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Behaviour Change is a long term process
Friday, January 8, 2010

One of our clients, ALAFA, is based in Lesotho. The organisation, works with the textile industry in Lesotho to help prevent the spread of HIV. Insight Strategies developed and designed the peer education curriculum that had to meet very specific requirements in terms of resources and time allocations. Insight Strategies was also responsible for training master trainers in this curriculum so that these individuals could train Sesotho speaking peer educators in the factories.

While we like to think that the materials we design and the training we conduct has an impact, one of the problems in working with trying to change people's perceptions and their behaviour, whether this relates to HIV or business or private sector development or life skills or cattle sales, is that this generally occurs over a long period of time. Behaviour change in fact is probably one of the most difficult things to assess and to attribute to a single training intervention.

ALAFA, in assessing their programme impact over the last number of years, conducted a KAP survey in a number of factories in the middle of last year. After collecting all the data and analysing it, the organisation released the results towards the end of last year.

It is with great pleasure and pride that Insight Strategies can point to the results of the survey and say that behaviours amongst those who have attended peer education classes over the last number of years have changed for the better. There is a direct correlation between those who have attended peer education sessions and changed, positive behaviour. Some of the results are:

70% of those surveyed attended peer education sessions
Testing has increased in the last two years from 40% to over 70%
The number of people they experienced sexually transmitted diseases in the last two years has halved
More people, both men and women, whether married or unmarried, use condoms regularly.

Insight Strategies is proud to be associated with ALAFA and its professional team. We are also extremely proud of those individuals on the ground who have conducted their peer education sessions regularly, promoting knowledge about HIV, answering questions about the disease and acting as both a source of knowledge and inspiration for their colleagues.

While the survey also pointed to areas which can be improved upon, the results above need to be celebrated. Insight Strategies looks forward to working with ALAFA and all the stakeholders to improve these results, and to continue to be an internationally recognised, world-class HIV prevention programme.

Visit ALAFA for more information.