Highlands Hope is proud  to announce being chosen as a recipient of a Grand Challenges grant from the Government of Canada for innovation in health care. The grant of $112,000 was received in collaboration with the Ingram School of Nursing at McGill University in Montreal and will allow McGill Nurses for Highlands Hope and the Highlands Hope Umbrella for an 18 month project to extend our innovative and effective Youth Peer Health Educator (YPHE) program into 50 primary schools across the Njombe Region.

As its president, Dr. Peter A. Singer, decribes it, "After four years, Grand Challenges Canada has evolved into a platform that nurtures innovative solutions in global health. It offers opportunities for social enterprises and impact investors to generate measurable and sustainable social impact." (see Bold Ideas with Big Impact, Letter from the President of Grand Challenges Canada, May 2014)."Grand Challenges Canada is funding innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation – called Integrated Innovation. We work to bring successful innovation to scale, catalyzing sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives."

In the announcement of the grant, the project is described as follows:

Turning hope into action: youth peer health education in rural Tanzania

Almost one in six people are HIV-positive in Njombe – a region with Tanzania’s most uninformed population when it comes to the disease, according to surveys, and the country’s highest rate of infection, now increasing among young adults. The area has no formal HIV education program and many children are orphans lacking parental guidance. This project will
expand a pilot-tested, site-crafted, formally evaluated HIV/AIDS youth peer health educator program into primary schools in HIV-ravaged rural Tanzania, to empower youth in making healthy decisions.
Video: http://bit.ly/1iIyGMG        Pictures: http://bit.ly/1j3AAgu                                                                                                   Full announcement of winning projects: http://www.grandchallenges.ca/wp-content/uploads/StarsinGlobalHealth-Round6-MNCH-NewsRelease-May2014-Canadianbased-EN.pdf

Highlands Hope is profoundly grateful to the people of Canada and the Grand Challenges Program for this recognition and support and pledges to work diligently, transparently, and in a spirit of innnovation and sustainability to reach our goals.