Project Mampisaina: HIV/AIDs and STIs Education: Film projections at schools
Posted on 05 March 2010
One of Azafady’s major projects over the last year, and for the coming year, is Project Mampisaina which aims to educate young people across the urban commune of Fort Dauphin in order to increase awareness about, and to prevent increasing levels of, STI’s and HIV/AIDs, and is funded by the National Lottery’s Big Lottery Fund. To keep you informed here’s the second in a series of updates from Project Mampisaina’s first year….
As part of Project Mampisaina’s mass education campaign on HIV/AIDS in Fort Dauphin, Azafady joined forces with Population Services International and CNLS (the National Committee to fight against AIDs in Madagascar) to hold film screenings at schools throughout the commune to help spread Mampisaina’s message. Once every two months on Saturday mornings, small groups of pupils were selected to attend the film and then take part in a discussion about the issues raised. In the first session, three films were donated by PSI and UNICEF featuring testimonials from people living with HIV, how to talk to your partner about using a condom and encouraging school age partners to delay a sexual relationship.
The attendance at this first event was so high that we had to rethink the approach to make sure everyone who attended was getting the same amount of attention so it was decided to split the students into smaller groups by their age, sexual knowledge and experience. By doing this, the students were more likely to participate in discussions and the activities without fear of judgement or embarrassment. The screenings are a fun and relaxed environment where students can have franks and personal discussions about HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviours without the teacher or their parents being present but with the support of Azafady’s community peer educators.
The films bring issues and questions to the forefront of the students minds that that they were either were too afraid to ask or had never thought to ask, from prevention and testing to more specific questions such as why the HIV rate is so much lower in ‘developed’ countries than in poorer countries such as in Africa and how can HIV/AIDS arrive in Madagascar since it is an island? At the end, leaflets and condoms are given out as well as tickets for subsidized voluntary counselling and testing sessions with staff emphasising the importance of knowing your status, that needles are safe and painless, results are confidential and support is there for people who want to get tested.
Six of these events were held in 2009, and this year we’re hoping to put on another eight to make sure Mampisaina’s crucial message is heard by even more people across Fort Dauphin.
To support these projects and others, we are currently desperately looking for people to help secure a regular monthly income for Azafady to ensure the sustainability of the projects on the ground in southeast Madagascar. For example, in this project, the support of a community Peer Educator, essential to community education about HIV and STDs, costs around £10 a month - to find out more about making a regular donation to Azafady go to www.madagascar.co.uk/donateandshop/donate and you can download a standing order form here: www.madagascar.co.uk/donateandshop/standingorderform.pdf. Any support you can give is greatly appreciated.
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