tournament Githogoro area as well.
Having learnt a lot as a peer leader I would like to see a community free from HIV and AIDS and where youths take up their responsibilities and can share freely their feelings to avoid many of the activities that they engage in at an early age like; sex, substance abuse and crime.
The goals that I had set were really challenging but what makes me proud is that I have been able to achieve majority of them. The ones that I have not been able to, I know I will for when I sit with the peers I have trained in Kicking AIDS Out, I get positive answers and they open up to me. I have been able to break the wall that was there the first time I introduced my self to them.
Kicking AIDS Out is the sure way in making a difference in peer’s life style for it has an enticing way, that is, through the games which give them life skills and sports skills at the same time.
Story 1: There is a boy in our community who is a street kid and a drug addict and after I learnt about Kicking AIDS Out and peer education I approached him. We became good friends and I would visit him on the streets and I earned his trust to the point that he opened up to me on why he was taking drugs. His parents and two of his brother had died of AIDS and the reason as to why he was on the streets was that he was chased away by his relatives who took everything he had and the only hope he could find was in drugs. I talked to him and to date his intake of the drugs is reducing with time and he is a role model to many of his friends.
Story 2; In the schools programme there was a group of girls who were compromising themselves to get pocket money. One day one of them came to me and told me about it and I was shocked for they were young girls but I decided to talk to each one of them at a friendly base individually. They told me the reasons they do such kind of behavior was because they didn’t have what others in school had and their parents would not afford since they all came from poor background. I talked to them and explained to them that all they have to do is to work on their education and one day they would enjoy more.
I have learnt that curiosity is the main course of most behavior; many youths know a lot and get information from the Internet and the television as well as the reading materials available. I have learnt in the period of being a peer educator and through experiences that we should come out in black and white and talk to peers about what they know and what they would like to know, because if we don’t they get wrong information and practice from that. When one is asked if the clock would be turned back what he/she would do, surprisingly we all would make up for the mistakes we have done in our lives. But to me I believe I would make up for the remaining time to educate and warn my fellow youths of the kind of lives we all live.
I am a social worker by profession and what I plan on doing is to start up a programme or project where by I would be talking to peers and advising them on life skills and behavior change especially the slum dwellers for they are the most exposed and vulnerable.
