About

WHY RHAY

RHAY is a response to the cry of adolescents and young people (AYP) to be involved in conferences beyond one or two of them being given the podium to tell their stories, or where only a pre-conference session is dedicated to them, or where they sit at a youth corner in the community village. Youth find it challenging to navigate the highly scientific concurrent sessions or understand the research jargon used during presentations. At the 1st HIVR4P Conference in Cape Town in 2014, a young person remarked that: “We attend these conferences and end up just talking to ourselves. We do not understand what is going on, even when they (the presenters) talk about us (youth)” .

RHAY aims to open a new chapter by bringing AYP in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) to the forefront in the fight against HIV, not just on a conference platform but in shaping the long-term prevention and care/treatment research and program agenda towards epidemic control by 2030.

RHAY aims to move beyond the rhetoric of youth involvement to showcase what it truly means to engage young people, hear their voices, give them a platform, and built their capacity to hold the steering wheel in the fight against HIV, in the spirit of Nothing for Us without Us.

THE RHAY SECRETARIAT

Dr. Kawango Agot

Dr. Kawango Agot

Cordinator
With a robust background and extensive experience in the field, she brings unparalleled expertise to our team. Passionate about guiding and empowering the next generation of researchers, she is dedicated to cultivating talent and driving innovation in HIV prevention, treatment, and care
Mr. Gerald Owuor

Mr. Gerald Owuor

RHAY Secretariat
With a proven track record of leadership and a passion for community empowerment, he guides and inspires our team with expertise and vision. As a leader within the Secretariat, he plays a pivotal role in coordinating our efforts and driving impactful initiatives to advance HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
Ms. Winnie Wandera

Ms. Winnie Wandera

RHAY Secretariat
She is a collaborative team player, fostering effective communication channels and ensuring cohesive coordination. With a passion for leveraging media and communication strategies, she plays a pivotal role in amplifying our research initiatives and engaging diverse audiences.
Ms. Ivy Wango

Ms. Ivy Wango

RHAY Secretariat
With a keen eye for detail and a passion for data-driven insights, she plays a pivotal role in our team, harnessing the power of data to drive informed decision-making and shape impactful research outcomes. Her expertise ensures that our efforts are grounded in evidence, enabling us to effectively address the challenges of HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
Ms. Dusila Odoyo

Ms. Dusila Odoyo

RHAY Secretariat
With a meticulous approach and a commitment to excellence, she supports our team by analyzing and interpreting data, contributing valuable insights to our research endeavors. Her keen attention to detail and collaborative spirit greatly enhance our capacity to make informed and data driven decisions a in HIV prevention, treatment, and care.
Mr. Romeo Odira

Mr. Romeo Odira

RHAY Secretariat
With a keen eye for detail and a creative flair, he plays a pivotal role in analyzing data and designing engaging online platforms to support our research initiatives. Through his multifaceted contributions, he helps to drive innovation and facilitate communication, ultimately advancing our mission of empowering youth in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

WHAT rhay does

Research Mentorship

Premised on the belief that AYP have ideas on how to reduce the HIV burden among their peers but lack resources to try out, RHAY has an initiative dubbed 30-U-30 award to provide seed funding to AYP in East and Southern Africa to pilot their ideas. The first phase Funding was obtained from Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, after which a total of 87 AYP were taken through thorough training on how to write abstracts and concepts proposals;

Trainings

RHAY through her Implementation science executive committee (ISEC) works with young people identified under the 30-u-30 awards project, to equip the young researchers with Implementation Science knowledge, skills and application strategies across East and Southern Africa. RHAY coordinates the mentorship trainings virtually with occasional physical meetings, by the help of Implementation science expert mentors volunteering from East and Southern Africa.

AYP Linkages

RHAY is keen on graduating the first cohort of the 30-u-30 awards mentees and assisting them develop manuscripts then begin to link them to local and international conferences to exhibit their findings and work. The first phase beneficiaries are released from March 2023

Government Collaborations

RHAY reached out to county and National governments through the national council of governors and the Lake region economic bloc (LREB) they were involved in mobilizing submission of abstracts and concept proposals from AYP across the regions. Through the chairperson Dr.Christine Wasike, LREB committed their mandate to the youth in terms of improving health and empowerment with knowledge and information.

Our Address

Tom Mboya Estate Along Mito Jura Road off Kisumu Kakamega Highway