Health
Health action with informed and engaged societies
Health
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
Time to read
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 23 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Cyber-Café Initiative - El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala

1 comment
From November 1999 to October 2002, Advocates for Youth worked with three NGOs in Latin America to develop three cyber-cafés for Latino gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) youth. These NGOs - Entre Amigos in El Salvador, Comunidad Gay San Pedrana in Honduras, and OASIS in Guatemala - were assisted in the creation of resource centres meant to serve as safe spaces for GLBT youth to gather and exchange sexual health information without fear of being targeted due to their sexual orientation.
Communication Strategies
Key activities and services carried out in the cyber cafés include:
  • provision of virtual and real information on safer sex and HIV prevention
  • workshops on how to use word processors and spreadsheet software as well as on how to navigate the Internet
  • creation of a resource centre with information downloaded from the Internet related to safer sex, HIV/AIDS updates, human rights, and other topics of importance to the international GLBT community
  • the creation of a Spanish-language website for Latino GLBT youth, Ambiente Joven.
Young people were involved in the management, operation, monitoring, and evaluation of the programme. For example, a young person serves as the coordinator of each of the cyber-cafés, with support from an adult supervisor. In addition, online peer educators provide answers to questions posted by the young people who visit the Ambiente Joven site. This site not only serves as a venue for the dissemination of information related to safer sex and the prevention of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but also enables visitors to exchange information through a message board. An average of 7,600 people visit Ambiente Joven each month; visitors hail from a wide range of countries, including Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica.
Development Issues
Youth, HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health, Technology, Rights.
Key Points
Although the goal of the initiative was to provide a safe space for GLBT youth in these communities and to offer accurate information on how to reduce their risk of HIV/AIDS and other STIs, organisers claim that young people visiting the cyber-café have also increased their computer skills. They say that some youth have been promoted in their jobs as a result of the skills they have obtained; others have made the switch from being sex workers to holding jobs in offices or banks; and still others, who have not yet finished school, have been able to improve their computer literacy and thus increase their chances of getting a job.
Partners

Advocates for Youth, Entre Amigos, Comunidad Gay San Pedrana, and OASIS.

Sources

Letter sent from Nicole Cheetham to The Communication Initiative on March 17, 2003.

Comments

User Image
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/22/2008 - 11:52 Permalink

thankyou