Men As Partners

Hello family and friends!

We have the opportunity to participate in a two-week health training seminar, which will be held in Maroua, capital of the Extreme North region, in mid-October. The project, called Men As Partners, will involve and empower Cameroonian men to improve the overall health of their community, and will be co-facilitated with five of our fellow Peace Corps volunteers.

This project challenges men to more fully integrate into HIV prevention efforts in their communities. We are specifically targeting men for several reasons: on average, men have more sexual partners than women, HIV is more easily transmitted from men to women and an HIV-infected man will likely infect more persons than an HIV-infected woman. Engaging men more extensively in HIV prevention has a tremendous potential to reduce women’s risk for HIV.

During our two-week intensive training, we will work with 20 HIV positive men, focusing on gender, power, violence, living with HIV, healthy relationships and creating positive community change. After this training, these men will return to their communities and educate others on ways to improve health conditions nationwide.

We are asking that you support our project with a financial contribution. You can make a fully tax-deductible donation at www.efainternational.org We ask that you mark the designation as Men As Partners.

Please visit the website to learn more about EFA International, (Education Fights AIDS) a Cameroonian non-profit organization who will host the seminar. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, don’t hesitate to email us! Thank you all very much for your support.

All our love from Cameroon,

Jessie & Brian

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Some statistics:

One-in-five women experience sexual abuse at the hands of their male partner in Cameroon.

For every 10 HIV+ men in Cameroon, 17 women are infected.

75% of African youth living with HIV are girls and young women.

6000 youth are infected EVERY DAY with HIV

Only about 3% of young men in Cameroon actually get tested for HIV.