News and Events

The Basha Lesedi Project Launched in the North East District

JULY 2007 — The FHI-led Basha Lesedi (Youth are the Light) Project was launched in Nlapkhwane Village this month  to the delight of residents and those in the surrounding villages of Mapoka, Zwenshambe, Gungwi, Moroka, and Masunga. Basha Lesedi is a multi-component community-based intervention that promotes abstinence and related life skills among youth.

Mr. Kgosi Tabulwa, one of the local stakeholders, welcomed the project and its implementing partners. In his speech, he encouraged united efforts to combat HIV, especially among youth in the district.

Project Director Mrs. Bagaisi Phaphe-Mabilo told the large crowd that the project recognizes youth and communities as assets as well as the importance of families. Basha Lesedi works with existing organizations and community groups, builds the capacities of partners, and fosters collaboration.

FHI was awarded a cooperative agreement to manage the five-year project in September 2006. The project  is funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A Consultancy Assignment from ACHAP
FHI teamed with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs (CCP) to win a consultancy assignment from the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP). ACHAP is a country-led, public-private development partnership between the Government of Botswana, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Merck Company Foundation/Merck & Co., Inc. The partnership is dedicated to supporting and enhancing Botswana's national response to HIV/AIDS.

For this assignment, FHI and CCP developed an operational plan that provides a detailed and practical framework for rapidly going to scale with a comprehensive range of prevention interventions at national and district levels. The development of the plan was guided by the National AIDS Coordinating Agency and in close collaboration with ACHAP.

FHI's Other Work in Botswana
In 2004, FHI collaborated with CDC/BOTUSA on a qualitative study involving in-depth interviews with women at high risk for HIV. Results were published in vol. 5 no. 2 of the African Journal of AIDS Research ("Talking about sex in Botswana: social desirability bias and its possible implications for HIV prevention research").

FHI also collaborated with the Botswana National Youth Council to strengthen the youth component of the country's strategic framework for AIDS control and participated in a March 2006 brainstorming meeting concerning the rapid scale-up HIV prevention in Botswana.