Raising Awareness about HIV and AIDS

Description

IDF in partner with GTZ, and DED carried out awareness campaigns and trainings with communities and teachers in various localities in the North West Region.

awareness campaign

Raising awareness in villages about HIV/AIDS

Project Context

 In 2001, part of the government’s approach to dealing with the HIV and AIDS pandemic was to carry out awareness raising and informative campaigns.  The goal of this was to ensure the population was conscious and convinced that the disease existed in addition to informing them about healthy and responsible behaviour. 

furu awa awareness campaign

Awareness campaign in Furu Awa Village

Activities

  • Four month awareness campaign with GTZ in 78 villages in the Menchum Division in 2001 reached 9 000 people.
  • Workshop carried out along with GTZ to train secondary school teachers of Menchum Division in April 2002. 142 teachers were trained on generalities of HIV and AIDS along with how to integrate information into their teaching.
  • Workshop carried out in 2002 with DED to train teachers at the Presbyterian and Baptist Secondary schools in the North West and South West provinces. This workshop was held at the Bamenda Pastoral Centre and covered the topic of how to introduce HIV/AIDS in school curricula.
  • A three day mass awareness campaigns in the Ndamukong quarter in Bamenda in October 2001 with the GTZ.
  • Awareness campaigns with secondary school students in the Mezam and Menchum divisions in April 2002.  Around 43 000 students were informed about HIV/AIDS in over 60 schools.

awareness campaign furu awa

Furu Awa (one of the villages) was so remote IDF needed to take a helicopter

Results and Impacts

Participants of the awareness campaigns and training sessions expressed satisfaction with IDF’s work. Participants identified the following impacts: less stigma, more self-esteem,  they have hope, they learned about HIV and AIDS.

awareness campaign with military

Raising awareness through sport

Difficulties Faced

  • It is difficult to mobilise youths who usually think they know enough.
  • Carrying out awareness campaigns in villages requires advanced planning to deal with the possibility of bad roads, no electricity and poor telephone connections.
  • Culture and previous awareness campaigns can severely influence the mindset of the population.

Lessons Learned

  • Awareness campaigns are most effectively carried out at the local level.
  • There still exists doubt on the efficiency of condoms.
  • It is necessary to take the culture of  the people into consideration when development awareness campaigns.

Way Forward/Recommendations

  • It is important to train peer educators to ensure that continuous training can occur in remote locations.
  • Documenting the experience is important for future campaigns as for the purposes of learning.
  • Continuous knowledge reinforcement of facilitators is integral to informing the people with the most accurate information.

Download Report and Summaries:

IDF Bamenda