In the centre of southern Africa, Zambia has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world: 19% among adults. Although the rate of new urban infections has peaked, rural infections are still rising. Zambia is the most urbanised country in Africa.

Religious leaders from the Lusaka Inter-faith HIV/AIDS Networking Group have bravely moved on from the less controversial work of AIDS care and family support to face the challenges of AIDS prevention. Training and discussion have led them to acknowledge the sexual behaviour of religious believers as it is, not just as it should be. This proved to be essential preparation for the group's support of "Treasuring the Gift".

The interfaith group identified a need for HIV prevention materials for young people, but a 1998 literature search found few sexual health programmes aimed at religious youth groups. The few that existed were all against condoms and for sexual abstinence. These materials offered only the "Plan A" of ideal sexual behaviour - no sex without marriage - without acknowledging that religions sometimes offer a "Plan B" of harm minimization when people fail to live up to the ideal; a good example is divorce.

In May 1998, the interfaith group approved a consultant's proposal written in consultation with key members of the group. Three Zambian collaborators worked with the consultant to involve members of the target group  young religious believers  in the production of the manual. Three women and seven young men (two Muslims, eight Christians) aged 1823 were recruited. Exceptionally talented and committed, they worked on the programme one or two days a week for expenses only, even during the World Football Cup!

Project facilitators visited the young people's religious leaders individually, asking permission to pilot the learning activities in their churches and mosques. This facetoface advocacy and consultation smoothed the path for what could have been controversial work.

The young people received three initial days of training on sexual health and participatory methods. They decided the following topics should to be covered: values, recognising risk, communication skills, positive and negative peer pressure, sexual relationships, biological facts, where to get help, how to talk to parents and how to live positively with HIV.

The project team (four facilitators and 10 young people) met one day each week for the next seven weeks. The facilitators drafted instructions for two or three participatory learning activities, created by themselves or sometimes adapted from existing materials. The young people used the instructions to lead the activity, then reviewed the content and instructions. Facilitators coached them in group skills.

After each meeting the young people returned to their own youth groups and facilitated the same activities. When the team met again, each person said how last week's activity had gone and suggested improvements, before moving on to the current week's activities.

Twice during this period the facilitators met religious leaders from the interfaith group and discussed drafts together. Their response was encouraging, and these opportunities for the various faiths to review the book and have input probably helped to blunt any criticism.

As the weeks rushed by, the facilitators felt that the balance of ownership and power began to move away from them, to be shared by the young people. Instead of the young people using activities written by the facilitators, they began to make their own.

UNICEF's Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office has identified the finished book as a highquality training resource (possibly unique among religious resources in its positive approach to condoms), and Zambia's Ministry of Education has included it in its school lifeskills programme.

The young people also contributed to the background information, briefed the illustrator, planned and starred in the book's photographs, and chose the title. During the last session they made recommendations on how the book could be disseminated and were impatient to show other young people "their" book. The book is now being disseminated in Zambia by the religious organisations whose young members helped to write it. These same young people have become trainers, showing their peers how to lead the book's learning activities.

In conclusion, the direct involvement of the target group helped to create wide ownership of the process and the product. Other important factors were: supportive commissioners who had thought through the issues and identified a need; adequate funding; continuous consultation with all interested parties; and a high level of motivation and ability in the young production team.