MALAWI

Malawi is a poor country in South East Africa that ranks 162^nd on the United Nations poverty index. Malawi has an HIV prevalence of 16 percent. In response to this situation, the Malawi government launched its National HIV/AIDS Strategy Framework in 1999. A year later, MLI partnered with FASU Consultancy (Fertility Awareness through Selective Use) to form FAMLI (FA+MLI) to develop a unique and dynamic AIDS cultural and behavioral change program that complements the Malawian national AIDS prevention strategy.

FAMLI has three parts:

• “Youth Alive,” provides education and peer support for young people to be abstinent before marriage.  The Youth Alive model has been widely acclaimed in Uganda and Zambia and is one reason why HIV infections in young people have fallen in these countries.

• “Circles of Life” provides practical instruction in fertility awareness as well as education about the importance of faithfulness in marriage -- keys to decreasing new HIV infections.

• “AIDS Cultural Change” sends community based educators to villages where they talk with chiefs, local leaders, and tribal members about what cultural factors may be spreading HIV. Through this process, awareness of AIDS is increased so that communities respectfully consider more healthy alternatives in a time of AIDS.

Father Richards Cremins, the executive director of FAMLI, states, “We are treating the patients of tomorrow by preventing AIDS today.”

A local Board of Directors sets policy for FAMLI.