Living On Purpose: PEPFAR Seminar 2013

April 17, 2013

PEPFAR Seminar 2013

PEPFAR (U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) is the U.S. Government initiative to help save the lives of those suffering from HIV/AIDS around the world and prevent the transmission of the virus through education. As a Peace Corps Health Extension Volunteer, my primary focus is to aid in the development of public health initiatives here in Mongolia. In cooperation with my host country agency and counterparts, we are able to promote healthy behavior and increase knowledge on disease transmission, prevention, and treatment; to build the capacity of community members, health workers, and organizations to promote and deliver evidence-based health services; to strengthen linkages between communities, organizations, and health facilities; and to help families and communities acquire and maintain supplies, equipment, and structures that reduce disease transmission and improve health.

We recently held a 3 day PEPFAR seminar in Altai, Govi-Altai, in which we targeted secondary school dorm room teachers from Hovd, Bayankhongor and Altai province. The teachers were educated on sexual reproductive health facilitation methodology, in an effort to conduct their own trainings effectively upon returning to their province. Peace Corps Mongolia life skills book 11 was used during the seminar and the teachers were each given one of their own to use during practice facilitation sessions. The seminar was an overall success and the vast majority of trainings went overtime simply because this topic was new and interesting for so many students, they didn't want them to end. We hope to conduct a similar training to this one next year. For more information about PEPFAR here's a link to their website PEPFAR.