Introduction:

Winner’s society is a children’s focused group arranged under mentorship supervision and support to provide children in primary schools with a forum or platform for discussion, learning and promotion of behavior change in their society, especially their survival in spite of HIV’s threatening presence

Membership:

Winner’s society is made up of all the children in primary schools who wish to subscribe to become members of such society within their school. By subscription we mean voluntary commitment to be enlisted as a member of winner’s society within ones school.

Activities:

Winner’s society helps in creating an environment for chidden to handle problems which affect them generally, including gender sensitive issues such as gender role playing in the community and family. Gender equality and gender equity; the control of HIV spread, as well as the prevention of host of sexually transmitted diseases; Community health hygiene, self-help, and life skills initiative; will be addressed in this forum.

Formation:

Winners Society groups are formed just like all other societies except that children do not pay any subscription fees to be members. The process is guided by the mentors and the school teachers but later the president and other officials of the society will recruit their own members gradually and officially. Later, the society may create its own documentary guidelines if it becomes necessary.

Rationale:

The HIV has created many complex problems in our society than what is normally known to most of us. Practical ways of fighting and eliminating them must be sought vigorously. Nothing should be left for chance, if our future generation will get out of the quagmire HIV has created. Few examples are highlighted:

• The huge number of children orphaned by HIV have created a sort of dependence syndrome in our society that will take years to heal

• Dependence syndrome has very bad negative effects on society because it stifles their creative ability to manage their own probes as they wait for others to come to their rescue.

• Dependence syndrome, whether justified or not, is worst at the early stages of human development and can have disastrous effects on its victim as they become adults. This problem is becoming more acute in some parts of our country where those communities depend on international supplies for a living.

• Children must be assisted early enough to avoid the mistakes of the past, and to learn how to marshal their internal strengths for their future survival without looking for an external help as their only hope of living.

• Dependence syndrome in our society has led to further exploitation of children even when they become adults, because they have been dehumanized, and have lost self drive to make self initiative for self reliance and self survival

• In these forums, children will get opportunity to discuss these problems with the guidance of an adult mentor or teacher for their own self discovery. We know, for example, that lack of focus and meaningful guidance is the major cause of drugs and other vices among children in the society.

Aims and Objectives

Aims:  provide a practical approach to the problems facing children by involving them in finding practical solution themselves on their own.

Objectives: To create a platform for chidren to discuss issues that affect them including the problem of HIV infection spread among children.

Create opportunity for small group discussions and learning about extra curricular topics not provided for in the school calendar

Make counseling opportunity available to the children who may be in need of such services, i.e. children from homes where there are family feuds and broken homes. Or in the situation where children are being raised by single mothers and lack positive and leadership influence of a father as an authority figure in the child’s life.

Leadership

In order to make this program truly a children’s program, leadership positions shall be determined by the group itself.

Winners’ society shall be coordinated by a patron/ counselor who shall act in an advisory capacity and shall also provide counseling and guidance to the leadership. The patron shall be appointed by the school administration and shall be ether a trained mentor or a counselor designate. This is important because he/she should play the role of a counselor and should be knowledgeable about HIV and life skills issues.

Winners’ relationship with other groups in the school

Winners Society should be aware of the existence of other groups and societies in their school and should not antagonize or compete with them. All activities in an institution is intended to help members of that organization to meet its social, spiritual or psychological needs, therefore, every group is as important as the other in the  fulfillment of the groups needs.