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Youth Prevention/Education & HIV/STD

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

TITLE:

YOUTH PREVENCION AND EDUCATION AGAINST HIV/STDs, Interchange Program, Dominican Republic.

OBJECTIVE:

The " YOUTH PREVENCION AND EDUCATION AGAINST HIV/STDs" Interchange Program establishes and offers excellent opportunities to the participants, to learn and share first hand all aspects of Dominican culture and HIV/AIDs. The main strategy of the project consists to train educators or "multipliers" of diverse social and cultural-ethnic groups, in aspects related with the AIDS. These multipliers teach to the other members of the community and these to other ones and more. During the week the student will be participant in the workshop and sports or cultural activities by living with host families or small hotels and meeting many new friends throughout the week, Monday through Friday. On weekends, the students will be traveling throughout the Spanish part of the island, which is shared with the Republic of Haiti. In this manner, they will not only be working or studying, but experience real Dominican life.

The objective of the development of this project is to stop the expansion of the epidemic of the HIV through the amplification of the programs and activities directed to the groups of high risk; to increase the knowledge of the VIH/AIDs in the population in general and; to strengthen the institutional capacity to assure the effectiveness and sustainable of the effort. An integral part of the program is for the Youth and other adventurous persons to explore and learn about a culture that is foreign to them.

We will implement national & international exchanges with the students of primary, high school and university student, to inform them on the topic of VIH/SIDA and their derived and at the same time the national students as international will have the opportunity to enlarge their cultural, educational and social knowledge through 3 or 5 days training workshops that will take place in different city of the country and also to the foreigners countries.

The program is based out of Santo Domingo, the capital city.

Arrival:

When the students arrive, all the Guanin Center staff will gather to welcome them. They will be taken to a city hotel or to the beach, where they will begin their orientation about the program and the time flame, information about the island, its culture and customs, as well as learn important information about urban transportation, food and water precautions, safety precautions, etc. We take these steps in order to avoid the frustrations of Culture Shock and to keep the students healthy and safe. After being received and welcomed by our staff, conducted to a hotel, and participating in the orientation, each student will be introduced to his or her host family.

Host families:

We have visited the families one by one and evaluated them as appropriate for being host families for our visiting students. The evaluation covers the physical accommodations as well as the family members themselves. We have confidence that these families will be excellent temporary hosts, who will help make each student's experience warm and memorable.

The students will live with Dominican host families, where they will have the opportunity to practice their Spanish. The host families provide 2 meals per day, breakfast and lunch. Practice their Spanish. The host families provide 2 meals per day, breakfast and lunch. The students' rooms will be equipped with the following: Double bed, ceiling fan, desk and chair, closet, and access to both a telephone and a television. While comfortable and safe, please note that Dominicans at all social levels live with unavoidable water and electrical shortages, which will be touched upon during orientation.

Note: We will not be using host families for this program, all the group will be all together at the hotel Europa, in the Colonial Zone, in Santo Domingo and others hotel during the field trip.

Lodging: Hotel Europa 3 stars, Colonial Zone Santo Domingo. Services included, breakfast, hot water, double room per 2 students with 2 beds, TV Cable, Air conditioner, Tel and Wifi internet Located in the Colonial Zone, close to the Plaza Espana and La ruin de los Franciscans, Street M. Merino. Meals: All the meals are included for the 7 nights and 8 days trip, 3 meals a day

Transportation: All transportation are included in the all the field trip, pick up at the airport, transportation to the country side, local transportation and deriver to the airport and more

Voluntary services available: All students will be able to participate in various kinds of volunteer services, which are offered to the program through the Guanin Center, Inc.

Professors: We will be implemented courses and workshops and use the best Dominican professor in sexual education and educational psychologists to educate our kids, youth and the community about sexuality and HIV/AIDs, where the orientation can reached at least 50% of the Dominican Republic population. Our professors are well known academics who teach classes in Dominican universities; they are bilingual, with past experience teaching foreign exchange students.

Staff: The program will provide staff who are available 24 hours a day to assist in all aspects of the students' stay and to respond to any and all needs that may arise. They will attend to all the students' needs and will participate in the welcoming activities, excursions, tours, student exchanges, voluntary service work, etc.

