Did you know that a positive self-image can stop a killer in its tracks? This message is an integral part of a six-month class on HIV/AIDS that 141 young people in Maputo, Mozambique took last year. Ranging in age from 10 to 18-years-old, participants took the class as members of the Pathfinders—a worldwide organization of young people sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The Southeastern African country of Mozambique has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, with the majority of new infections occurring among those under 29 years, according to the World Health Organization. A 2003 United Nations HIV surveillance report estimates 1.4 million Mozambicans of all ages were living with HIV/AIDS.

With that information in mind, Nora de Leon, RN and a master’s degree student at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health in the United States, developed a Christ-centered curriculum to teach Pathfinders about the dangers of AIDS and how the disease can be prevented. 

“I’ve always enjoyed working with youth,” says de Leon. “I’ve had contact with youth in various scenarios which have broadened my understanding of how difficult it is for young people growing up in our current environment. After coming with my husband to Africa, I realized that I couldn’t live here and not give something back both to my church and the youth.”

The curriculum combined basic information on the human reproductive system and reproductive health issues, such as HIV/AIDS, with information designed to change behavior.

“A key part of the curriculum were workshops designed to assist in reinforcing the participant’s self-esteem, assisting in their negotiating and decision-making skills, strengthening their understanding of their personal value system, assertiveness, and creating a personal vision of their own future,” said de Leon. “The basis of this module was founded on sexual abstinence and delaying their initiation into sexual relationships.”

The program, which ran from April to November of 2005, relied on the willingness of Pathfinder leaders in the city of Maputo to be trained and then pass on the information and training to other Pathfinders. The program was credited by some teens with changing their worldview.

Pathfinder leaders reported that young people in the church participating in premarital sex diminished from 97.2 to 26.2 percent.

De Leon says the program’s success came from a total buy-in from the Pathfinder leaders. They had to completely believe in all the principles of the program themselves in order for young people to believe in the information they were getting.

It was also openly supported by the Ministry of Health in Mozambique, which sent a representative to observe several sessions. They also publicly recognized the Seventh-day Adventist Church as the first religious organization in the country to openly confront the issue of AIDS among its members.

The program was supported by Adventist leaders in Mozambique, the local Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Pathfinder International, an international non-governmental organization not related to the Adventist Church.

De Leon says there is great interest from the church community and from the project staff to expand this project nationally, but “we have thus far been unable to obtain the necessary funds to make this a reality.”

“This program came at the right moment to help our troubled youth that are confronting several problems, especially about sexuality,” said Herica Candido, a 19-year-old high school student who taught the course to fellow Pathfinders. Candido said talking about “changing behavior in adolescents, learning to make decisions by themselves, and being responsible for the consequences was an important part of this program. Many of them opted easily for the sexual abstinence before marriage.”

De Leon said the program was brutally honest—even shocking—about the kind of destruction and pain that sexually transmitted diseases can cause. “This created a basis for the youth to begin analyzing their own realities and personal situation,” she said.

“I think that what makes this different than some other curriculums is that youth are strengthened by being able to make their own choices for their future, and not rely on just what they are being told, but rather understand the consequences of their decisions and apply and stand up for what they believe through their values and actions,” de Leon concluded.

Linda de Leon contributed to this report.