Peace Corps recognizes Zebras project

Headquarters in Washington, D.C. sent out a press release in advance of December 1st titled, Peace Corps Turns Hope Into Action On World AIDS Day. The Zebras project was highlighted as key volunteer-led intervention:

In Botswana, Volunteers are working with voluntary testing and counseling centers to help implement the Zebras for Life--Test for Life campaign, which promotes behavior change among football fans, and encourages young people to get tested. Those who complete the full counseling and testing process receive a [blue] bracelet with the campaign's message inscribed. Several players from the Zebra national football team serve as role models and spokespeople for the campaign.

The campaign was also recently praised by local leaders in the Kgalagadi District in a Botswana Daily News article on November 27th titled, Dikereke le borre, matshego a tsholofelo (the article is in Setswana).

This kind of recognition motivates me to keep pushing myself and the campaign, especially considering all of the logistical problems we've suffered through lately. We hoped to end the year with several strong events, but things kind of fizzled out and we had to pull back and regroup for next year. On a more positive note, the data that is coming in shows that the campaign is working: Men are testing in higher numbers, Tebelopele's ration of male-to-female clients is nearly even, and testing centres are posting all time highs in client loads. Scott, Hannah, and all Peace Corps volunteers in Botswana past and present should be proud of their efforts.

Photo: Brian and Libby pose with Botswana national team players and HIV testing spokespersons.