a sourcebook of hiv/aids prevention programs volume 2

140 A Sourcebook of HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs, Vol. 2At the end of the training, teachers were asked to prepare an action planfor HIV/AIDS education in their school. Their plan included how theywould reach out to other teachers and how they would integrate HIV/AIDSinto the timetable.ICS did not provide refresher courses. The nature of the relationshipbetween ICS and the schools facilitated ongoing support for teachers, however.Each school was visited at least once per term to collect feedback.In addition to delivering classroom-based activities, trained teachers wereadvised to set up health clubs to encourage HIV prevention through activelearning activities, such as role-play. Health clubs were monitored throughschool visits. A year after the training, 86 percent of schools in which teachershad been trained had established health clubs. Trained teachers who hadmaintained active health clubs were given T-shirts with red ribbons and themessage: “PAMOJA TUANGAMIZE UKIMWI” (“Together, let’s crushAIDS”). Student members of the clubs received red ribbon pins to put ontheir school uniforms. Small grants of up to $50 were provided for healthclubs that submitted proposals to organize HIV/AIDS awareness activitiesfor youth in and out of school. In the first year, two-thirds of the schoolssubmitted proposals that were approved.Debating and essay writingDebating is an established practice in Kenyan schools. In 2005, 82 schoolswere encouraged to organize debates among students in grades 7 and 8 onthe motion “school children should be taught how to use condoms.” Thisactivity is recommended in the facilitator’s handbook on HIV/AIDS educationin primary schools, a manual prepared and distributed to all schools byKIE in collaboration with UNICEF. The debates were conducted inSwahili or English.The same 82 schools were also invited to ask students in grades 7 and 8to take part in an essay-writing competition on the topic “discuss ways inwhich you can protect yourself from HIV infection now and later in yourlife.” Essays were written in English.The purpose of the contest was to encourage students to think criticallyabout the options available to them. All essays were collected byICS. Teachers were asked not to read the essays before handing themover to ICS.During the school break, ICS hired teachers from districts not includedin the program, who graded the essays and selected the best essays writtenby a boy and a girl in each grade. The teachers were instructed to mark theessays based on their content and to reward the students with the most(c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank