Teen Club

Teen Club is a peer support group intervention for HIV-positive adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19. The mission of Teen Club is "to empower HIV-positive adolescents to build positive relationships, improve their self-esteem and acquire life skills through peer mentorship, adult role-modeling and structured activities, ultimately leading to improved clinical and mental health outcomes as well as a healthy transition into adulthood." In addition to our Botswana COE (Gaborone) site, Teen Club operates in 5 satellite sites throughout Botswana, reaching more than 400 teens, in partnership with local NGOs and ARV hospitals, as follows:

1. Francistown: Light & Courage Centre Trust, Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital (formed October 2008)

2. Molepolole: Hope Worldwide Botswana, Scottish Livingstone Hospital (formed November 2008)

3. Mochudi: Stepping Stones International, Deborah Retief Memorial Hospital (formed September 2008)

4. Mahalapye: Mothers' Union Orphan Care Centre, Mahalapye District Hospital (formed May 2009)

5. Maun: Bana Ba Letsatsi, Letsholathebe District Hospital (formed November 2009)

Partnering with NGOs and healthcare partners at the local level has allowed the Botswana-Baylor COE to decentralize its psychosocial care and support interventions for adolescents, namely Teen Club, to various towns and villages throughout Botswana. The aforementioned initiatives would not have been possible without the generous financial support of our two primary donors, Barclays Bank and UNICEF Botswana. For more information, including our life skills curricula and toolkits, you can visit our website at botswanateenclub.wordpress.com.