Knocking on every door to educate people about the key drivers of HIV pandemic has been the order of the day by LifeLine Southern Africa’s troop of peer educators, who recently launched their World Cup campaign in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg. The drive is part of the effort to reach people with HIV prevention messages during the soccer showpiece that started on 11 June 2010.
The month-long World Cup programme, which targets children, youth, adult women and men, seeks to reach people around Alexandra and educate them about HIV prevention such as partner reduction, correct and consistent condom use and other topical issues, which include human trafficking and healthy living.
The door-to-door campaign was kick-started at Alexandra’s Extension 7, which is characterised by high unemployment, high levels of child negligence and recreational facilities being far from home. With schools on holiday, peer educators added human trafficking to the programme, to create awareness among children and parents.
During discussions with schoolchildren who were playing soccer, peer educators asked if they would agree to go with people posing as international soccer stars. Most seemed interested, and were thus taken through the dangers posed to them by human trafficking.
Youth Day
LifeLine, in partnership with Urban Legends, commemorated Youth Day, 16 June, in Alexandra by educating people about behaviours that place people at risk of HIV infection. As part of a major drive to create awareness, peer educators introduced the Scrutinize and Brothers for Life campaigns to emphasise their HIV messaging.
The Scrutinize campaign is a joint effort by Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA), the iconic youth brand Levi’s, Matchboxology and other partners. The campaign aims to increase perception among young people (18 – 32 years of age) of HIV infection drivers, including the risk of having 2 or more partners at the same time; the linkage between alcohol, sex and HIV; and the exchange of sex for money or material goods. Scrutinize aims to encourage young people to reduce their number of partners, and to use condoms correctly and consistently with all partners.
Brothers for Life is a national men's campaign that aims to create a movement of men that will ignite and spread throughout South Africa. The campaign draws upon the spirit of Brotherhood that exists among South African men, and seeks to encourage men to positively influence each other as men, partners, parents and leaders.
In addition, Brothers for Life seeks to address the risks associated with having multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships, men’s limited involvement in fatherhood, lack of knowledge of HIV status by many, low levels of HIV testing and disclosure, and insufficient health-seeking behaviours in general by men.
The campaign is a collaborative effort led by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), the Department of Health, USAID/PEPFAR, JHHESA, Sonke Gender Justice, the United Nations System in South Africa and 20 other civil society partners working in the field of HIV prevention and Health.
Peer educators distributed condoms and information resources, such as pamphlets and brochures, for people to better understand how different behaviours impact on HIV infection.
