China
The project completed all activities agreed upon in the Letter of Agreement. A systematic process of revision of the Leader Guides was undertaken. It included consultation with resource persons in various fields and needs assessment. Substantial revisions were then made in the Leader Guides (background and activity sections). Additional information was added concerning family planning. The material on HIV/AIDS was not considered to be particularly relevant to the field sites. Major changes were necessary in order to revise the materials from an African to a Chinese socio-cultural perspective (including illustrations). The graphic anatomical materials were acceptable. The revisions were made in consultation with specialists from several areas.
All nine of the Leader Guides were utilized. In addition, a number of resource persons were invited to supplement the materials by acting a guest speakers. The latter included population education teachers, village elders, medical workers, micro-enterprise managers and agricultural personnel. The topics included population policy, family planning methods, the environment, income generation and agriculture.
Indonesia
All the project activities were completed as agreed to in the Letter of Agreement, and a detailed project report was filed. The major lessons learned from the Project concerned the challenges encountered in revising the Leader Guides for use in Indonesia. It was necessary to make substantial changes in each Guide in order to make them meaningful and effective in the country context. The findings underscore the need for attention to regional socio-cultural, socio-economic, agricultural, demographic and health characteristics. Examples of the necessary changes include a wide range of issues such as: discussion of the socio-cultural and religious context; definition of the family; discussion of ideal ages at marriage; illustrations of human anatomy; the mention of withdrawal as a method of birth control; and discussion of masturbation, among others. It was also necessary to substantially revise information on income producing activities, nutrition, and migration. The mid-term and final evaluation of the modules indicated that they were useful after the revision process. However, a more in-depth evaluation of the completed materials would be helpful in order to systematically assess their strengths and weaknesses.
The Leader Guides did not include sufficient material on gender issues, and it was recommended that more attention be given to these topics in the future. It was suggested that the development of materials at the provincial-level would greatly enhance their effectiveness by providing up to date and relevant contextual material (socio-cultural, religious, economic, demographic, health, etc.). Finally, a number of issues were mentioned concerning the process of training youth leaders: providing more management and community development skills; and recruiting more women.
Thailand
The project was implemented in January 1996 and will be completed in April 1997. Only Leader Guides considered relevant to the situation in the project area were selected for use. These included: (1) Population and Agriculture; (2) Population and Employment and Income; and (3) Population and Health (especially HIV/AIDS). The Leader Guides were accepted with only minor modifications (illustrations, references to Africa, etc.). The selection of these modules was made in consultation with government and non-government community development workers, village and youth leaders, and parents.
In a new approach to the identification of entry points for population and education activities, the Leader Guides were linked with income-generating activities (flower production, commercial aquarium fish-raising, and plant nursery production). The project also involved a number of district officials from the Ministry of Health and Education.
The role playing techniques suggested in the African Leader Guides were found to be unsuitable because the participants were uncomfortable with the exercises. There was also difficulty finding a qualified trainer for these purposes. It was suggested that use of video material to kick-off discussion might be a suitable substitute. It was also noted that the trainer 's could benefit greatly from the provision of training in public speaking.
Vietnam
The project completed all activities agreed upon in the Letter of Agreement. The Leader Guides were substantially modified in a series of activities including workshops, training sessions, field testing and evaluation. With regard to the latter, 150 youth participants were asked to complete questionnaires which were analyzed and discussed at the final workshop. The results were generally very positive. A major lesson learned concerned the revision of Leader Guides for use with an upland ethnic minority group (the H'mong) who have distinct cultural traditions, and are semi-literate. The development of special Leader Guides for such groups is necessary in order to reflect their socio-cultural, economic, and environmental conditions, as well as make use of illustrations and visual material rather than text.
New content on reproductive health and primary health care in rural areas was added to the appropriate Leader Guides. More information on these subjects is requested in the future. There was also a request for the development of Leader Guides on Reforestation and Population and the Environment.
In the area of training, it was suggested that more attention be given to simplifying the concepts on population education, and providing relevant local examples in order to increase effectiveness.
In conclusion, the Leader Guides required substantial revision in most of the countries in order to reflect the socio-cultural and environmental context in each field site. The countries showed considerable ingenuity in adapting the materials, including the inclusion of auxiliary activities and resource persons. The now completed Leader Guides may serve as useful regional models of population education materials for rural youth. Future projects may wish to utilize more research-oriented (rapid participatory appraisal/SCR) approaches to developing even more effective materials reflective of local conditions, problems, and contingencies. There are a range of important new topics which may be included such as: sustainable development; environment; food security; migration (rural-urban); gender, population and development issues; strengthening the Girl Child; families in transition; health and reproductive health (including male responsibility); STD/HIV/AIDS; human sexuality and behaviour; and reproductive health communication among youth and their families/communities, among others.
