Including Designing a Web Site and Implementing an Online Peer Education Program

The full report is available online in PDF format in [English], [Spanish], and [Portuguese]. *

Written by Alex Franka with Jessie GilliamEdited by Sue Alford, MLS, and Ammie Feijoo, MLS

The goal of Cyber Cafés, A How-to Manual is to guide youth-serving NGOs in creating cyber cafés to promote youth's reproductive and sexual health. Within this primary goal, the cyber café is an important tool to achieve several other goals. It will allow young people to: 1) access the Internet and search for accurate and up to date information on sexual health; 2) experience community, both online and off; 3) increase youth's computer literacy; and 4) improve youth's job related skills.

The cyber café can also create revenue to sustain itself or to fund other activities. Finally, the organization can link the cyber café to its other programs that might benefit from the cyber café.

CONTENT OF THE MANUAL

This manual is divided into nine easy-to-read chapters. The chapters build so that those readers who feel less able to use a computer can increase their base of knowledge as they read each chapter.

• The first chapter talks about the benefits of a cyber café and its potential for a positive impact on the lives of young people and adults.
• The second, third, and fourth chapters describe, in detail, the steps in setting up and operating a cyber café.
• The fifth chapter provides an overview of the basics of computers and computer networks.
• The sixth chapter covers Internet basics.
• The seventh chapter introduces the basics of designing a Web site.
• The eighth chapter discusses online peer education as a key to providing youth-friendly information and support via the Internet.
• The ninth chapter discusses the importance of including in the program opportunities for youth to learn and practice job related computer skills.

Each chapter begins with a learning objective. Throughout the manual, examples and brief case studies, in sidebars and boxes, illustrate points made in the main text. Finally, a glossary of computer related terms will help readers who don't feel particularly comfortable with computer or Internet jargon. A list of acronyms will help, if the reader forgets the meaning of a particular acronym. Throughout this document, "you" is a collective term, meaning the team of people planning the cyber café—always including youth.

Please Note: In order to download the PDF document, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader.