Rise 2 Shine Project

Rise 2 Shine Project set its Vision as: "To lead Peers by positive example" and to reach this Vision, we have the following Aims and Objectives: 1. To empower young girls and boys by teaching them their rights and responsibilities; 2. To empower young boys and girls to make healthy and positive decisions in order to eradicate the threat of HIV an AIDS, other STD's and face the challenges of any health risks that might occur, e.g. The Covid-19 pandemic; 3. To teach young girls and boys about abstinence and encourage them to abstain from i) sex until marriage, ii) drugs and alcohol, iii) any form of violence, iv) criminal activities and v) to let them who already had sex reclaim... read more Rise 2 Shine Project set its Vision as: "To lead Peers by positive example" and to reach this Vision, we have the following Aims and Objectives: 1. To empower young girls and boys by teaching them their rights and responsibilities; 2. To empower young boys and girls to make healthy and positive decisions in order to eradicate the threat of HIV an AIDS, other STD's and face the challenges of any health risks that might occur, e.g. The Covid-19 pandemic; 3. To teach young girls and boys about abstinence and encourage them to abstain from i) sex until marriage, ii) drugs and alcohol, iii) any form of violence, iv) criminal activities and v) to let them who already had sex reclaim second virginity; 4. To involve and empower parents and communities in addressing domestic-, and gender-based violence; 5. To uplift the moral and social life of young people by restoring Christian moral values; 6. To bring inner healing and acceptance to those young girls and boys who are traumatized through any form of physical, emotional, verbal, spiritual abuse and/or violence; 7. To reach and empower young people to live healthy lives and to contribute to healthy and clean communities; and 8. To empower young girls and boys to stay in school and complete their education. To accomplish all these aims and objectives, Rise 2 Shine Project embarks on the following activities: 1. Weekly/Monthly face-to-face gatherings in group settings; 2. Educational and Leadership Camps - to empower young girls and boys to make positive and healthy decisions and to be successful in education year-end examinations; 3. Girls/Boys and/or Youth Conferences to plan, and discuss issues concerning youth in Namibia; 4. Road Shows/Talk shows to raise awareness on abstinence among young people; 5. Visitations to i) hospitals , especially for encouragement of young people who are sick and in hospital, ii) old age homes for encouragement to senior citizens; 6. Community services - including but not limited to: going to shop for elderly, cleaning yards of elderly people and baby sitting; 7. Dramas/Role plays to spread different prevention messages; 8. Yearly pledging ceremonies; 9. Yearly Awards Ceremonies; 10. Any other activities that may deemed fit under the Aims and Objectives of the Project. Rise 2 Shine Project follows different evidence based Life Skills and Behavior Change intervention prevention Programs/Manuals to accomplish her Project Goal: "Empowered young people creating safe and healthy environments/communities in Namibia by 2030". Therefore the Rise 2 Shine Project is about: i) educating and guiding young people to abstain from sexual intercourse to prevent early and unintended pregnancies, getting infected with HIV/AIDS or any other STD's and ultimately destroying their education and future; ii) empowering young girls and boys on their respective gender roles and responsibilities in order to create "the safe and decent living environment" Vision 2030 is talking about. Empowering young girls and boys on gender roles and responsibilities, the vicious circle of "abused/violated becoming the abuser/violator" can definitely be broken; ii) emphasizing the importance of a good and successful school career that is based on soberness; iv) an all-inclusive holistic program that focusses on the young person as a whole in addressing issues depriving him/her from being spiritual, physical and mentally well; v) incorporating life skills education using Sport2Life methodology into sport activities on topical discussions themed around building self-esteem of adolescents; vi) enhancing community involvement in sports 4 youth development to create conducive and healthy environments/ communities. Our Mission is rightfully captured in our STATEMENT OF BELIEVE: : "We believe that individuals and whole communities have the inherent capacity to change attitudes and behaviors.....We recognize that behavior change at individual and community level is a complex and on-going process. It is inextricably linked to such basic human values as care, love, faith, family and friendship, respect for people and cultures, solidarity and support. ....Our experience as affected and infected individuals proves that behavior change is possible......Therefore we as young people embarked on this journey of Behavior Change to fight not only current pandemics but also those pandemics in future who might threaten our human existence." Rise 2 shine Project is build on 4 pillars with integrated activities to address cross cutting issues, namely: Pillar 1: Health and Wellness Prevention Clubs Awareness raising activities Pledging ceremonies Healthy Body/Healthy Minds Sports 4 youth development Teenage Pregnancies Pillar 2: Crises Intervention Prevention Clubs Drug and alcohol interventions Gender-based/Domestic violence interventions Crime prevention interventions Covid-19 (other possible pandemics)prevention interventions Awareness raising activities Pillar 3: Education Afterschool activities Educational Camps Leadership Camps Arts and Culture Awards Ceremonies Bursaries Re-engaging young people into education system Pillar 4: Inner healing Counselling Activities Psychosocial Support Rise 2 Shine Project got official permission from the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture in 2022 to work in the 61 schools in the Hardap Region for the next five years. These schools host a total of +/-26 000 learners. Our target population of adolescents age 12 - 19 years comprise of at least between 16000 to 18000 out of the total learners in the Region. For the first two years of implementation we targeted 10 schools with the aim to reach between 4000 and 5000 learners.