Katherine Tate-Bradish Named Associate Expert for Sex Education and HIV Prevention

Katherine Tate-Bradish was recently appointed project leader of a new initiative to train large numbers of African sex educators in rural areas and provide the means to sustain their work through private enterprise.

An American, Tate-Bradish has many years of experience as an educator and advocate for rural women and children. In 2004, she began developing a sex education curriculum that is widely taught in Kenya and has found favor among women and youth groups. 

The curriculum includes the fabrication of sanitary napkins by local artisans. The scarcity and cost of sanitary napkins in rural areas is a major problem for local women and a significant impediment to girls’ education. 

Our sex education curriculum, she says, evolved organically with input from Kenyan teachers, high school students and women’s groups. “I call it The Sexual Health Alphabet: HIV/AIDS, other STDS, and the ABCs,” she says. In sex education circles, the ‘ABC’ concept refers to comprehensive education: Abstain, Be Faithful, use Condoms Correctly and Consistently.

The training takes six days, and includes pre-and post-testing on factual understanding, daily assessments, and group and individual practice teaching.  Most of the trainees are women farmers. Local church groups, HIV support groups, and women’s organizations also play a role.

The two-year initiative, which is now being organized by Tate-Bradish in collaboration with ACH and the Vumilia orphan’s home in Western Kenya, will provide proof of concept and seek ways to extend the curriculum to large numbers of rural educators.  Vumilia is an ACH member organization that works with women and children affected by HIV/AIDS.

An estimated 50,000 Kenyans have been taught by  local educators  trained using Tate-Bradish’s curriculum . In addition to scaling up, the project will also develop means to help sex educators sustain themselves financially.

ACH Honored for Educational Work 

African Childrens Haven was recently named one of five top children's education non-profits by a leading personal finance website. The real credit, of course, goes to our African partners on the ground. This is really for them most of all. Read more

Pen Pals 2012 Link US and African Kids

Over the past three years we’ve been working to establish a pen pal letter program that connects African kids with students in the United States. Pen pal letters are a great way to build understanding and friendship and they mean a lot to the children who receive them. They’re also a fun way to improve writing skills.

We started with university students in 2009 and slowly expanded it to include kids as young as eight. In 2012 we’ll be working to connect 20 fourth graders in Galveston, Texas with students at the St. Philips Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya.

The first group of 2011 letters was sent to St. Philips in November and the replies should reach us in February. When they do, we’ll take them to fourth graders at the Ambassador Preparatory Academy in Galveston, Texas.

Just how important are the letters? Hear what the kids have to say about the program in a video they produced with help from their teacher, Mr. Lowie Paz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaefzEt43f0&feature=fvsr

Want to become a pen pal? Send a letter to www.africanchildrenshaven.org. Tell us about yourself – describe your daily life and tell us where you are from and what you do and what you like to do.

You can also help by contributing funds, providing supplies and by volunteering to carry letters. Let us know how you’d like to participate. Thanks!