Education India Project #42451

Train 4600 Indian girls as peer health leaders

by Adolescent Health Champions, Inc.

Project Report | Jun 1, 2021
Supporting Our Youth in India During the Second Wave

By Dr. Priya Shankar & Ricky Sharma | Co-Founders, Adolescent Health Champions

Dear Adolescent Health Champion,

The past few months have been extremely difficult for our youth given the devastating surge in COVID-19 cases across India. Many report having been significantly impacted personally, whether from falling sick themselves, having to care for loved ones who have experienced severe cases, or mourning those who have passed away due to COVID-19. Many youth and their families are also struggling due to the economic hardships associated with stricter lockdowns in recent weeks on top of an over year-long pandemic. Finally, many youth continue to deal with feelings of isolation and anxiety and the disruption to their education, with considerable uncertainty as to when their schools will reopen.

We believe that the impacts caused by the pandemic and this unprecedented second wave in India is going to have lingering effects on youth and their physical and mental health for years to come. As such, supporting our youth with their health is more important than ever.

We have transitioned our entire youth-led health education model to be virtual, with an emphasis on critical content for pandemic such as mental health and COVID-19. To date, we have been able to support 2,000+ youth across 60+ virtual sessions over the last six months. Youth have reported many benefits of the program not only in terms of their education, but also on their mental health. One of our Champions says, “My participation in AHC has been the greatest opportunity of my life through which I have learned how to build my confidence and how to cope with various situations in life.”

We are also pleased to share that last month we officially launched our mobile application at one of our partner schools. Our innovative mobile application was co-designed with our Champion peer educators and Youth Advisory Board during the pandemic to deepen our engagement and support of youth. The app provides adolescents with additional educational content and interactive activities to promote healthy behaviors, as well as access to vetted local and virtual adolescent-friendly healthcare resources.

Another important update to share is that we have officially rebranded from Girls Health Champions to Adolescent Health Champions! We made this decision after engaging with our youth and stakeholders, collectively agreeing that it was important to adopt a more inclusive approach and catalyze a movement of all genders fighting for gender justice and health equity. Most importantly, this decision was made with the full support and at the urging of our female youth.

Please consider donating today to help us expand our COVID-19 response and reach thousands more youth virtually in the coming months. Your contribution will go a long way in ensuring these youth get the support they need during the pandemic and beyond.

With gratitude,
Dr. Priya Shankar & Ricky Sharma
Co-Founders, Adolescent Health Champions

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Dec 31, 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic Response + Looking Ahead to 2021

By Dr. Priya Shankar & Ricky Sharma | Co-founders, Girls Health Champions

Dear Girls Health Champion,

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to deeply affect our youth. Schools remain closed across India, and remote learning, along with the associated technological and connectivity constraints, have significantly limited access to education. Many of our youth have personally been impacted by the virus, from falling sick themselves to having family members suffer serious cases and, in some instances, passing away. Many of our youth report experiencing additional mental health strain during this time, including feelings of isolation, loneliness, and anxiety. The pandemic continues to remind us of the necessity of quality health education and support for youth.

As an organization, we have prioritized understanding the challenges our youth are facing and how we can best support them through these difficult times. We have spent the past several months working closely with our Youth Advisory Board (YAB) to formulate and develop every aspect of our COVID-19 pandemic response. The YAB is comprised of Champions from our schools and has been instrumental in guiding all aspects of our organizational strategy and execution.

Working with our YAB, we have co-designed a mobile app to help us reach more youth digitally; overhauled our curriculum to include additional relevant information, including COVID-19 content; and transitioned our program to be conducted virtually.

Looking ahead to 2021, we look forward to expanding our youth-led program virtually. If you haven't already this year, please consider donating today and help us provide critical health education and support to several thousand youth during this COVID-19 pandemic!

Stay safe and healthy, and Happy New Year!

With gratitude,

Dr. Priya Shankar & Ricky Sharma
Co-founders, Girls Health Champions

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Jul 7, 2020
Health Education and the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Dr. Priya Shankar & Ricky Sharma | Co-Founders

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