i

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

hiv/aids:

integrating

prevention

and care into

your sector

Peace Corps

July 2000

Information Collection and Exchange

Publication No. M0081
HIV/AIDS:

ii Peace Corps

The Idea Book Series

This Idea Book is one of a series of booklets produced to share specific

activities you may be interested in replicating. Other titles in the series

are listed below, and new ones are being produced continuously. All

of these ideas come from the work of Volunteers. Most of them were

submitted just at they are printed—there is no additional information.

Others were parts of larger reports. Where there are additional

reference materials for an idea, notations tell you how to obtain them.

There is also a reference section at the end of the booklet. Please contact

the appropriate person/group to follow up on the ideas.

You are encouraged to submit your successful activities to this series.

You will find a form on the final page of this booklet with instructions.

Titles in the Idea Book Series:

Beyond the Classroom: Empowering Girls

HIV/AIDS: Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector

In the Classroom: Empowering Girls

Potential Titles in the Idea Book Series:

Farmer to Farmer

Using Information Technology in Projects

How to Organize: Special Meetings, Day Events, Camps
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Contents

Acknowledgments .................................................................................. iv

Introduction ............................................................................................... 1

HIV/AIDS Project Design in Your Community................................... 3

Potential Obstacles and Strategies for Dealing with Them .............. 12

HIV and the Environment ..................................................................... 15

HIV and Small Enterprise Development ............................................ 23

HIV and the Health Sector .................................................................... 32

HIV and Youth ........................................................................................ 43

HIV and Education ................................................................................. 52

Additional Resources on HIV/AIDS ................................................... 61
HIV/AIDS:

iv Peace Corps

Acknowledgments

Numerous field and headquarters staff worked to complete the

publication of HIV/AIDS: Integrating Prevention and Care into

Your Sector. The Peace Corps appreciates the contributions of articles,

ideas and photographs by Volunteers, counterparts and staff

throughout the world; and the efforts of all those who participated in

this process.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Introduction

Currently, well over 33 million people are infected with HIV

worldwide. It is very difficult for any Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV),

regardless of your project area, to ignore the impact that this epidemic

has on your work and your personal life. This is especially true if you

are working in sub-Saharan Africa where approximately 70 percent

of the people that are infected with HIV currently live. Because of

this reality, the Peace Corps has adopted the policy that all Volunteers

entering service in Africa are trained in HIV/AIDS prevention and care.

This Idea Book offers some practical strategies for assessing and

responding to the effects of HIV on each of Peace Corps’ project areas,

including: Agriculture and Environment, Small Enterprise

Development, Health, Youth, and Education. The book also offers

examples of creative and effective strategies used by Volunteers to

integrate the issue of HIV into their activities through collaboration

with other sectors or by designing activities targetting those most

affected by AIDS.
HIV/AIDS

2 Peace Corps

One of the lessons learned from HIV programming over the years is

that this disease is not only a health problem, but a development

problem. Merely teaching populations the basics of HIV transmission

and the A,B,Cs of prevention (Abstinence, Be Faithful, and use

Condoms) is not enough to change behaviors. Behaviors are influenced

deeply by environmental conditions and social norms. Without

adequate income, people engage in behaviors that put them at risk

for disease. Without adequate food, diseases progress more rapidly.

Without education, social support, and protection of human rights,

people become increasingly isolated and vulnerable to disease and

discrimination.

Work in every project area can impact the AIDS epidemic. For example,

work on inheritance rights for women, education of girls, and incomegenerating activities for orphaned youth are HIV prevention and care

activities, whether the word “AIDS” is mentioned or not. HIV/AIDS

cannot be dealt with effectively in isolation, but must be approached

through an integrated cross-sectoral strategy that is sensitive to

community norms and values. No matter what sector of the Peace

Corps Volunteer effort you represent, you can make a difference in

addressing this pandemic.

As you read this Idea Book, look for ideas that you can apply in your

own community and in your project. The choice of which ideas are

most appropriate will depend on the needs and priorities of your

community identified by a thorough participatory appraisal at the

beginning of your service.

The important message to take from this Idea Book is that your work

can make a contribution to the prevention of HIV and to the care of

people affected by HIV while meeting your primary goals in

agriculture, business development, education or any other sector. This

can be accomplished by factoring the needs of your community’s HIVaffected population into the appraisal process. You will see questions

in each section, entitled “Questions to Explore,” that are designed to

help you assess and respond to these considerations.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

HIV/AIDS Project

Design in Your Community

HIV/AIDS can be a very sensitive issue in many communities, and

there are often complex reasons for the way it is perceived by community members. Because this is so often the case, the following

guidelines for activity planning in your community assume that there

will be some difficulties involved. In other communities, however,

HIV and sexuality issues may not be so sensitive, but it will still be

necessary for you to be aware of community practices and beliefs and

to encourage community members to lead prevention and care

planning efforts. It is important to remember that prevention and care

interventions should facilitate a feeling of personal and community

responsibility. Additionally, interventions should encourage the

community to recognize that they have the tools to prevent HIV

transmission and the ability to create positive environments for those

already infected and affected by the virus.

Kenya Peace Corps Director, Winnie Emoungu, gives certificate of appreciation to Allan Ragi,

Director of the Kenya AIDS NGO Consortium (KANCO) at an HIV/Water Sanitation Workshop.
HIV/AIDS

4 Peace Corps

Elements of the Planning Process

You can use the following points as a checklist of things to keep in

mind as you plan your intervention strategies and messages.

Work with community members from concept development

and planning through carrying out the activity. The community

with which you are working will know the best ways of stating a

message, where and when the message should be stated, what

motivates people, and what is important to people.

Use the local culture and health beliefs in the message. In

order to have a truly participatory process, people must use their

own beliefs and knowledge in any development activity. Using a

participatory process helps to ensure that the results or message

of the activity will be accepted and internalized by community

members. Interventions need to make cultural, social, and economic sense to the educators as well as the intended audience if

the activities are to progress after you leave.

Utilize interpersonal communication.Projects that utilize mass

media should also utilize interpersonal communication to

reinforce mass-media messages. The person-to-person exchange

of information can make a great deal of difference in whether

people remember and take to heart the messages you are trying

to communicate.

Utilize communication strategies that are culturally familiar.

There are often people in the community who are recognized for

their prowess with language. They are well respected and are

experts at the subtleties and intricacies of the host-language. Oral

communication and storytelling may be more familiar and more

culturally appropriate than reading brochures.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Utilize positive motivational messages. Depicting individuals

who have been ravaged by AIDS does not work as a prevention

motivation. There is a need to normalize the disease and make it

relevant to everyday life. Fear-based messages work more to

demonize those infected, and less to change daily behaviors.

Accept the fact that these things can move slowly, and may

often seem stuck. But, also realize that there may often be

undercurrents and concerned murmurs below the surface, and

that people in the community may be talking about the issues,

even though you may not be aware of it.

In Guinea, one aspect in the planning process was making sure

to integrate cultural and religious values.
HIV/AIDS

6 Peace Corps

Pre-Activity Learning and Groundwork

This is an intense learning period for you, the PCV. In order to understand how HIV/AIDS is affecting the community and to establish a

direction for intervention activities, you must clarify your understanding of the cultural and social dynamics of the community and

the local practices and beliefs that can either guard against or promote

HIV transmission. This is also a time when you will begin to establish

relationships and build trust with the people who will be involved in

planning and carrying out HIV interventions.

• The “Questions to Explore” in the sector-specific portions of this

book address area-specific learning and assessment.

Establish relationships with local decisionmakers, religious leaders, traditional healers,

midwives, and respected individuals in the

community.

• You will need local support for

HIV/AIDS interventions.

Establish relationships with

local decision-makers, religious leaders, traditional healers, midwives, and respected

individuals in the community.

Engage them in dialogue on

the issues that are important to

them, and learn about their

perceptions and beliefs on a

range of subjects. Do more

listening than speaking and

accept beliefs and perceptions

with respect.

• Expect and accept initial resistance by community leaders

and allow them to learn and

engage in conversation with

you on their own terms. You

as the PCV should avoid
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

confrontation with leaders, decision-makers, and respected

individuals. However, you can support those community members

who, in their efforts to affect change, may be willing to rock the

boat a little.

• Identify already existing groups and institutions in the community

and learn about the work they do and how they are perceived by

other members of the community.

• Find out how people learn and to whom they listen. How do

messages get transmitted? Is it an oral culture? Who are the wellrespected orators? How do music, dancing, and poetry play a part

in conveying messages? Do people listen to the radio? How are

health messages conveyed? Who conveys them?

• Identify existing perceptions of HIV/AIDS. How do people

currently talk about HIV/AIDS? How do people talk about sexual

issues? Do people feel comfortable talking about sexual issues in a

direct fashion or do people use allusions or allegory? How

susceptible do people believe themselves to be to AIDS? What are

the beliefs about who gets AIDS?

At the annual National Women’s Work Fair in Niger,

a woman nurse spoke to over 60 women about AIDS and

STD prevention. This topic is closely linked to religious issues,

so this session was followed up by a woman talking

about women’s rights under Islam.
HIV/AIDS

8 Peace Corps

Establishing the Direction/Content

of Your HIV/AIDS Activity

One of the most important things to remember when thinking about

the course of an activity is to match interventions with current

health practices. Development in a community builds on what exists.

Therefore, any behavior-oriented message must build upon the

accepted cultural health practices and beliefs of that community.

• Define the focus of the activity. Of the behaviors that seem to

increase the risk of HIV transmission, which are associated with

culture? Which behaviors are likely to change? Which are less likely

to change? What might be some difficulties in proposing behavior

change? Would people consider substituting a high-risk cultural

practice with a low-risk cultural practice? What information do

people need to change behavior and from whom do they need to

hear it? What political or economic circumstances need to be

addressed that will facilitate the ability to change behavior? What

support can the community provide to those infected or directly

affected by HIV and how will support differ based on age, sex, or

ethnicity? Talk about these things with people with whom you have

established a relationship.

• Involve leaders, respected individuals, and decision-makers

as an advisory group and/or in the activity planning process. It

is absolutely vital that these respected community members and

institutions be involved, and that you build trust with them. Once

they jump on the bandwagon, other members of the community

are more likely to respond and accept the message and/or

participate in the intervention activity.

• Identify the positive health beliefs that already exist and which

can be built upon or emphasized to reduce HIV transmission.

Identify, in conjunction with community members, the practices

that are dangerous and engage in dialogue to seek alternatives.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Identify the method of intervention and use the language of

the listener. This includes not only the WORDS of the listener,

but also the WAY in which things are said. Respect the “how” of

communication in addition to thinking about the “what” (content)

of the message. People will be more willing and interested to learn

something if it positively refers to the local culture and uses

culturally appropriate methods to transmit the message.

• In conjunction with your advisory group and other involved

community members establish the message(s), the activity, the

vulnerable population, and the population that influences

the vulnerable population. Avoid targeting any one group as the

culprit. Messages should use positive cultural health beliefs, send

positive messages, and capitalize on the inherent strengths of the

community

• Use Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) to

plan your activity. The Peace Corps has created a series of tools

that can help you and your community to define your course of

action. Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) was

developed to provide a set of gender-sensitive tools to facilitate

the implementation of an approach where projects and programs

are shaped in a participatory process, with voices of all the

stakeholders defining their own development. The following are

descriptions of two PACA tools.

• Needs Assessment and Priority Ranking – This tool provides

the means to identify principal constraints and to elicit

opportunities for project intervention based on community

preferences. It can serve as an initial community planning tool

as well as a monitoring and evaluation tool.
HIV/AIDS

10 Peace Corps

• Daily Activities – At one level, this technique is meant to

identify the routine daily labor demands of men and women,

as well as girls and boys. This information provides valuable

insights into both the labor constraints of each group as well as

the areas where labor-saving technologies might be readily

adapted. At another level, this technique demonstrates the

gender-based perceptions of the workload of each group. In this

sense, the technique helps to raise awareness with regard to the

contribution that different groups make to overall household

welfare. Finally, the information developed can serve as baseline

data to return to as a way to monitor the impact of project

activities on people’s time allocations.

Participants of the Primary School Tree Nursery in Tanzania.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Plan activities based on the continuum of HIV infection in

your community:

• Phase 1 – Low HIV prevalence and lack of awareness about

the epidemic: Get the message out about HIV transmission and

prevention to as many people as possible through media and

community awareness events like drama competitions. Give

clear messages as to how people can protect themselves, their

families, and their communities from HIV. Identify and work

with community leaders to help disseminate the message.

• Phase 2 – Increased HIV prevalence: Identify the most

vulnerable populations and those who influence them. Conduct

small group interventions like peer education to increase life

skills and increase attitudes of self-esteem and self-sufficiency.

Incorporate effective behavioral change theory into your

interventions. Give messages that reduce discrimination and

stigmatization of people living with HIV/AIDS.

• Phase 3 – Increasing HIV prevalence (over 10 percent):

continue prevention activities that encourage HIV testing and

early treatment of STDs and opportunistic infections. Involve

people living with HIV in support groups, program planning,

and HIV educational presentations.

• Phase 4 – High HIV prevalence (25 percent) and increased

mortality due to AIDS: Design programs to reduce stress on

extended families, train family members in home-based care,

work with AIDS orphans and vulnerable children, provide

income-generating activities and sustainable food sources as

well as inheritance rights for AIDS widows.
HIV/AIDS

12 Peace Corps

There are many obstacles that can inhibit any community intervention

activity. HIV/AIDS has historically been an issue that has encountered

resistance at international, national, and local levels. Often, people

are reluctant to engage in discussion of these issues for a variety of

political or cultural reasons, and may be unwilling to accept the

existence of the virus. In some areas, the anger and denial that

accompany HIV/AIDS prevention efforts may be the result of a

backlash caused by inappropriate and culturally insensitive

approaches in past interventions.

On the other hand, your position as a Peace Corps Volunteer allows

you the unique ability and required time to engage in intervention

strategies that are culturally appropriate and responsive. Additionally,

Volunteers work in a variety of sectors, which allows them to appreciate

the complexities of their host communities and to forge relationships

with a wide range of community members in ways that are distinct

from other development organizations. Volunteers themselves are

creative, energetic, curious, and sensitive, which further increases their

capacity to work in host communities.

However, although Volunteers have these advantages, many of you

will nonetheless encounter obstacles. Obviously, there are as many

ways to overcome obstacles as there are Volunteers and communities.

Following are some of the most common obstacles and possible

strategies for dealing with them. It is important for you to remember,

however, to be patient with yourself and to involve community

members in overcoming any adversity that you face.

Potential Obstacles

and Strategies for

Dealing with Them
13

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

YOU

Obstacle Strategy

Fear of infection Educate yourself, practice abstinence or safe sex, and

use universal precautions by avoiding direct contact

with blood.

Fear of losing focus You do not need to address HIV directly to work on

in your non-health HIV prevention or care. If you are aware of how HIV

related project or affects your community you may address these issues

fear that your whole through the impact that your specific sector has on

project needs to be the problem. Simply include those affected by the

about HIV/AIDS epidemic in your audience and be alert to their needs

and issues.

Fear of broaching One reason for encouraging Volunteers in all sectors

the subject in your to work on HIV is that it may be culturally inappropricommunity because ate to confront HIV/AIDS head-on. You can positively

it seems culturally impact the HIV situation even if you don’t explicitly

inappropriate mention HIV in your activities. Additionally, once you

establish friends and a base of trust in your

community, it will probably be easier to broach the

subject.

Cultural dissonance Although you may use decision-making skills to help

between you and yourself and others assess the possible consequences

the community of given actions, avoid moralizing on behaviors that

you perceive as dangerous, ineffective, and/or superstitious. Be aware of your own cultural biases and

discuss them with other PCVs.

Belief that the Recognize that communities are dynamic entities,

community refuses and that although proposals to change can cause

to adjust to current initial resistance and fear, most societies have

circumstances and culturally specific mechanisms for adjusting to social

belief that change or environmental circumstances. Over time, both you

cannot happen and those around you will experience change.

Frustration, sadness, Re-evaluate your work and recognize your

feelings of being accomplishments. Learn something new and

overwhelmed, apathy interesting about your community, make yourself

attend community events, write, visit other Volunteers.
HIV/AIDS

14 Peace Corps

LOCAL

Obstacle Strategy

Blame and discrimina- Most countries now have non-governmental organition against people zations (NGOs) working in human rights issues and

with HIV associations of people living with HIV/AIDS. Search

out these resources and use them in your project.

Poverty and need for Recognize this as a valid perception. Help the combasic essentials for munity to find resources to meet these basic needs

survival may be seen or partially meet these needs with your project. For

as more important to example, serve food at meetings or train your

the community than audience in income-generating skills related to

either your sector issue your sector.

or HIV/AIDS

Misinformation and Good materials that clarify information about HIV

myths about HIV/AIDS exist in the Life Skills Manual and other resources

listed at the end of this book. Your local Information

Resource Center (IRC) at post may have additional

materials or your APCD may help you find a hostcountry expert to address these issues.

The Ghana Youth Club grew certified organic hot peppers.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Agriculture/Agroforestry, Environmental Education, and Natural

Resource Management have been combined into one section because

many Volunteers who work in these areas are concerned with the

sustainability of the environment as it relates to human activity.

Additionally, many of the economies and societies in which Volunteers

work are to some degree subsistence, which means that livelihood

security, often agricultural in nature, relies on the natural resource

base. The common denominator in many of these projects is related to

finding solutions that ensure livelihood security, while also enhancing

and protecting the surrounding natural resource base.

HIV and the

Environment

A Volunteer in Malawi conducted research into the indigenous

food plants that are presently used by communities, as well as

those that were used in the past, but have now been displaced

as a result of current environmental and agricultural practices.

The Volunteer identified six hundred edible plants that could be

incorporated into the Malawian diet, and which can supplement

current diets and add nutritive value to food that is normally

derived from agricultural systems. Proper nutrition, in turn, can

help to boost and to support the immune systems of those

infected by HIV. Because these plants are indigenous, they are

well adapted to the local environment and require less maintenance (and less energy expenditure) than agricultural systems.

Volunteers conducted trainings with counterparts, extension

workers, and representatives from village outreach programs

and encouraged them to implement nutrition education based

on indigenous plants in their respective communities.
HIV/AIDS

16 Peace Corps

HIV/AIDS impacts these sectors in a variety of ways and Volunteers

can contribute to prevention and mitigation of HIV/AIDS through

various activities. Natural Resource Management Volunteers, for

example, can ease the burden of those living with AIDS by building

mudstoves, which are more energy efficient, and help to reduce the

workload of those who may be weakened by the disease. Volunteers

can work with people to find ways to enhance daily nutrition, identify

local “green” medicines and healthy indigenous plants, and/or

investigate the viability of ecological approaches to improved

production, all of which can mitigate the impact of AIDS and improve

livelihood security. In Tanzania, for example, AIDS groups are

investigating the effects of local roots that seem to help alleviate

symptoms of diarrhea, fever, and herpes zoster.

Ways in Which HIV/AIDS Impacts

the Environment Sector

• The work of Volunteers in some regions has been affected because

many of the populations who are targeted for agricultural

intervention are increasingly becoming sick and dying. The primary

impact of AIDS in farming communities is loss of labor.

• Extension programs may be negatively affected because

extensionists may be sick, or otherwise occupied caring for family

or attending funerals and/or because the populations with whom

they work are sick or attending burials.

• The United Nations Population Information Network reports the

following effects of labor shortages in farming communities:

• Reduction in the acreage of land under cultivation.

• Delay in farming operations, such as tillage, planting, and

weeding.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Reduction in the ability to

control crop pests.

• Decline in crop yields.

• Loss of soil fertility.

• Shift from labor intensive

crops to less labor intensive

crops, which is necessitated

by a reduced labor force.

• Shift from cash oriented

production to subsistence

production. Cash crops

often demand higher inputs, which, in some communities, are becoming increasing difficult to supply as a result

of dwindling monetary and labor resources.

• Reduction in the range of crops per household.

• Decline in livestock production, which may result from inability

to care for livestock or a situation in which the household is

forced to sell remaining livestock in order to pay for medicines

for sick family members.

• Decreased food security.

• Knowledge drain. Orphans may be left to farm who don’t yet

possess the knowledge of their elders.

• As the younger segments of society continue to weaken and die

as a result of AIDS, the burden of responsibility for caring for

households and agricultural fields will increasingly be borne

by the elderly, who may be less able to meet the rigorous labor

demands that farming entails.

A medicinal kitchen garden in Tanzania.
HIV/AIDS

18 Peace Corps

Questions to Explore

A high HIV/AIDS prevalence manifests itself in various ways that

may not be easily discernable by a newly posted Volunteer. For example, farmers and their families may often find it necessary to adjust

their agronomic practices or plant crops that are less labor-intensive

as a result of a dwindling labor source. In some communities, coffinmaking shops have become more common, while other businesses

have suffered or collapsed. Because you, as a newly posted Volunteer,

are new to the area, you may not be familiar with how HIV is impacting

the community. The following questions provide some topics for your

consideration and/or discussion with community members and fellow

Volunteers. It is important to consider the cultural implications of

asking a question directly, and to always respect the answers received.

Additionally, and importantly, a change or death in the community is

not always related to AIDS. These questions provide direction for

inquiry in the community, but they do not assume that you will find

AIDS-related answers.

• What are people growing? Has that changed recently? If so, why?

What would people prefer to grow?

• What plants do people use to supplement their diet? Are those

plants available within a relatively short walking distance?

• Are people currently able to meet their necessary labor requirements? (NOTE: Often, in subsistence communities, including those not

affected by HIV/AIDS, people have difficulty in meeting labor requirements. This may be the result of decreasing soil fertility, which necessitates

farming more land to achieve the same yields.) How recently have labor

requirements changed and what brought about the change?

• What evidence do you see of resource degradation? Discuss with

community members when this began to happen and why.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Have gender roles, as they apply to the production system, changed

recently? For example, do you see women taking care of things

that were generally the responsibility of men? Are girls taking on

more responsibility?

• Are boys or girls increasingly being taken out of school to help

with family farms or the family livelihood?

• Do you see any children who are the primary caretakers of the

production system? What are some of their difficulties? How has

their responsibility changed in the production system recently?

• Have you met anyone that has taken their land out of production

or sold land? Why? What have the consequences been?

• Do you know anyone who has had to sell a large portion of their

livestock lately? Why?

• Has anyone had any livestock stolen recently? How did it happen?

• Has anyone been unable to plant or harvest a crop in the last year

or two? Why?

• Have you seen any crops that have been broadcast sown, which

are normally planted in rows? (If farmers are strapped for time

and/or energy, they may broadcast, rather than plant in rows, which

is more time and energy consuming.)
HIV/AIDS

20 Peace Corps

Environment Volunteers Respond

in Different Ways

Permaculture and HIV/AIDS in Malawi

Two Volunteers, one an HIV/AIDS Educator and the other a Nutritionist, have developed a unique cross-sector and collaborative

approach to their projects. They teamed up with the various extension

workers that serve the local geographical area. Six sectors are currently

represented: Health, Nutrition, Agriculture, Environment, Forestry,

and Agro-Forestry. As a result, this group approaches their development work as a team.

These Volunteers have also incorporated a philosophy known as

permaculture (permanent agriculture) into their project. Permaculture

is an agricultural-based school of thought, rooted in the fact that no

single problem or solution stands on its own. An immune-related

disease like AIDS is linked to better nutrition. Better nutrition is linked

to higher soil fertility and proper environmental practices. The ability

to make educated, healthy decisions is directly related to all of these

sectors.

 In recognition of this balance, permaculture is comprised of four basic

principles:

1. Working with nature rather

than against it.

2. Thoughtful observation rather

than thoughtless labor.

3. Each element of the system

should perform many functions, rather than one.
21

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

4. Everything is connected to everything else.

Since the beginning of this “team” approach, over three thousand trees

have been planted. Health education has been given in the areas of

HIV/AIDS, diarrhea prevention, and nutrition. Composting, mulching, and alternatives to synthetic fertilizers have been introduced, and

community members and Volunteers are exploring the possibility of

seed exchanges for indigenous plants, and alternative fuel sources.

All solutions come from the community, which helps to provide the

self-confidence and ownership that it will take to address future

problems in a sustainable way.

A Volunteer in the Dominican Republic was assigned to serve

as a Community Sustainable Agriculture Extensionist in the

central part of the country. The Volunteer organized a variety of

agricultural courses for small-scale farmers’ associations in his

own and neighboring communities where two other Volunteers

were assigned. The Fundación Dominicana d’Agro-pecuaria

(FDA), the Volunteer’s host agency, and the local farmers’

organizations all contributed funding towards the courses. The

courses were presented in cooperation with agricultural

technicians from public and private institutions. The workshops

consisted of technician-farmer interchange and fieldwork on

soil conservation, avocado production, fruit tree grafting, organic

agriculture, and bee-keeping. The Volunteer also integrated an

environmental education program into the curriculum of the

grade school. Through this program the Volunteer was able to

include AIDS education along with lectures and work days

addressing environmental contamination, water conservation,

reforestation, solid waste management, organic agriculture, and

nutrition.
HIV/AIDS

22 Peace Corps

Cross-collaboration in Madagascar

Several PCVs organized a camp for older school children. The project

focused on major health issues such as hygiene, sexually-transmitted

disease (STD) prevention, and AIDS awareness. Five PCVs from the

Health, Education, and Environment sectors contributed to the design

and implementation phases of the camp. Health PCVs developed age

appropriate and culturally sensitive sessions for the group. Education

PCVs worked on the methodology, and Environment PCVs facilitated

the Environmental Education sessions. The participants had handson experience working on community-based activities. Parents and

nurses contributed by offering food and accommodations, while

validating health messages delivered by the facilitators.
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Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Over 33 million people are HIV-positive; that is one out of

every 100 people worldwide between 15 and 44 years old.

In households in Thailand and Côte d’Ivoire where a family

member is HIV–infected, household income declines by 40-

60 percent. The Thai epidemic is projected to cost Japan

1.2 percent of its gross national product (GNP) by the year

2000 as a result of losses in trade and potential markets.

Uganda Railways has lost about 5,600 employees to AIDS

and has a labor turnover rate of 15 percent annually. The

medical and funeral expenses of another Ugandan company

doubled in one year.

The above points illustrate some of the many ways in which HIV is

impacting world economies and businesses. These figures come from

the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report

entitled “Putting HIV/AIDS on the Business Agenda: UNAIDS Point

of View,” published in November 1998.

As a Peace Corps Volunteer perhaps you cannot quantify the degree

of impact that HIV is having on your community, but you can see it

affecting the lives of people around you in a variety of ways.

• Families have fewer productive workers involved in income

generation.

• Workforce productivity is reduced due to illness, attendance at

funerals, and time spent caring for ailing relatives.

HIV and Small

Enterprise Development

2

1

3
HIV/AIDS

24 Peace Corps

• Women and children, especially girls, are increasingly bearing the

burden of caring for the ill and providing food and income for the

family. Often these competing responsibilities result in women

turning to less nutritious subsistence crop production or exchanging

sex for resources, thereby increasing their own health risk and

risking the spread of disease.

• Children are often taken out of school to work. Girls are also at risk

of becoming involved in commercial sex work to provide income

for the family.

• Communities are forced to shift funds from enterprise development

to the social service sector in order to support orphans, hospitals,

and other needs.

• People with scarce skills are lost, and businesses experience

increased costs to replace and train new employees. Productivity

is also lost as it may take years for the new employee to reach the

same level of proficiency on the job as their predecessor.

• People lose their jobs when others find out that they are infected

with HIV as a result of the stigma attached to the disease and

discriminatory practices in communities.

Women and children, especially girls, increasingly bear the burden of caring for the sick and

providing food and income for the family.
25

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Questions to Explore

A high HIV/AIDS prevalence manifests itself in various ways that

may not be easily discernable by a newly posted Volunteer. Because

you, as a newly posted Volunteer, are new to the area, you may not be

familiar with how HIV is impacting the community. The following

questions provide some topics for your consideration and/or

discussion with community members and other Volunteers. It is

important to consider the cultural implications of asking a question

directly, and to always respect the answers received. Additionally, and

importantly, a change or death in the community is not always related

to AIDS. These questions provide direction for inquiry in the

community, but they do not assume that you will find AIDS-related

answers.

• What businesses exist? Who is responsible for caring for them?

Have business roles changed recently, e.g., are women increasingly

becoming responsible for duties that are traditionally the responsibility of men?

• What new businesses have sprung up recently? Who are the

customers? How is business for the new proprietors? What were

those business people doing previously? What caused them to

change professions?

• Have any businesses failed recently? What happened?

• Have any items become unavailable recently? What caused the

shortage or absence?

???? ? ? ?
HIV/AIDS

26 Peace Corps

Small Business Development Volunteers

Respond in Different Ways

Some ways that Volunteers can intervene:

• Teach numeracy and basic accounting. These lessons may be

particularly relevant for women and children who are suddenly

responsible for the household income as a result of a death in the

family.

• Provide specific business education to young men and women who

may need to inherit a family business following the death of parents.

This intervention helps to reduce the knowledge drain caused by

the epidemic.

• Partner with Health Volunteers in projects that use social marketing

of prevention and care strategies. SED Volunteers can find creative

ways to do marketing while Health Volunteers can provide

technical information and a reality check.

”

“I knew about the AIDS epidemic but

I didn’t know how it would affect my Peace

Corps experience. The impact on families in my

town is overwhelming at times. I’ve really

struggled with assessing the community’s needs

in order to jointly identify a business

development effort that will work and in some

way relieve the impact of HIV.
27

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Work with local organizations on fundraising drives, where money

can be raised for community or HIV-related resources. These can

be particularly effective if the Volunteer collaborates with business

people, municipal leaders, non-governmental organizations, and

others to undertake or promote the fundraising effort. Donations

may be used, for example, to create scholarships for children

orphaned by AIDS.

• Work with associations of people living with HIV to establish a

small business “incubator” that includes families affected by HIV.

Incubators are groups of independent workers who share some of

the same resources. For example, a kitchen incubator allows the

sharing of some of the more expensive tools (ovens, big pots, and

so on), but each individual is responsible for their own small

business and makes their own profits. Once successful, members

leave the incubator and make room for a new small business (hence

the term incubator). They also offer business classes or other kinds

of workshops. Incubator programs are different from cooperatives

(co-ops) in that a co-op group shares the business, the work, and

the profits.

Volunteers can provide specific business education to both men and women.
HIV/AIDS

28 Peace Corps

• Promote community-based micro-finance institutions (MFIs) that

provide micro-credit services benefiting poor households,

especially those headed by widows who are engaged in low-risk,

low-return income-generating activities. Micro-credit can help a

household strengthen its earning potential so members don’t have

to liquidate assets by selling cattle, tools, equipment, or jewelry.

• Organize groups to protect the inheritance rights of women who

are AIDS widows and assist them in creating or joining savings

associations or in starting small business projects through peersupport groups.

• Organize out-of-school and orphaned adolescents in micro-enterprise ventures that use the “trickle up program,” which teaches

youth to create a work-plan based on a $50 start-up grant that is

matched again if the work-plan is implemented.

• Support and strengthen existing community safety nets by working

through religious and social groups and among the people in the

community who are not in dire need. Those people can donate

wages from paid labor to those in need; they can be solicited for

direct contributions; they can take part in raffles, sponsored walks,

and other fundraising activities. Through these efforts, and other

types of activities, a safety net can be operated as a communitybased organization, engaging in activities to provide relief to

households affected by HIV/AIDS. This ensures the economic

survival of households that have become destitute. Relief such as

childcare, home visits, material relief, assistance with labor, and

moral support can be provided by the community-based organization. Volunteers may need to enlist resources both internal and

external to the community in the form of funding or services.

• PCVs can discuss the often overlooked economic effects of HIV/

AIDS with community leaders and others in the community, which

may facilitate a better understanding of the link between the

strength of the local economy as it relates to HIV/AIDS, and,

subsequently, the need for action.
29

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

The Biliwiri Community Center

Rehabilitation Project of Malawi

The community’s goal in this project was that of mobilization for rural

development and health improvement. The objectives of the Biliwiri

Community Resource Center were the following:

To develop food security in the area through agriculture and

nutrition workshops for community members. The establishment and maintenance of a community garden now used as a

model for community members and cooking demonstrations.

To provide an HIV/AIDS and Child Survival Resource Library

that includes related workbooks, newsletters, posters, magazines, and books. Other interesting reading material, of varying

literacy levels, will also be available.

To further develop community-based women’s groups for three

identified Income Generating Activities (IGAs) and small business development programs.

1

2

3

A community‘s goal could be the establishment and maintenance of a community garden.
HIV/AIDS

30 Peace Corps

Through mobilization and training of community members by

Malawian counterparts, this project has helped people in the Biliwiri

community equip themselves with lifelong skills and health

knowledge. A core committee, which included village headmen,

rehabilitated the building, now known as The Center, which is used

as the focal point for Biliwiri programs. Women community leaders

were trained as trainers in business and health with the help of nearby

health center staff and the Magomero Training Center for Rural

Development in Malawi. The project is run wholly by Biliwiri community members, with village leaders and Health Center staff

overseeing the daily operation of the resource center. It is through this

process that communities are further able to appreciate their culture

and see their place in national development.

Communication was key in making the project a success, and this

involved meeting several days a week with community members,

leaders, and professional staff. Many ideas were generated through

one-on-one conversations, and then further presented in large group

meetings. Later in the project, radio announcements were made on

the opening of the resource center, and newsletters were distributed.
31

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

The establishment of a Biliwiri Women’s group to focus on skill

development was an integral component of the project. The women’s

group was in the forefront of the building rehabilitation, supervision,

and current administration of the Resource Center. The women used

modes of communication familiar to them to further train and oversee

women from previously established groups in Biliwiri. HIV/AIDS

information was provided through discussions at the health center,

informational materials, and drama. Most effective were the drama

group presentations from the District AIDS Coordinating Committee

of the area hospital. These presentations were fact-based, while still

being motivational and persuasive.

Côte D’Ivoire Income Generation

and Health Education Project

A Volunteer in the western region of Daloa has worked with a local

women’s cooperative to create a project that combined income

generation and HIV/AIDS prevention. To raise money for an agricultural venture, the Volunteer and women’s cooperative decided to

put on a health theater fundraiser. Together, the Volunteer and co-op

established guidelines for culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention messages, and created comedic and educational theatrical performances to convey the messages to the community. The cooperative

divided themselves into groups of ten and each group presented the

skits over the course of two days. The group collected money (about

16 cents) from each person who wanted to see the skits. Each person

who paid the admission price received a condom as a receipt. With

the money from the fundraiser the co-op plans to buy seeds to start a

vegetable garden and then sell the vegetables in the village and

neighboring villages’ markets.
HIV/AIDS

32 Peace Corps

HIV/AIDS has traditionally been the domain of Health Volunteers.

As a result, this sector has created more of a history with HIV intervention strategies than have other sectors. The experience of Health

Volunteers makes them valuable resources to Volunteers in other

sectors.

The growing recognition that

HIV/AIDS is a social and economic issue, in addition to a

health issue, has increased the

dimensions that Health Volunteers must consider when working with communities to design

HIV/AIDS intervention strategies.

The health of a community is

often related to factors beyond the

scope of what would normally be

considered a “health issue”. For

example, poverty or degraded

farmland may contribute to poor

health in a community. To

respond to that reality, Health

Volunteers can benefit from

collaborating with Volunteers in

other sectors and/or integrating

those related issues into their

activities.

Anthropological research

in Rwanda indicates that

one aspect of social

morality among

Rwandans is that people

exchange “gifts of self,”

which refers to semen

and other sexual fluids

that are exchanged

during sex. Blockage of

the exchange of these

fluids (through the use of

condoms, for example)

may raise fears among

Rwandans that fertility

may be negatively

affected.1

HIV and the

Health Sector
33

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

There are several other issues that affect how HIV/AIDS intervention strategies are evolving, and of which the Volunteer must be aware:

Clinical vs. Cultural approach to HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS

activities have typically consisted of education and prevention,

and have usually utilized a clinical approach to HIV/AIDS.

Studies indicate that as a result of these types of activities, there

is currently a widespread awareness of the existence of the virus.

However, the rate of the virus’ transmission continues to escalate,

which indicates that HIV educators must explore and implement

intervention strategies that go beyond the clinical aspects of the

disease. While clinical approaches to the disease may resonate

with Volunteers who have been influenced by Western

approaches to health, they do not necessarily resonate with local

communities, where health practices and behaviors may be

strongly linked to and based in culture. Often, local health beliefs

are complex and spiritual in nature, and not easily understood

by outsiders. Therefore, community health programs that involve

local medical practitioners, traditional healers, and community

members are more likely to utilize intervention strategies that

are locally appropriate.

1

A presentation about women living with HIV at a girls‘ conference in Tanzania.
HIV/AIDS

34 Peace Corps

Linking HIV Prevention with Care. Due to the escalating

numbers of people infected with HIV, especially in sub-Saharan

Africa, Volunteers are becoming increasingly involved in the

“care” aspects of HIV/AIDS. Care for those with AIDS is more

than just mitigating the impacts of the disease on the infected

individual, although that is one crucial element of care.

