SIDHAS Kids Club Meeting Summary Report for November 2016 By PCDF

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BACKGROUND
In November 2016, fifty-three community volunteers conducted Kids’ Club meetings across scale-up and maintenance LGAs in Cross River State, reaching 699 vulnerable children (303 males, 396 females). These meetings aimed to address the psychosocial needs of the children and provide life skills as part of the SIDHAS project intervention.

ATTENDANCE
A total of 699 children (303 males, 396 females) attended the Kids’ Club meetings during this reporting period.

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT DURING KIDS’ CLUB MEETINGS
The following activities were conducted across the five LGAs:

  1. Opening Prayer
  2. Introduction
  3. Health/Gender Talk
  4. Questions and Answers
  5. Recreations (Game Time)
  6. Refreshment
  7. Closing Prayer

PARTICIPANTS’ INTRODUCTION
Participants introduced themselves, mentioning their favorite food and best color. PDF staff and community volunteers also introduced themselves.

OPENING REMARK
The community volunteer welcomed the children, outlined the meeting agenda, and encouraged full participation.

HEALTH TALK
Community volunteers presented health talks on:

  • Self-esteem
  • Goal setting
  • Basic facts on HIV and AIDS
  • Basic hygiene
  • Malaria prevention
  • Hand washing

GENDER TALK
The gender talk focused on values and values clarification, emphasizing the importance of including health workers and hospitals in their values for achieving life goals.

LESSONS LEARNT

  1. Collaboration with the c-ART team helped enroll vulnerable children and provide HTS.
  2. On-site monitoring strengthened community volunteers’ commitment.
  3. Provision of materials helped volunteers prepare for Kids’ Club meetings.
  4. Refreshments motivated children to participate seriously in activities.

HTS
PCDF conducted HIV testing services during the Kids’ Club meetings, testing 187 children (73 males, 114 females), and referred 316 children to the c-ART team for HTS.

OUTCOMES

  1. Gender mainstreaming made children more gender-sensitive.
  2. Children interacted, played, and shared irrespective of cultural background, ethnicity, or religion.
  3. Previously voiceless children began speaking up for their rights.
  4. Children showing disobedient behavior at home exhibited positive changes as noted by their parents.

CHALLENGES

  1. Difficulty accessing nutritional services due to required hospital registration fees.
  2. Some children missed meetings due to first term examination preparations.
  3. Children often arrived late due to household chores and errands, requiring additional mobilization by volunteers.
  4. Some volunteers struggled to secure a permanent venue for meetings.

RECREATION
Children played games, including football, hide and seek, running, sack race, and skipping, supervised by volunteers for 20 minutes.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. Conduct advocacy visits to FHI-supported facilities for better collaboration on nutritional services for vulnerable households.
  2. Increase advocacy visits to community stakeholders to request halls or spaces for Kids’ Club and caregiver meetings.