...young people are the nation's window of hope in the fight against HIV/AIDS.' (UNICEF)
Malawi has a very high HIV prevalence rate currently estimated at 14.5% for all Malawians, however the prevalence rate among youth is 10% leaving 90% of youth virus free thus young people are the nation's window of hope in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
When the Lesson for Life campaign was initiated in Malawi in early September 2004, there was a lot of interest from the key collaborating partners especially in the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and among the young people who were expected to be the main participants in the lesson.
Preparations for Lesson for Life
The process began with the orientation of teachers who are also patrons of young peoples' clubs and young leaders. Orientation meetings were conducted throughout the country where teachers, youth officers and children's leaders were oriented on everything about the Lesson. The lessons for life activity packs were distributed and various other materials made available to the participating schools, patrons and youth clubs.
By end of November the stage was ready for youth clubs and schools to start conducting the lesson. 100 primary and secondary schools and nearly 60 youth clubs for the out-of school young people from all parts of the country had registered to kick start the lesson for life.
Thousands of children and youth were mobilized by teachers and other young people to conduct and take part in the lesson. Considering that the average size of a school in Malawi has 600 children and that the average youth club reaches almost 200 young people, it was estimated that nearly 70,000 children and young people took part in the lesson within the period immediately before, on the World AIDS Day, or immediately after the World AIDS Day. This represents a sizeable percentage of the children's population reached with information on HIV and AIDS.
Positive Outcomes
The national media gave the campaign very good publicity. All the major and wide circulation newspapers carried stories and press releases on the Lesson. Several radio stations and the only TV station in Malawi also broadcast some of the lessons taking place in some parts of the country.
One of the most welcome outcomes from the Lesson for Life was that the main institutions that work with children and young people acknowledged the lesson as a very useful approach to involving children in the campaign against HIV and AIDS and indicated that they would extend the lesson to all the schools and clubs in the country during the 2005 campaign.
The Lesson was conducted in a child centered manner. Children and young people with their teachers and patrons organized the lesson with the children taking the lead in the delivery of the lesson. The lesson complemented other already existing interventions that are in place in schools and clubs.
This approach of letting children take the lead in teaching other children is very good. I think the ministry of education should adopt this approach in the teaching of other subjects as well. (Minister from the Malawi Ministry of Education)
Senior government officials, local political and civic leaders, religious leaders and NGOs gave support to the lesson. Their speeches and statements all gave their assurances to the children that they would give support to the lesson for life and children's efforts to dealing with the HIV and AIDS epidemic.
I will make sure that when I go back to my community I will encourage the children in all the 40 villages in my area to set up youth clubs. (Remark by a local Councilor at a lesson for life session.)
Over 300 schools and 100 clubs for out-of-school young people are expected to join in the teaching of the lesson in the first quarter of 2005 thereby increasing the number of children reached with the lesson. As the year 2005 will be progressing, more youth clubs and schools are expected to join in the lesson reaching out to more and more young people with the information on HIV and AIDS.
In the clubs and schools that are taking part in the lesson, the children and their teachers have also drawn up their good news which will be followed up in 2005. Some of the good news will be selected for publication in the local newspapers. Youthlink, a youth and children's newspaper carried a two page supplement in its December 2004 edition specifically on the lesson for life. The paper is also planning to publish a supplement for the good news and call for action on the good news from children, teachers, politicians, civic leaders and all other partners.
Good News and hopes
The 'good news' exercise reflected the hopes of children and youth for 2005. Numerous contributions were made among which some imagined that by 2005:
- They would have each given support to an orphan or a vulnerable child.
- In 2004 cases of boys abusing girls at the school were common. However in 2005, the boys at the school were no longer sexually abusing the girls. This would be confirmed by the survey that would be conducted at the school.
- Each child was also involved in reaching out to people in the community. By 2005 pupils at the school had reached out to 2000 other children and youth in the community with basic information on HIV and AIDS
- The children had formed support groups at the school to provide information and support to other children.
- Parents, teachers and other gatekeepers in the community were opening up dialogue with the children and as a result many young people were getting the required information from closets sources.
- The children and adults had successfully lobbied the government through their Member of Parliament to start providing free ARVs to people living with HIV.
- The rate of new infections will have reduced as a direct result of the lesson. People would have learnt a lot about the virus and how to be protected and to protect others.
The way Forward in 2005
The Ministry of Education in Malawi has fully committed itself to ensuring that the Lesson is taught in all schools. This commitment was made during the Lesson that was attended by the UNICEF Malawi Representative at one of the Secondary Schools participating in the Lesson. If all schools in Malawi would be reached with the Lesson nearly 2 million children countrywide would be reached!
The media played a very important role in sensitizing the nation about the lesson for life. In 2005 and beyond, UNICEF and partners in support of Global Movement for Children will ensure that the media are fully involved in disseminating information on the lesson and other interventions targeting children and young people. The media will be supported with information to continue sensitizing the masses on the Lesson and the World AIDS campaign for 2005.