We Are Waiting For You..Join us NOW...www.facebook.com/youthofchoice

Yes, we are social and now you can join the growing number of our
friends and supporters. We are the movement of choice for social
change and we look forward having you as part of our community.

YOC TEAM : Driving Social Change
Non-profit & Tax Exempt
Mobile: +27 795396131
Fax: +27 865656970
Website: www.youthofchoice.org

Promoting HIV prevention through music and dance

Change lies in the hands of young people. If the dynamics of the HIV
epidemic are really have to change, then it is imperative that this generation take a lead in HIV prevention and be encourage to be the voice for behavior change.

Reach and Teach campaign is a behavior change initiative which uses alternative artistic methods to reach and teach the youth about HIV/AIDS prevention through music and dance. It aims to use the emotional power of music and dance to energize, educate and promote safer lifestyle choices. As part of World Aids Day commemorative events, Youth of Choice Organization (YOC) has come up with an innovative concept to increase HIV prevention through an interactive dance competition that will feature local the Hip Hop dance crews showing some of the most amazing, intricate and off-the-wall moves anyone has ever seen. The event will take place at Winston Churchill, Pietermaritzburg on December 4 starting at 10.

When asked, Jabulani Myeza the founder of Youth of Choice, "our approach is to first engage and inspire before trying to educate. This is where so many programmes have failed as they try to educate an uninterested audience. We strongly believe that before providing
prevention information in an effective way the audience needs to be inspired in some way to want to engage with that information. This indeed is central to what Reach and Teach campaign aims to achieve – bringing prevention of HIV/AIDS in a positive way and inspire young
people to take actions around HIV/AIDS."

Groups interested taking part in the event must contact Cecil on 078 773 4513. Lots of prizes to be won. Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

World AIDS Day today! Have you been tested & do you know your HIV status? Take Action TODAY!

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Whoever you are, Wherever you are and Whoever you are, Support Youth of Choice:

The more well known we are, the more impact we can have in driving social change. Spread awareness about us, write about us on the media, link to your website, make us your charity of choice, connect with us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

You can also fund raise for us, volunteer with us, get your friends involve with us, donate to us, sponsor one of our programs or become a partner of choice.

YOC TEAM: Driving Social Change
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Do You Know Your HIV Status?

Get tested and take part in our Know Your Status Poll.

• Do you know your HIV status?

• Yes, I get tested regularly

• Yes, but my last test was a while ago

• No, but I plan to get tested soon

• No, I don’t feel I need to

• No, I’m scared to find out

Thanks for taking part in our poll. Do the right thing and get tested NOW!

YOC TEAM : Driving Behavior Change
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YOU CAN HELP!

If you’re a Youth of Choice volunteer, supporter, board member, a
friend, project leader, please take a few minutes of your time to
complete the survey, which is open through November 30. And if you’ve
already completed the survey or don’t plan to, We would love to hear
your answers to these questions, which appear in the survey:

·         Approximately how many hours per month do you spend on Youth
of Choice-related activities?

·         Do you think the amount of time you spend supporting Youth
of Choice is too much, too little, or about right?

·         How satisfied are you with Youth of Choice performance?

·         How confident are you in Youth of Choice ability to impact
or influence social change?

·         Where should we improve moving forward?

Post comments here or email us at info@youthofchoice.org

We look forward to your comments.

YOC TEAM : Driving Social Change

www.youthofchoice.org

www.facebook.com/youthofchoice

www.twitter.com/YOUTHOFCHOICE

NO LONGER DREAMING, LIVING THE DREAM - A Social Innovator Driving Social Change!

Back in 2004, I was just an individual determined to make a difference in my surrounding community of Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and confident that I was doing the right thing. I didn’t have much experience in running projects, I didn’t have a business plan for Youth of Choice, and what seemed most important to me at the time, was to contribute towards social change. I didn’t have much money other than my savings from government. The initial funds to start the organization came from my own pocket and I had a dream of establishing my own organization some day.

After I left my professional carrier in government in 2004, I was living from hand-to-mouth, and had this vision of starting a non-profit organization to serve the developmental needs of young people. In 2005 I started doing some research on non-profit organizations and I remember at some point thinking that this might not work, even though I knew there was a need for a new progressive youth movement of choice for social change. In 2008, Youth of Choice was founded and registered as a non-profit organization. Luckily, the Msunduzi Municipality had enough faith in Youth of Choice and funded our first Aids awareness programme, same grant has extended to other two projects.

Youth of Choice has since gained a beat of momentum and now the biggest challenge is to get institutional funding to effectively run the organization. Without the confidence and support of the board members and volunteers, Youth of Choice would not be where it is today.

Now, I need to make a leap from an idealistic visionary individual to run a sustainable organization operating from an office with staff and programmes to deliver. I need your support to roll out Youth of Choice programmes, broaden the scope of their impact, and use the shared learning’s to assist more young people in the region.

I'm a transformational leader and a social innovator who speaks passionately about social change, leadership and success. I'm trained in property law and had a very successful career in government for ten years heading several transformation and change management structures. I'm currently the volunteer in chief of the organization responsible for the day to day management.

I'm looking forward to hear from you and your great ideas to assist Youth of Choice to drive social change. Sent me an email at, jabulani@youthofchoice.org or follow me on Twitter, http://twitter.com/YOUTHOFCHOICE or like our Facebook fan page, http://www.facebook.com/youthofchoice
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