OYO Magazine

The ‘OYO, young, latest and cool’ magazine is the oldest OYO project. The first issue was produced in 2002. It started as a 4-page newsletter and is now a 73-page glossy magazine. Each issue addresses a different topic related to HIV/AIDS or sexual health. Magazine assistants – also called freelance facilitators - arrange meetings with schools to deal with the selected topic; they organise debates, create plays or hold discussion sessions, as appropriate. They help learners gain a thorough understanding of the topic and encourage them to express their views or concerns by making individual contributions in the form of essays, poems, stories or drawings.

Contributions are evaluated on the basis of their originality and content; the chosen work, together with expert opinions and other pertinent inputs, is then published. The published magazines are distributed free of charge to schools. The model of the magazine has evolved over time.

Nowadays, each magazine is divided into five chapters. Freelance facilitators are trained to facilitate the magazine. They are then allocated schools and organise five sessions: one per chapter. Learners who attend all five sessions then receive a certificate for attendance. This model is proving successful.