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Question: I am an exchange student from the United States studying Public Health at Elon University, and am studying at the University of Cape Town in South Africa for the semester. I am apart of a study abroad organization called CIEE and am apart of their service-learning program, where a group of us take classes at UCT while simultaneously working in service sites throughout Cape Town. During our time spent at our service sites, we are required to complete some sort of project, which can include implementing some sort of program or service to our location.

I have been placed at Ned Doman High School in Athlone, Cape Town and have spent the past couple weeks observing the school in order to determine some type of positive impact I can have on the students. During this time, I have decided that the school's counseling services are lacking and it would be very beneficial to begin a peer counseling/education program within the school. I noticed that your organization has partnerships with training programs and was wondering if you have or know about any resources available that could be used in conducting a peer education training session with the students at Ned Doman. Online resources or materials that I could use to facilitate a session with the students would be best if any exist and I am looking for some advice in the matter.

I look forward to hearing back and thanks in advance for you time!

Answer:

Hi,
From your question it is not clear how you arrived at the conclusion that a peer education/counseling program is the way to go forward. I might suggest looking at some of the resources in the Community Toolbox on "Assessing Needs and Resources" and "Analyzing Community Problems and Designing and Adapting Community Interventions." You may find Chapters 17-19 and Toolkits 3 and 7 to be helpful in a general way.

Question Date: Thu, 03/12/2015