HIV Awareness & the Women of Pleebo High School

Sarah and I had done a survey at the beginning of the semester when our women’s club was just taking off as to what the girls were interested in learning about in workshop forms.  One of the big responses was women’s health and HIV/AIDS information.  We thus decided to host our first two workshops on HIV – both how it’s transferred and how we can prevent it.

These workshops were by far the most fulfilling things I have done with the club yet.  The first meeting was very straightforward – we explained the science behind how HIV works, the ways that HIV can be transferred, and addressed misconceptions and facts/myths surrounding HIV.  The second meeting dealt with preventing HIV infection and how we can educate our communities about HIV and safe sex. 

I am teaching the women about the immune system and the role HIV plays in attacking our body. 

Sarah explaining the Elephants & Lions Game.  This is an opportunity for the girls to act out HIV attacking the T4 cells of the immune system, all while giving them a better opportunity to understand how HIV is contracted.

The girls were extremely responsive to the sessions and I was so happy to have introduced this information and these resources to our club.  My favorite part of the meeting was the condom demonstration that we did on the second meeting.  We went to the market, bought a big plantain, and proceeded to demonstrate how to put on a condom properly and how to dispose of it when things are through.  We even had a few girls volunteer to try in front of the group!

Ready to start the condom demo!

Discussing ways to prevent HIV transmission before our demonstration

When that demonstration was through, we had an open conversation dealing with the questions or concerns that the students had.  At first, the tension was so thick you could have cut the air with a knife; once I asked them a question, however, they opened up and we had all kinds of questions.  I mentioned how sometimes it can be awkward or uncomfortable talking openly about sex and anatomy, but that this is the only way we can learn and fix the misconceptions in our community.  We had question after question, and they were all very good.  One student informed us that a man in our community told her that only women can have syphilis, therefore he did not need to use a condom.  Another student shared her thoughts that HIV can be cured in a man if he sleeps with a virgin girl – this is perpetuated by bush doctors and traditional medicine that is common here.

Needless to say, our students were excited to learn about something new, and especially to do so in an environment that they were comfortable in.  Our next workshop is going to be about malaria, seeing as April is World Malaria Month.  I find these to be good opportunities to share correct facts and information with our students who, in turn, can share it with their friends and family.  The misconceptions in our community are many, and I can only hope that through the open conversations and fun learning opportunities we provide for our students, we can clear up some of these and have a more educated and healthier community!