August 9, 2011

HIV/AIDS awareness raised among 150 youth in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

In order to reduce teen pregnancy and preventing diseases such as HIV / AIDS, the United States Peace Corps graduated 150 young people from marginalized communities in the southern part of the city.

The graduation took place during an act in the Pastor high school, in the community of Bella Vista on Sunday, August 7, 2011.

Lena Berlove, a Peace Corps Volunteer, said the aim of training these young people is to raise awareness among them, because there is concern about the number of young girls who are pregnant.

During the event, the Director of the Center said that before the project implementation at the school, an average of 11 teens got pregnant every year, causing them to drop out of school. After Ms. Berlove started the project, teen pregnancy was reduced to 4 cases (63%), and they have not dropped out of school.

The graduates are part of the youth group "I choose my life," and according to Ms. Berlove, they are part of a group that has been working for six months with Dominicans and Peace Corps Volunteers in projects focusing on HIV / AIDS prevention. 35 Peace Corps Volunteers are currently working on the initiative, which began in 2004.

Tammy Simo, PC DR

And they arrived




Presentations



Graduation certificates



And celebration