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Mitchell's Plain is a large, sprawling township near Cape Town in South Africa. It contains monotonous rows of houses built about 20 years ago for the "coloured" population - one of the racial groups designated under the aApartheid system to refer to people of mixed-race. A community marked by high unemployment and poverty, there are public schools here that lock the doors during the day and are surrounded by barbed wire to keep out gangs; daily realities among students include drug addiction, pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. Despite some grim conditions in Mitchell's Plain, there is plenty to be positive about: Thanks to a Penn State-led initiative and dedicated partners, youth in the area have reported they are less likely to start drinking, less likely to smoke and have an increased knowledge of condom use. Now the program, HealthWise, tested over the last five years at four schools, is so popular that it is being expanded to nearly 60 additional schools.
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