Supporting those individuals infected with the virus and

advocating for their acceptance by the community enables people

living with HIV to play a crucial role in prevention efforts.

Acceptance on the part of the community members of those

infected with HIV decreases the fear that is often associated with

AIDS, and allows people living with HIV to participate in care

and prevention strategies. This, in turn, mitigates the economic

strain often felt by individuals and institutions in areas where

there is a high HIV infection rate.

Need to Link HIV Prevention with other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). Interventions that target HIV must

at the same time target STDs since their presence increases the

probability of HIV transmission. A number of studies have

indicated at least a twofold- to ninefold-increased risk of HIV

transmission among persons who have other STDs. Thus, where

feasible, early detection and treatment of STDs should be a critical

component of national and local strategies to prevent HIV

infection.

Water Sanitation. The work of Water/Sanitation Volunteers is

related because individuals who are afflicted by waterborne

illnesses very likely have compromised immune systems, which

may cause them to succumb more quickly to the HIV virus and

develop an AIDS-related illness. Alternately, the immune systems

of those who are infected by HIV will be less likely to fend off or

rebound from waterborne illnesses. Peace Corps/Kenya, for

example, has begun a program to integrate HIV into its water

sanitation project by educating youth about waterborne diseases,

as well as HIV.

3

2

4
35

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Questions to Explore

A UNAIDS/Penn State

report estimated that 80

percent of the world’s

rural population depends

on traditional medicine

and its practitioners.2

Unfortunately, these

well-respected and

knowledgeable

individuals have not

often been included in

HIV/AIDS intervention

efforts. Because of their

important positions in

rural health care

systems, however, it

behooves Volunteers to

know, respect, and

involve traditional

healers in HIV/AIDS

prevention interventions.

It is important, though, to

be wary of charlatans

and cure-all remedies.

A high HIV/AIDS prevalence

manifests itself in various ways

that may not be easily discernable by a newly posted Volunteer.

Because you, as a newly posted

Volunteer, are new to the area,

you may not be familiar with

how HIV is impacting the

community. The following questions provide some topics for

your consideration and/or

discussion with community

members and fellow Volunteers.

It is important to consider the

cultural implications of asking a

question directly, and to always

respect the answers received.

Additionally, and importantly, a

change or death in the

community is not always related

to AIDS. These questions provide

direction for inquiry in the

community, but they do not

assume that you will find AIDSrelated answers.

• Who are the primary health care providers? Do people prefer to

seek health care from healers or formally educated nurses and

doctors? How do local, traditional healers’ concepts of wellness

and sickness compare to those of other health care providers? Have

all providers been busier than normal lately? If they have an increase

in service delivery, to what do they attribute it?
HIV/AIDS

36 Peace Corps

• What do families spend on health care in one month? Has it always

been that way? Have they had an increase/decrease in health care

spending recently?

• Where do people get medicines? Where do people get condoms?

Have you observed the use or sale of illegal drugs?

• Where do people go to get treated for STDs? To get tested for HIV?

Is counseling available at these sites? Do people believe that there

is an advantage or disadvantage to knowing if they are infected

with HIV? Do they believe that any treatment or support is available

to them if they were to test positive for HIV?

• Are many people sick in the town/village? Are they cared for at

home or in the hospital? Do you know what they are sick with?

What symptoms do they have? What is the age and sex of the people

who are sick?

• Have many people died in the town recently? Have you seen

funerals? Who is attending the funerals? Do those speaking at

funerals talk about what people have died of?

• Have you heard anyone mention AIDS? Where? What words are

used to describe people who may be infected with HIV? How do

they describe the physical condition? What body language or tones

of voice do people use when talking about/listening to something

that may be AIDS-related?

• Are there any media messages about AIDS, i.e., posters, radio,

t-shirts? What are the messages? Are they fearful or hopeful? Are

any particular groups of people depicted as being sick with AIDS?

How do people respond to the messages?

• How do community members believe diseases are transmitted in

general? How do people believe HIV is transmitted?
37

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Ask about the function of blood and other body fluids. Do body

fluids play any role in wellbeing and/or health? Are they endowed

with any spiritual significance?

• Are people aware of the four main body fluids which can transmit

HIV from an infected person (blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and

breast-milk)? Are there any practices or cultural rituals in the

community in which people share blood? Is there a high rate of

infant mortality in your community which can be reduced by breastfeeding? What are the local practices related to sexual activity

during breast-feeding? Do women in your community have access

to safe substitutes for breast-milk?

At a Peace Corps Staff workshop in Benin, partici-pants were

asked to engage in an activity that explored the connection

between language, culture, and worldview. The concept

chosen for discussion was HIV/AIDS. The following chart

demonstrates some of the participants’ perceptions and

beliefs as they relate to HIV/AIDS. Participants agreed that

in order to better understand and prevent HIV/AIDS,

intervention strategies would have to address these current

perceptions of the disease (as evidenced by the language

used to describe the virus), and subsequently, demystify it.

For example, the name “Lose weight and die” may cause

people to avoid talking about the disease. Working with

groups of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHWAs) can help

to alleviate some of those perceptions and to create an

atmosphere where people feel as though they can engage

in dialogue about intervention strategies. Additionally, note

the words used for the behaviors that lead to HIV-infection

and the words for various prevention techniques. Many

cultures use words that are less direct for describing certain

behaviors. “Strolling around”, in this case, refers to more

than just walking.
HIV/AIDS

38 Peace Corps Disease Words used to name AIDS – how is it described? Agents People blamed for transmission Behavior Leading to the disease Prevention Words used to describe all preventive techniques • Bad sickness • Lose weight and die • Sickness of the world • Changers of money • People with bad behavior • Prostitutes • Individuals with promiscuous behavior • Homeless • Bandits • Tester (a man who likes to “test” women) • Smoking grass • Drinking local whiskey • Love makers • Strolling around • Surgery • Blood testing • Syndrome to discourage lovers (AIDS) • Boots, socks, raincoat, small plastic • Sitting still • Watching after self Connotations Social and behavioral implications Work Implications For PCVs • PCVs use medical person, influential people • Use statistics and social-marketing • Use Life Skills Manual • Create action plans and community experiences • Getting people to recognize other agents • Anyone can get AIDS • Condoms are not enough • Risky Behavior • Only bad people get the disease. They deserve punishment • Despair • Avoid talking • Shame • Hope breaking • Fear • Being moneyless • Getting people to accept • Demystify • Use appropriate words • Work with PLWAs • Running from the truth • Shame • Religious taboo
39

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Health Volunteers Respond

in Different Ways

Side by Side in Moldova

“ALATURI” (Side by Side) was a two pronged project planned to reach

the maximum number of young people with information about the

epidemic of AIDS and drug abuse as they effect young people. The

group responsible for creating

and achieving funding for the

activity in conjunction with Volunteers, was Tineri Pentru Dreptul

La Viata (TDV) (Youth for the

Right to Live). Messages were

positive and were transmitted by

peer educators.

Part I was a weekly series of 30

minute radio interview broadcasts in 1999 that reached an

estimated 700,000 young people

who listen to the popular ëAntena

CÍ radio station in Chisinau, the

capitol of the Republic of

Moldova. The interviews were

organized and conducted by

members of the TDV. Experts in

the fields of AIDS, drug prevention, and other health-related areas

donated their time, and Radio Antena C donated the airtime.

Part II was a series of 16 seminars conducted in rural areas that are

not in the range of Radio Antena C. The seminars were organized and

conducted by TDV and utilized peer education to facilitate self-esteem

building and cultivate the skills needed to avoid peer pressure, as well

as to educate youth on the sexual and drug concerns that are part of

the AIDS and drug epidemic. The seminars were very well received

Seminars were conducted to educate youth on

concerns of the AIDS and drug epidemic.
HIV/AIDS

40 Peace Corps

and today serve as a base for several projects that have followed. The

seminars were particularly effective because of the caring and sensitive

nature of the TDV volunteers who are now training other young people

to be peer educators in many outlying areas of the Republic.

Jamaica Project Addresses Men’s Issues

In recent years, health and development experts, academics, and

professionals have come to realize a trend in Jamaica and the Greater

Caribbean, which has been coined “Male Marginalization.” Male

Marginalization refers to the isolation and exclusion of men from

society and development initiatives. Studies show that illiteracy and

unemployment rates for men almost double those of women in the

Caribbean. Frustrated by their present position, many young males

turn to drugs, crime, violence, and other behaviors that pose risks to

general health and wellbeing, such as unprotected sex with multiple

partners.

In an effort to address this issue, Volunteers and local health officials

collaborated to create the Men’s Health Clinic. During the planning

stages of the Men’s Health Clinic, men were interviewed to determine

what services they would most like to have. Men responded that they

were most in need of STD/HIV testing, general medical checkups,

family and personal counseling, and health education. Their responses

provided the overall framework for the Men’s Health Clinic.

The purpose of the Men’s Health Clinic is fourfold:

To provide multiple services encompassing the overall (beyond

the physical) health of young men;

To raise awareness of men’s health issues such as STDs/AIDS 2 and testicular and prostate cancers;

1
41

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

4

To mainstream men into development initiatives by increasing

access to opportunities, building self-esteem and creating a

“male-friendly” environment;

To combat the general trend of male marginalization.

The Men’s Health Clinic is held on a regular monthly basis and gives

young men a chance to discuss issues of concern in a comfortable

environment. It provides a forum to transfer information regarding

high-risk behavior and prevention methods as they relate to HIV/

AIDS and STDs. Men walk away from the clinic with a better

understanding of their health and how it impacts the lives of others.

