Project Launch:

Youth living with HIV are all too often stigmatized and excluded from their neighborhood, family and school communities as a result of their HIV status and many experience a lack of support that leads to unhealthy behaviors, depression and delinquency.

WE-ACTx's Peer Parent Program, supported with a grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program in 2011, created a peer support network with trained mentors that provided emotional support, education, friendship and fun for 300 HIV+ youth living in Kigali. The program focused on education and support for youth by youth as mentors leading educational sessions, group celebrations and games, and providing resources for youth who have questions about HIV, sex and healthy relationships. The Peer Parent Program gave HIV+ youth the support they needed to make healthy decisions, build lasting friendships and foster a positive outlook for their futures.