What is HIV and AIDS?

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Time Activity
Activity 5.7: Facing Fears
Section 5: Stigma and Discrimination
Activity Outline
Objective: At the end of this activity, participants should be able to speak openly about their
fears and think of ways to overcome them.
Duration/Timing: 50 minutes
Materials/Resources: Post-it Notes/pieces of paper, pens, bowl to put bits of
paper in, flipchart or white board.
5 minutes 1. Distribute a few post-it notes or small pieces of paper to each participant.
2. Ask them to think 2-3 of their greatest fears about HIV and write them
down.
10 minutes 3. Collect all the pieces of paper and put into a bowl.
4. Divide the group into pairs/small groups.
5. Go round to each person and ask them to pick two pieces of paper each.
6. They should then discuss these fears with the other person/s and think of
ways how this may impact people’s behaviour and attitudes towards
people living with HIV.
10 minutes 7. Come back together in a big group and ask people to feedback on their
discussions to the rest of the group
15 minutes 8. Cluster the main fears and write on the whiteboard or flipchart paper.
10 minutes
9. Ask the group to come up with ways to overcome this fear. Ask them to
write them down on the flipchart or whiteboard.
10. Summary – Reassure participants that we all have fears in our lives,
especially around health and disease. This is natural. But these fears
create stigma and lead to isolation and discrimination of people living with
and affected by HIV and AIDS. Fear can lead to believing incorrect
information and stop us from accessing information and services that we
need. But we can face our fears. Emphasise that today they have thought
of numerous ways to do this and should try and take opportunities to do
this.
(Source: Adapted from “Assessing Fear about HIV and AIDS”, Understanding and
Challenging HIV Stigma: Toolkit for Action, Kidd & Clay, 2003)
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