Security: The students's security is one of our most essential concerns. We use the safest sites and services in Santo Domingo so that the program functions at its best and for the wellbeing of the students and other participants. We will be using principally urban zones, with good facilities and easy transportation access, good communication services, and with nearby supermarkets, stores, Internet cafes, and restaurants/bars. These sites were selected because they are in the safest zones, where the students can interact without worry. These sites offer all the required facilities and guarantee that the students will have free and easy access and, also important, these are sites that offer students another dimension of the authentic Dominican cultural experience.

STRUCTURE: The YOUTH PREVENCION AND EDUCATION AGAINST HIV/STDs program is coordinated through Guanin Center, Inc., and subcontracted 2 more fundamental institutions

ACADEMIC PATTERN:

Hospital Padre Billini, Colonial Zone, HIV/AIDs Hospital
Centro de la Salud, Public hospital, HIV/AIDs Hospital
Private clinic, HIV/AIDS
USAD University, Health department, HIV/AID And more

REQUIREMENTS:

The program will be administered by Guanin Center, Inc. and subcontracted by 2 more institutions mentioned above under STRUCTURE.

Beginning date:

The program will be begin in Santo Domingo de Guzmán, capital of the Dominican Republic, in mid 2009- or 2010, from Jun 20, 2010 to August 21, 2010, every year. We will be receiving from 10 to 15 groups a year and then we will be sending oversea from 2 to 5 groups, lens of the program 8 nights and 9 days and group from 10 to 18 students and 2 assistants.

Social-cultural/educational/sports activities:

We will implement national & international exchanges with the students of primary, high school and university student, to inform them on the topic of VIH/SIDA and their derived and at the same time the national students as international will have the opportunity to enlarge their cultural, educational and social knowledge through 3 or 5 days training workshops that will take place in different city of the country and also to the foreigners countries.
Sport: Baseball tournament, basketball, soccer, swimming, athletic and more
Cultural/education: Theater, panting, workshop and other
Social: Build a small clinic for the people with HIV/AID, reforest (plan tree) dental program and more

Goals: Through the Centro Cultural Guanín, Inc., we will provide both national and international exchanges, where Dominican population with few financial resources will be able to participate in AIDs prevention, educational/cultural activities with foreign students. We will seek additional financial assistance so that CCTUR Guanín, Inc. can continue working in its programs and where the orientation of prevention and education against HIV/AID can be reached more than 50% of the Dominican Republic population.

Observations: CCTUR Guanín is planning to have more activities aimed at integrating more institutions into the YOUTH PREVENCION AND EDUCATION AGAINST HIV/STDs program that provides mutually beneficial services, as previously established. Facilitators will be sent to various provinces to introduce the program in regional study centers. The work will be done through a commission that includes members and collaborators of the CCTUR Guanín, which will make the contacts. A diverse variety of activities will take place to help nurture this team of indispensable members who will help to make viable this essential part of the overall program and its goals.

Indicators:

More than 25% of Dominican population with scarce resources will be able to benefit from this program. The General Direction of the Control of Infections of Sexual Transmission and AIDS (DIGECITSS) of the Secretary of State of the Public Health and Social Attendance (SESPAS) it estimates that in the Dominican Republic around 120,000 people are living with the virus of the HIV, around nine times the reported total of accumulated cases, more than 16,000 have died as consequence of the AIDS. Explicit reference is made to the project of VIH/AID like one of several of the instruments to increase the access from the poor population in the Dominican Republic to the benefits of the social development and the economic growth.

Proposals:

Offer wider opportunity to Dominican youth and promote education and the integration of technical-professional programs. Reduce the percentage of youth who are not able to develop their abilities, thus cannot contribute to national development. Awaken our youths to the opportunities that await them in technical-professional certification. Prepare them for a more prosperous and fulfilled future.

End Goal: To improve the life condition of the Dominican populace through acquired knowledge, which will permit them to maximize the employment opportunities that are available in the country. The mission of the Center Cultural Guanin, Inc. in the Dominican Republic is to provide a safe, supportive place where children, youth and every body can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships and develop confidence and skills for life.