Additionally, men generally realize an increased self-esteem, and a

desire to pass on the knowledge they have gained.

Designed to offer a holistic approach to encourage healthy lifestyle

choices among young men, the Men’s Health Clinic offers the following

services one day per month:

• Full medical examination by a doctor or nurse

• HIV/AIDS blood test

• STD testing and exam

• HIV/AIDS/STD education session

• Condom demonstration and distribution

• Prostate and testicular cancer education session

• Private counseling

• Job and skills training referrals to local schools, literacy programs,

and technical institutions

3
HIV/AIDS

42 Peace Corps

Such broad-based services offer an opportunity for young men to raise

their awareness and encourage healthy living on all levels.

In Uganda, the Islamic Medical Association of Uganda (IMAU)

has worked with members of the Muslim community to provide

outreach and home visits to over 100,000 families. Since 1992

the IMAU volunteers and members have offered accurate

information on HIV/AIDS and motivation for behavior change to

Uganda’s Muslim community. Follow-up evaluations demonstrate that through outreach efforts, community members

showed significant increases in correct knowledge of HIV

transmission and prevention, increased condom use, and increased knowledge of risk associated with the Muslim practices

of ablution of the dead and circumcision (when unsterile

instruments are used). The Association of over 300 Islamic

medical practitioners is well respected by the Muslim community

and its members are able to quote verses from the Qur’an to

make scientific explanations of HIV relevant to the Muslim

community.

From AIDS Education through Imams: A spiritually motivated community effort in

Uganda, UNAIDS Case Study, October 1998, Best Practice Collection.

Working to reach the Muslim community with accurate HIV/

AIDS information.
43

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Volunteers who work with youth often find participants who are eager

to learn and to contribute their passion, energy, and creativity. Many

Volunteers find that working with youth is inspirational, as well as

HIV and Youth

productive. Although Volunteers

seem to gravitate towards working with youth, few have had

extensive experience in working

with young people. Below are

some general principles that have

been identified as important to

working with youth.

• Build on the assets of youth

• Avoid focusing exclusively on

problems

• Offer a safe place and unconditional love

• Create opportunities for youth

to contribute to their community

• Encourage young people to

take responsibility

• Strengthen feelings of belonging and service to the community

• Use their personal experiences

as a tool for teaching

Girls tend to suffer the

most when family

members are ill because

they are the first to be

taken out of school to

care for younger siblings

and the sick, tend the

family farm, and assume

household tasks. They

are often subject to the

desires of older men, as

well, and are in a poor

position to negotiate or

refuse sexual advances

by these men. In

Zimbabwe, for example,

adolescent girls are five

times as likely to be

infected with HIV than

adolescent boys.

Interventions that target

girls in an attempt to

empower them to make

informed decisions must

also target men and

boys, in an attempt to

reduce the behavior that

puts girls and women at

risk.
HIV/AIDS

44 Peace Corps

• Start small and work up to larger expectations

• Build competencies and develop self-esteem

• Teach self-direction

• Involve committed parents and other adults to work with youth

• Link youth efforts with larger community development and change

efforts

Youth are often unable or unwilling to speak to their parents about

the risk factors associated with sexual behavior. As a result, they may

acquire information from their peers, which may be inaccurate. Outof-school youth and orphans are at particular risk as a result of their

relative social status, lack of power, and lack of access to information

or social services.

The ability to change behavior is a function of more than just having

the required information. The ability to choose is also a function of

power. Often, in a given society women and youth have less power

than men, and as a result, are subject to the decisions and desires of

men. Activities which seek to build capacity in youth, in addition to

being informative, are more like likely to be successful than those

activities that are designed only to impart information. It is important

to note here, however, that all segments of society must be involved

in the efforts to empower other segments of society. There must be

support from the male population, for example, in supporting the

empowerment of young women to thwart the advances of men, who

may be seeking sex in exchange for money, food, clothes, or school

supplies.

Worldwide, 70 percent of infection in women occurs

in the age group 15-25 years old.3
45

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Important elements of youth activities:

• Messages should be varied, creative, and responsive to age, sex,

and cultural circumstances.

• The youth themselves should be involved in planning, designing,

and evaluating the activity.

• Messages should come from respected and reliable sources, such

as knowledgeable peers or well-respected adults.

• Messages and prevention education should happen in a supportive,

positive environment.

• Disperse messages through already existing institutions, groups,

events, and regular activities.

• It is imperative that HIV-prevention strategies reach youth before

they become sexually active.

Messages should be varied, creative, and responsive to age, sex, and cultural circumstances.
HIV/AIDS

46 Peace Corps

Questions to Explore

A high HIV/AIDS prevalence manifests itself in various ways that

may not be easily discernable by a newly posted Volunteer. Because

you, as a newly posted Volunteer, are new to the area, you may not be

familiar with how HIV is impacting the community. The following

questions provide some topics for your consideration and/or discussion with community members and fellow Volunteers. It is

important to consider the cultural implications of asking a question

directly, and to always respect the answers received. Additionally, and

importantly, a change or death in the community is not always related

to AIDS. These questions provide direction for inquiry in the community, but they do not assume that you will find AIDS-related

answers.

• Who in the community is generally responsible for speaking to

young men and women about sexuality issues? How do people

generally learn about sex?

• What do parents want their boys/girls to know about sex? When

do parents expect that their boys/girls will become sexually active?

When do boys/girls say they become sexually active? Do parents

know how HIV/AIDS is transmitted? How do parents want this

information to reach their children? At what ages?

• Are there any cultural ceremonies that indicate that a boy or girl

has entered into adulthood? At what age does this occur for women?

For men? Do men and women marry or become sexually active

immediately after their respective initiation ceremonies?

• At what age do girls/boys become sexually active? How is first

sex or early sex negotiated? At what age do women/men marry?

What is the number of years between entering into sexual activity

and marriage? How might that affect HIV/AIDS? Are adolescent

married girls more or less at risk for HIV than unmarried girls?
47

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• What is the community’s attitude toward differences in sexual

orientation? Are there any resources available in the community

for young people who are questioning their sexuality?

• What are the perceptions by youth about HIV/AIDS? Are there

identifiable information leaders among the youth? Are there any

beliefs which contribute to behaviors that are conducive to the

spread of HIV?

• Are there people in the community who are responsible for teaching

womanhood or manhood to youth? Who are they, and at what age

does instruction generally begin? What are the views about condom

use? What skills are taught to girls to negotiate for their needs and

protection from possible infection? How do the responsibilities of

youth differ from those of adults? What outward cultural indicators

(behaviors, beliefs) are there which signify adulthood? What do

youth believe signifies the cross into adulthood? Discuss with both

youth and adults what the differences are of being an adult and

being a youth in the local culture?
HIV/AIDS

48 Peace Corps

• Discuss with young women with whom you have established a

relationship if they know of situations in which older men have

approached young women outside of marriage for sex in exchange

for goods or services. How common is this? What are the successful

communication and other strategies girls use to avoid sex?

• Discuss with young men and young women (in separate groups)

how old youth are when they engage in their first sexual experiences. Are there different answers among the sexes? What are

cultural factors that might encourage/discourage experimenting

with sex at an early age? What are some suggestions by youth and

other community members to encourage young people to wait until

they are older?

• Try to get a sense of the number of out-of-school children in your

community. How might their needs and situations differ from their

in-school counterparts? Where and how can they be reached with

information and skill building? What situations might put them at

risk? What resources are available to them?

• Try to get a sense of the number of orphans or those living with

chronically ill parents in your community. How might their needs

and situations differ from youths who still have parents or extended

family? Which adults are assisting them? How might they be

supported?

Discuss with young men and young women (in separate groups) how old youth are when

they engage in their first sexual experiences.
49

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Volunteers Respond in Different Ways

Peer Education in Honduras

San Marcos de Colón is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the

south of Honduras. Due to its size, accessibility, and location, there is

a lot of traffic through the town, which increases the risk for the

presence and transmission of the HIV virus. There is a very high incidence of STDs among teens, and sexual experiences usually begin at

12-13 years. This behavior for boys is usually encouraged by adult

males in the community, and most teenage boys report that their first

sexual experience was with a prostitute. Other factors that contribute

to the rate of STDs and HIV infection in this community are lack of

sexual education, shame associated with talking about sex, false beliefs

about transmission of STDs, lack of self-esteem, and lack of empowerment of girls and women.

In Honduras workshops were given with a

group of teens from the high school for six

months.

A Volunteer worked with a

group of teens from the high

school for six months. They began with a five day HIV/AIDS/

life skills workshop on selfesteem, responsibility, values,

communication skills, sexuality,

STDs/AIDS, and teen pregnancy.

Since this initial workshop, the

teens have also received classes

on drug and alcohol abuse, depression/suicide, and sexual harassment and assault. In turn,

these teens have given talks to

younger (11-16) students in San

Marcos and surrounding rural

areas. Working in the schools

outside of town was the teens’

idea, as they have observed that

the majority of the youth living
HIV/AIDS

50 Peace Corps

outside of town only study up to the sixth grade, and often lack the

self-esteem that the high school students have due to their higher level

of education. Students repeated the initial five-day workshop in the

nearby town of Duyure. The youth of Duyure were so motivated by

seeing their peers leading the entire workshop, they are now visiting

schools in their nearby communities and multiplying the effect.

Club Cool in Haiti

The goal of this project is to improve the reproductive health of youth

by empowering youth through the establishment of “Club Cools.”

