Writte by our St Lucia intern, Laure
For the past few months our partners at African Impact have delivered HIV education to adults groups every Thursday and Friday afternoon in the St-Lucia area. Each session lasts 3 weeks, during which a small number of adults coming from Khula, Eswenelisha and Dukuduku villages gather to learn about this vast subject. There is no taboo and no judgement; the lessons are educational and interactive. So far in 2014, 45 people have received their certificates for passing the Adult HIV Education course. Both THAF and African Impact can be proud of that number, we are always eager to do more to raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS in KZN.
This desire shared by THAF and African Impact explains Miriam’s excitement (Project manager for African Impact in St-Lucia) as she received an unexpected phone call from the principal of Khula High School a few days ago. As part of an educational weekend in St Lucia African Impact and THAF were asked to deliver 2 hours of HIV education to 20 students aged from 14 to 17 years old. “We haven’t had much opportunity to deliver HIV Education in this particular high school yet so this phone call is a awesome news!” Miriam said.
After a quick game to establish a level of confidence, we all sat in a circle and got to the heart of the matter. The HIV Virus effects, the 4 fluids of transmission, the risky situations and the CD4 counts were explained in the form of different games. After a condom demonstration, we had an open discussion, during which the teenagers were free to raise all the questions they wanted: How can I have a child if I am HIV positive and my husband is not? May I use a female condom and a male condom at the same time? Is their medicines you can take if you’re pregnant and HIV positive to diminish the risk of transmission to your baby while giving birth? …
The session ended with everyone saying one thing he learned today. It is fantastic to go away know they have gained valuable knowledge but even more important is that these young adults can now confidently spread the word about HIV/AID. Hopefully we will be able to reach out to more groups of teenagers during the next months, as the teachers really were interested in having other interventions with African Impact’s volunteers.
With almost 2 million of the province’s inhabitants infected with the virus (38%), KwaZulu-Natal is the province that recorded the highest HIV prevalence. Nelson Mandela said, “ Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. THAF strongly believes that educating the young generation is the key to stop the spread of HIV and starting to reverse the current trend.
You can help it happening while supporting the Educational Support Programme of St-Lucia!