by Karma Loday

01 September 2009

Kathmandu, Nepal: In cooperation with the NGOs United Youth and Youth Action, UNV in Nepal successfully completed a HIV/AIDS awareness raising campaign during late July 2009.

Two people living with HIV/AIDS – one male and one female – came to share their experiences with the participants. The HIV/AIDS-affected woman gave an emotional talk and was very warmly welcomed by the female members of the crowd, who later ended up hugging her.

Similarly, the HIV/AIDS-affected man, a father of two healthy children, was asked many questions by the males in the audience and was later hailed for his bravery and willingness to come and talk to them.

At the end of the training, more than 200 residents of both genders were directly reached and trained and more are expected to be reached through these informed participants.

Preliminary findings in consultation with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have revealed that new trends of HIV infections are occurring among youth, especially at university age.

The primary target groups of the UNV campaign were the residents, especially the youth, of Koteshwor slum. This is one of the many areas in Kathmandu where information on HIV/AIDS is presumed to be limited. Many of the residents are illiterate and lack education.

The secondary target groups were the United Youth and Youth Action volunteers themselves, for the very reason that they were going to universities.  

Assistance was extended by other UN affiliated organizations such as UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNMIN and the National Centre for AIDS and STD control, especially sharing information materials and logistical support.        

United Youth and Youth Action are two of the many Government-affiliated youth organizations in Nepal. They recruit and mobilize volunteers enrolled in universities and other institutions for community service.

The Youth Action volunteers are trained and equipped with very effective and interactive training programmes on HIV/AIDS awareness by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Nepal.

The training entailed six modules, whereby each module dealt with different aspects of HIV/AIDS. These included: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs); HIV transmission and prevention; protection; my body; ‘you and me’ (gender); and ‘my life’ (solidarity).

The groups were equally divided into different modules and after 15 minutes the groups were rotated. Eventually all the groups passed through all six modules.

In order to make the training lively, group points were given for correct answers. Every group participated enthusiastically to score enough points to come first, for which small prizes were awarded at the end.  

United Youth and its volunteers facilitated this programme as a capacity-building measure under the guidance of UNV. United Youth contacted Youth Action of Nepal for their support in providing the trainings on HIV/AIDS awareness. The Youth Action Volunteers responded enthusiastically and this also subsequently resulted in building strong social bonds between these two organizations and their volunteers.

For reasons of cultural sensitivity, separate trainings were carried out for males and females. Pre and post surveys for this campaign were also carried out. All the participants felt that it was a very informative and useful training and requested similar trainings on health and sanitations to take place in the future.

We can proudly say that more than 200 people of Nepal are now more safe from HIV/AIDS. This programme was covered by a local radio station called Mirmire.