South Africa
DramAide Health Promoters Prevention Project
 Activity Dates
2005 – ongoing
Activity Summary
Young people face the highest risk of HIV infection in South Africa. Recent studies indicate that infections are at 29% in the 20-24 year age group and 30% in the 25-29 year age group. Thus, university students are a high risk group for HIV infection. On many campuses there is an established culture of risk taking that includes casual sex with different partners, transactional sex, and the abuse of alcohol and drugs.
 The Health Promoter’s Prevention Project based in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) uses drama methodologies to critically engage young people to communicate effectively about issues relating to sex, sexuality and HIV/AIDS. The Health Promoter’s Project utilizes young people who are living openly and positively with HIV as Health Promoters (HPs). The HPs work on university campuses to promote the abstinence, be faithful, and condom use (ABC) strategy in a dialogue-oriented approach that helps students to personalize the risk of HIV infection, break the stigma and deal more effectively with their personal health and relationship problems. DramAidE’s theory-based methodology uses a participatory approach based on Paulo Freire’s principles of dialogue, interaction, problem-posing reflection and conscientization. The Health Promoters Prevention Project has reached 19 universities and on 28 campuses in South Africa.
Objectives
- To alleviate the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst young people in the higher education institution by:
- Promoting abstinence, secondary abstinence, partner reduction and faithfulness for all male and female students
- Achieving an understanding of human right and responsibilities, patriarchy, marriage in a modern society and cultural heritage
- Increasing awareness of the importance of identifying and seeking medical attention for STIs
- Providing education on the risks of cross-generational sexual relationships
- Providing education about the importance of and skills to maintain correct and consistent condom use
- To create a conducive environment for the promotion of healthy behaviour
- To help students to personalize the risk of HIV
- To break the stigma attached to HIV
- To help others to deal effectively with their personal health and relationships issues
Implementation
HPs work in the following ways to reach young men and women:
- Orientation programs for new students
- Workshops for peer educators
- Support groups for HIV positive students
- Individual and group meetings
- Classroom instruction
- Presentations
- Campaigns
- Live events
- Off-campus outreach
- Games
- Educational theatre
- Forum theatre
- Role play
- Songs
- Referrals for counseling and testing
Audiences
University students
Partners
Academy for Educational Development (AED), CADRE, ABC Ulwazi
Back to South Africa
Note about materials: Some of the materials and resources listed on each page are available in their full form, others are represented by image or citation only. For more information and resources, go to www.jhuccp.org
|
