From 2000-2005, with the help of the South Africa Department of Health, the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) led a national consultative process to develop rigorous standards and a comprehensive training and support strategy for South African peer education programmes in multiple sectors and audiences.

In 2006, PEPFAR/USAID asked HSPH to develop an intervention for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) to deliver prevention education and psychosocial support that would be more user-friendly and affordable than existing models.

Out of this process a South African NGO called Health Education Training and Technical Services (HETTAS) was established. They began to develop and test a structured curriculum-based programme called Vhutshilo (Venda for “Life”).

Training materials and M&E tools were designed to support both curricula, and the experiences and recommendations of partners fed into a continuous improvement process.

These curricula were extensively r