The organizational structure of these groups is modeled after the scout

group concept in the United States, where each group/chapter is selfgoverned—within the guidelines of the standard constitution—and

self-sufficient. The members of these groups become peer educators

on HIV/AIDS. They are trained in HIV/AIDS, condom negotiations,

etc., as well as organizational and small business skills.

Since there is a lack of organized youth activities in the communities,

each club organizes entertaining social activities for the youth in their

community to (1) provide a healthy distraction from having sex, and

(2) make the people aware of the risks associated with sex. Members

of these clubs are using their creativity to design and implement these

activities. Additionally, many have also engaged in small business

ventures to finance their groups. The role of the PCV is to assist the

group in its management through capacity building and strengthening

the entrepreneurial skills of the Club.
51

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Youth Conservation Corps

Volunteers seeking to provide orphans or youth living with an

infected parent with opportunities to generate income and

further their education may wish to consider forming a youth

conservation corps. In a youth corps young people work in

crews, under the supervision of a trained caring adult, to accomplish community service projects. These can range from

development of parks, trails, community gardens, and farmer’s

markets, to community forestry, stream restoration, and human

service for populations in need. Participants, known as corpsmembers, receive a modest wage or financial allowance for the

time they serve. Equally important, corps build a mutually

supportive social environment among corps-members and

seeks to maximize work-based learning. Corps also often

provide supplemental academic and life skills classes, so that

participants depart the program more likely to succeed in future

economic and family life. Importantly, corps also stress and

support healthy lifestyles and behaviors.

For more information on Youth Conservation Corps, contact

your APCD and/or ask your In-Country Resource Center

to order this publication from ICE:

M0057 Youth Development and the Environment

(Peace Corps ICE) 1998. 32 pp.
HIV/AIDS

52 Peace Corps

Volunteers in the Education sector have ample opportunity to work

with young people and community members on issues of HIV/AIDS

prevention and care. Among the sectors in Peace Corps, Volunteer

teachers are more likely to work with established institutions in a

community in an atmosphere that is designated for learning. They are

also at an advantage because they come into contact with a large

number of people on a daily basis, and have the opportunity to interact

with students in after-school activities and student organizations.

Issues Affecting the Education Sector

• Girls are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS because they

are the first to be removed from school to help around the house if

family members fall ill, although some incidences have been

reported where boys are the first to be removed because they can

work outside the home to bring income to the family. It is important

to note here that the education of girls has social, economic and

environmental benefits. In addition to increasing economic, productivity and lowering maternal and infant mortality, the education

of girls also contributes significantly to improving the awareness

of HIV/AIDS prevention.

• Generally, mortality among the adult population increases the need

for child labor, which necessitates the removal of students from

school.

• Students and teachers may miss large portions of the school year

as they are compelled to remain at home to care for sick family

members or attend funerals.

HIV and Education
53

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

A Volunteer in Kenya

developed a lesson plan

on AIDS for deaf

children in his school,

and then traveled to the

classrooms of other

Volunteers to share the

lesson plan. The same

Volunteer has scripted a

play on HIV/AIDS to be

acted by his students in

the National Drama

Festival competitions.

• The number of orphans is

increasing, which leaves

children without the resources and support to attend

school.

• Girls and young women are

often compelled to provide

sex to “sugar daddies” in exchange for school fees and/or

materials.

• High infection rates of HIV

can strain national, local, and

household budgets, which in

turn can reduce the amount of

economic support available to

schools and students.

• HIV/AIDS can threaten the

supply of educators. For example, in Zambia, the mortality rate among teachers was

70 percent higher than in the

general population.

• There is currently the threat of

“brain-drain” among various

countries’ educated population as a result of the high incidence of AIDS-related mortality.

• Often in developing countries, students of all ages will be enrolled

at all levels, which means that students who have reached sexual

maturity will be present even in primary and secondary levels. This

increases the likelihood of sex between students and sex between

students and administrators or teachers.
HIV/AIDS

54 Peace Corps

General Recommendations

• Utilize Community Content Based Instruction (CCBI). Refer to the

probability exercise in this chapter.

• Involve community members, teachers, and administrators in HIV

prevention and care interventions.

• Avoid fear-based approaches to AIDS education.

• Use life skills based instruction. refer to the Life Skills Manual in

the Additional Resources section for more information.

• Utilize modes of communication that are culturally familiar and

which reinforce existing positive health beliefs and practices.

Questions to Explore

A high HIV/AIDS prevalence manifests itself in various ways that

may not be easily discernable by a newly posted Volunteer. Because

you, as a newly posted Volunteer, are new to the area, you may not be

familiar with how HIV is impacting the community. The following

questions provide some topics for your consideration and/or discussion with community members and fellow Volunteers. It is important

to consider the cultural implications of asking a question directly, and

to always respect the answers received. Additionally, and importantly,

a change or death in the community is not always related to AIDS.

These questions provide direction for inquiry in the community, but

they do not assume that you will find AIDS-related answers.

• Does the community support the health curriculum at school? How

do issues of health education differ in the schools compared to in

the community? How can health education utilize community

beliefs and practices?
55

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Has there been a change in the rates of school attendance or

enrollment? Have any girls left school due to pregnancy? Was any

follow up support offered to these girls? Did anyone talk to the

boys who shared in the responsibility for the girls’ pregnancy? If

students are leaving school, do you know what they are doing

instead?

• Are you familiar with the after-school activities of your students?

What healthy and unhealthy activities engage their time?

• Who provides information to young people about sexual matters?

What roles do parents, religious leaders, teachers, and peers play?

• What gender-based expectations affect your student’s attitudes,

practices, and access to information about sex?

• Is there same-sex activity occurring in boarding schools? And is

anyone educating students about risks associated with these

activities?

• What responsibilities do your students bear for household income

generation or providing food? Do they have responsibilities to care

for sick relatives? How are those responsibilities affecting them?

• How are students taught the life skills and business management

skills that would enable them to carry on if one or both parents

died?

???? ? ? ?
HIV/AIDS

56 Peace Corps

A Volunteer teaches the principles of HIV

transmission at Msunibe Boys‘ School in

Tanzania.

Volunteers Respond in Different Ways

Tanzania Health Initiative

With the support of the Ministry of Education, Peace Corps/Tanzania

is developing a school health education project. Building upon the

firm foundation of collaboration over many years and the current

posting of more than 60 Peace Corps math and science teaching

Volunteers to 45 secondary schools throughout Tanzania, Peace Corps/

Tanzania hopes to contribute to the health and well-being of Tanzania’s

youth through cooperation with and support of existing institutions

and initiatives.

This project is evolving and will use four extending (third year)

Volunteers to help orient incoming biology teachers in strategies for

HIV prevention directed at both in- and out-of-school youth. This

health education initiative is envisaged to work as follows with

revisions made based upon implementation experiences and feedback

from stakeholders.

For the past five years,

Peace Corps/Cameroon

has trained students and

teachers alike through

the use of a Peace Corps

manual, Teach English/

Prevent AIDS (TEPA).

Students use interactive

activities, drama, and rap

to learn about AIDS and

the English language

simultaneously.
57

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

• Each Volunteer will be assigned to an “anchor” secondary school

which will provide housing for the Volunteer and where the

Volunteer will teach 8–12 periods per week. The remainder of the

time will be spent organizing and conducting health education

activities and projects. It is estimated that one-half of the remaining

time will be spent directly benefiting the students and staff of the

host “anchor” school. The rest of the time will be devoted to other

nearby secondary and/or primary schools and/or other organizations serving out-of school youth in their communities.

• School authorities, students, out-of-school youth, and the

Volunteers will jointly determine the health areas of greatest concern

which will focus the work of the Volunteer. This can include, but is

not limited to the following areas: nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention,

sanitation, reproductive health, first aid, life skills (i.e., good

decision-making), family life education.

• School authorities, students, out-of-school youth, and the Volunteers will jointly determine the types of interventions and education

to focus upon. This can include, but is not limited to the following

activities: peer education, teacher training, curriculum or materials

development, health exhibits, health newsletters, health clubs, girls‘

empowerment workshops, health seminars, implementing approved family life education curriculum.

• Volunteers will work with a counterpart in their anchor school,

preferably a teacher interested in student health issues (for the

implementation activities taking place at the anchor school).

Volunteers will identify and develop a counterpart with whom to

work in other schools or in the community.

Among other important, quantifiable outcomes, it is hoped that the

project will result in demonstrable positive changes in health knowledge, attitudes, and behavior among adolescents served, particularly

in the areas of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention.
HIV/AIDS

58 Peace Corps

Exercise

 CCBI CURRICULUM PC/TANZANIA

Following is an example of an exercise used in Peace Corps/Tanzania’s

CCBI Curriculum.

Title:

HIV Transmission

Subject & Curriculum Topic:

Exponential Growth, Graphing exponential equations.

Lesson Objective:

Through a simulation, students will be given the opportunity to

experience the rapid growth of HIV+ people and translate this

into mathematical terms, focusing on exponential functions.

Motivation:

This activity is designed for a class of 50 students. Pass out 50

cards, three cards with the letter A on them and 47 other cards

with various letters, including three with Fs on them. Students

receive one card each. The teacher needs to know which student

is holding the A cards. Students exchange their card with one

other person and then take their card back. Repeat the exchange

with different partners. Do the exchange two or three times.

Students need to remember with whom they have exchanged

cards.

The teacher now asks the three students known to have A cards

to stand up. Next, anyone who did the first exchange with one of

these three must stand; then anyone who exchanged with any of

the six now standing must stand, etc. (for the total number of

exchanges).

Sensitively announce that this simulation represents the rapid

transmission of the HIV virus and that those standing are representative of those persons infected in the population of 50 people.
59

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

 CCBI CURRICULUM PC/TANZANIA

Exercise

Information:

x = the number of encounters

y = number of people infected

a) Complete a table x y b) graph y = f(x)

0 3

1 6

2 12

3 24

c) Explain y = (3) 2 x

3 = the number originally infected

2 = the number involved in the exchange

Activity 2:

Collect the cards. Substitute two “condom“ cards and two

“STOP” cards for four of the cards. Do not remove the F cards.

Repeat the process of exchanges. Ask students holding the F cards

to stand up. Students who exchanged with any of these must

stand. However, if they are holding a condom or stop card, they

may sit down as they are not infected.

Information:

Generate a chart, graph and compare the rates of growth.

Practice:

What would happen if five people were originally infected? Have

students generate a table, graph, and form the equation.

Discussion:

• Why use condoms?

• What happens to the infection rate after further exchanges?

• How many exchanges would it take before 40 people are

infected? Tie this problem into logarithms.

• Extend the question to include the number of students in the

school...in the town.

• Review percentages, percentage decrease after condom use, etc.
HIV/AIDS

60 Peace Corps

Exercise

Extension:

This example can also be used to review geometric progressions:

common ratio, first term, and nth term.

nth term=arn-1

In a class of 100 students, only one person is HIV+. Everyone in

the class is sexually active and has unprotected sex with two new

people each month.

a) What percentage of the class is HIV+ at first?

b) After the first month, what percentage is HIV+?

c) What percentage will be HIV+ after six months?

d) How many months will it take until everyone is HIV+?

e) If each person had sex with four new people, how soon

would everyone be infected?

 CCBI CURRICULUM PC/TANZANIA

Educational Games in Togo

Volunteers in Togo use games to introduce children to the various

projects in Peace Corps/Togo. Games can be used in the classroom, as

well, and can use HIV/AIDS as the subject matter. For example,

English teachers can use HIV/AIDS as a theme for their lesson and

incorporate grammar structures and vocabulary from the national

required curriculum. Volunteers should also refer to CCBI materials.
61

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

The following documents and publications are available from ICE.

Contact your APCD or In-Country Resource Center for more information and/or to order these publications. To order publications from

ICE, include the ICE catalog number, title, and quantity of each title.

Orders will arrive at the Peace Corps office in country, addressed to

the CO and attention to the requester, usually six to eight weeks from

the time ICE receives the order.

HE 261 Manuel de Formation des Pair-Educateurs en MST/

and SIDA: Un Guide Complet pour les Formateurs des

HE262 Pair-Educateurs portant sur la Prevention des MST

dont le VIH/SIDA. (AIDSTECH/Family Health International) 1992. 141 pp.

A session-by-session guide, written in French, for

facilitators to use in training educators about AIDS and

other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Provides

current information on STD/AIDS, as well as sessions on

counseling skills, effective communication and caring for

a person with AIDS. Suggests activities designed to help

peer educators retain the facts as well as learn to teach

their peers.

HE343 Stepping Stones: A Training Package on HIV/AIDS,

Communication and Relationship Skills. Alice

Welbourn. (Strategies for Hope) 1995. 230pp.

Designed to help trainers and community members

organize workshops to enable men and women of all ages

to explore their social, sexual, and psychological needs,

to analyze the communication blocks they face, and to

Additional

Resources on HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS

62 Peace Corps

practice different ways of addressing their relationships.

Designed mainly for use in sub-Saharan Africa, although

it may be adapted for other contexts. A workshop video

is also available upon request .

HE 350 Counselling Skills Training in Adolescent Sexuality

and Reproductive Health: A Facilitator’s Guide.

(WHO) 1993. 179 pp.

A guidebook designed to help facilitators run a five-day

workshop for training counselors in adolescent sexuality

and reproductive health. First describes preparatory

activities and the necessary facilities, and then provides a

model daily program, in which each day is divided into

sections on sexuality and reproductive health, the psychodynamics of counseling and communication skills for

counseling.

M0050 Teach English, Prevent AIDS: A Teacher’s Manual.

(Peace Corps ICE) 1995. 113 pp.

A manual for teachers of English as a foreign language,

developed by Peace Corps Volunteers, their counterparts,

and education and health officials in Cameroon, to

incorporate AIDS education into the curriculum. Presents

a content-based approach to language teaching within a

cultural context appropriate to secondary school students

in Africa.

M0053 PACA: Participatory Analysis for Community Action.

(Peace Corps ICE) 1996. 350 pp.

Provides different methods of how to interact with a

group. The framework is based primarily on the work of

RPCVs. The manual is useful for all age groups. Topics

include which subjects are easier are easier to talk about

and understanding family life.
63

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

M0061 Life Skills Manual. (Peace Corps ICE) 2000. 440 pp.

This newly revised version of The Life Skills Manual

produced by Peace Corps Malawi contains practical skillsbuilding exercises for use with youth and community

groups that is especially sensitive to cultural issues facing

Africans confronted by the HIV epidemic. By the summer

of 2000 it will be distributed to all Peace Corps posts. In

addition to providing lessons on how to build self-esteem,

improve communication, decision-making and goalsetting skills , it contains 10 updated sessions plans on

HIV as well as a new section on evaluation.

R0078 AIDS Education for Health Workers. AMREF/

Tanzania. (Peace Corps ICE) 1992. 211 pp.

Presents four training modules to help health workers

learn the facts about AIDS and integrate AIDS education

into their on-going health care programs and services.

Designed to make health workers aware of their own

feelings about AIDS and the extent of the disease in their

own communities; also, how to counsel about HIV/AIDS,

and how to control the infection in their own health units.

R0082 AIDS Resource Manual: A Guide for Teaching About

AIDS in Thailand. (Peace Corps Thailand, Peace Corps

ICE) 1993. 83 pp.

A resource manual that provides basic information about

AIDS transmission and prevention, plus suggestions for

games and activities that PCVs have used for AIDS

education. ERIC: ED366556 NTIS: PB94 125093 NTIS Price

Code: A05/A01.
HIV/AIDS

64 Peace Corps

R0086 Alternative Techniques for Teaching about HIV/AIDS

in the Classroom. Peace Corps Thailand/STD and AIDS

Center, Korat Thailand. (Peace Corps ICE) 1994, rev. 1996.

205 pp.

A collection of interactive games and activities created to

supplement existing curricula on AIDS. Complements

R0082. Also includes some basic information about the

disease and guidelines for teachers to use at different

grade levels. Activity sheets can be reproduced.
65

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

Web-sites and Internet Access

on HIV/AIDS

In addition to all the resources on HIV/AIDS available through ICE,

there are many web-sites that can provide you with global and updated

information on HIV. Some of them offer free materials in a variety of

languages. Below are some of the most important web-sites for HIV/

AIDS. If you have special requests for HIV materials not available

through ICE, or needed in other languages such as Portuguese, please

contact the Health Specialist in the Center’s Africa Regional Assistance

Unit.

• http://www.unaids.org, UNAIDS, located in Geneva, publishes

many insightful manuals on HIV/AIDS. Some of the most interesting ones are Summary Booklet of Best Practices, Peer Education

and HIV/AIDS: Concepts, Uses and Challenges, Guide to the

Strategic Planning Process for a National Response to HIV/AIDS,

Prevention of HIV Transmission from Mother to Child, A Review

of Household and Community Responses of the HIV/AIDS

epidemic in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and AIDS

Education Through Imams. This is just a small sample of the publications available to anyone working in HIV/AIDS free of charge

from UNAIDS. Many of these materials are available in multiple

languages, including Russian.

• http://www.comminit.com, Communication Initiative, lists

international HIV interventions that use behavioral change

strategies. Allows a custom search for a range of development issues

and communication interventions.

• http://www.hivnet.ch/fdp, Fondation Du Present, uses information technology to facilitate capacity building in marginalized

societies. Facilitates collective consensus-building on HIV/AIDS.

Assists in making the work and policies of organizations, governments, and international institutions more transparent and

accountable.
HIV/AIDS

66 Peace Corps

• http://www.iavi.org, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative,

mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible,

preventative HIV vaccines for use throughout the world.

• http://www.aidsmap.com, a clearinghouse for information on

HIV/AIDS, including a treatment database, technical information

and news updates.

• http://www.aegis.com, AEGIS, provides most recent news on

HIV/AIDS issues, updated hourly, provides links to a wide range

of HIV/AIDS-related issues and information.
67

Integrating Prevention and Care Into Your Sector Ecology Camps

1. Scott, S. J. and Mercer, M. A. (1994). Understanding cultural

obstacles to HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa. AIDS Education and

Prevention, 6(1) 81-89.

2. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and Penn State

University. (1999). Communications Framework for HIV/AIDS: A New

Direction.

3. National Research Council. (1996). Preventing and Mitigating AIDS

in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Endnotes
HIV/AIDS

68 Peace Corps

Got a Good Idea?

Send us your “idea” suggestions for The Idea Book.

Name:

Address:

Telephone/Fax:

E-mail:

Here’s my idea(s) that might be useful in future idea books.

If necessary, attach additonal sheets to complete description.

Include any samples or photos that help illustrate your project ideas.

Send to:

Peace Corps Telephone: (202) 692-2640

Information Collection and Exchange Fax: (202) 692-2641

1111 20th Street, NW

Washington, DC 20526