Saturday December 1st was World AIDS day, and GHEI had a very special outreach planned for the community of Humjibre to mark the occasion. This year’s theme for World AIDS Day was “Getting to Zero,” eliminating HIV and AIDS altogether for this generation.
The evening began at 7:30 pm at the local taxi stand on the main road of Humjibre. The arranged seating filled up fast as inquisitive members of the community arrived to see what we had in store for them. In a matter of minutes the crowd multiplied and before long hundreds of people had formed a semi-circle around the projection screen and DJ booth.
The outreach started with several short videos on HIV and AIDS, covering such topics as HIV prevention, treatment, and ending the stigma against those who suffer from the disease. GHEI Health Program Assistant Aggie Obeng interpreted the English language videos into Sefwi for our audience, with the help of GHEI Country Director Clement Donkor. The crowd watched, wide-eyed and completely silent, fully concentrating on the messages of the videos.
Up next were GHEI’s Community Health Workers, who had been rehearsing a play for this moment for the past two weeks. They were nervous as they prepared and stepped into character, but their nerves soon settled as they walked into the centre of the taxi stand. The play featured four scenes. In Scene 1, CHWs Lydia and Rose played two women talking one-on-one about the consequences of HIV/AIDS and the importance of being tested. Once again our audience was hushed, hanging on every word.
In the next scene, Lydia's character visits a health clinic, where she met a couple who were both HIV positive, played by Isaac and Aggie. Aggie's character explained that since they were both receiving antiretroviral treatment, they were able to live normal and fulfilling lives. The crowd laughed in delight as Isaac hopped onto his feet, puffing out his chest while describing his footballer-like athleticism.
Following this Lydia's character is called into the doctor's office to be tested for HIV. The doctor, played by Shadrack, pleasantly informed his patient that she was not infected with the HIV virus. At this point, Lydia – fully enveloped in her character – jumped to her feet and began dancing around in jubilation, promising to herself and the doctor that she would forever remain cautious in protecting her status by always using a condom. Our audience, still silent up until this point, erupted in a massive cheer.
The next segment had Lydia’s character discussing the hazards of HIV with her boyfriend, played by Francis. She encouraged him to be tested for HIV and they discussed how they would protect themselves from contracting the virus. Again, our audience showed their engagement with the story and its characters by cheering joyfully. The play ended by coming back to a conversation between Lydia and Rose’s characters, summarizing the lessons learned throughout the play.
GHEI had invited Madame Marcelline, the manager of Humjibre’s local health clinic, to give a lecture on safe sex and HIV prevention in the community. She showed her dedication to the cause by giving her presentation despite having not slept the night before, as she was delivering a child all through the night in her role as a midwife.
The next segment of the outreach -- condom demonstrations -- proved to be among the most compelling of the evening. Lydia, with the help of Shadrack, demonstrated how to open a condom package properly without damaging the condom. Next she rolled the condom onto a wooden penis model. Naturally, this elicited some muffled giggling in the crowd, which can be expected when conducting such a demonstration to all age groups at once in a culture that does not often speak of sex freely in public. The crowd was fascinated. Next, Aggie opened and displayed a female condom. Some gasps were heard as she unrolled the contraceptive, and it was apparent that many of the onlookers had never seen a female condom before. If we did not have anyone’s attention before, we certainly did at that point!
Selected CHWs then gave some closing remarks, with a final word from Clement, who thanked everyone for attending and encouraged everyone to consistently apply the principles presented over the course of the evening. GHEI staff then pulled out a large supply of condoms and distributed them free of charge to anyone who requested some. Many people were very excited by this, treating this gift as a sort of loot-bag for the evening.
The adults quickly dispersed after receiving their share of condoms, but many of the youth stuck around to chat with one another excitedly about all they had seen. I managed to get a few of their perspectives at this time.
“My favourite part about the outreach was the condom demonstration. I have to know this so that one day, when that day comes I am ready!” exclaimed Daniel, a junior high school student. His friend Charles was quick to jump in: “Yeah we liked it because HIV prevention is something that is important to everyone.” A high school-aged girl named Janet had this to say: “My favourite part was the play. I liked it-o! This drama taught me how to protect myself.”
I was also fortunate to catch the Chief of Humjibre, Nana Kwado II, just as he and his elders were leaving the grounds. He shared his thoughts on Humjibre’s World AIDS day celebration: “It is so important that our community knows about the risk of HIV, and how to prevent it. The play showed how to be careful and how to make sense of HIV with your partner. We thank GHEI for this education - we appreciate it, and we will always accompany and support outreaches for the program.”
GHEI would like to thank our wonderful CHWs and our health team for their tireless efforts in preparing for the event. Thank you also to everyone who attended. Together, let’s end the stigma and prevent the spread of HIV as we work towards an AIDS-free generation!
The evening began at 7:30 pm at the local taxi stand on the main road of Humjibre. The arranged seating filled up fast as inquisitive members of the community arrived to see what we had in store for them. In a matter of minutes the crowd multiplied and before long hundreds of people had formed a semi-circle around the projection screen and DJ booth. The outreach started with several short videos on HIV and AIDS, covering such topics as HIV prevention, treatment, and ending the stigma against those who suffer from the disease. GHEI Health Program Assistant Aggie Obeng interpreted the English language videos into Sefwi for our audience, with the help of GHEI Country Director Clement Donkor. The crowd watched, wide-eyed and completely silent, fully concentrating on the messages of the videos.
Up next were GHEI’s Community Health Workers, who had been rehearsing a play for this moment for the past two weeks. They were nervous as they prepared and stepped into character, but their nerves soon settled as they walked into the centre of the taxi stand. The play featured four scenes. In Scene 1, CHWs Lydia and Rose played two women talking one-on-one about the consequences of HIV/AIDS and the importance of being tested. Once again our audience was hushed, hanging on every word.
In the next scene, Lydia's character visits a health clinic, where she met a couple who were both HIV positive, played by Isaac and Aggie. Aggie's character explained that since they were both receiving antiretroviral treatment, they were able to live normal and fulfilling lives. The crowd laughed in delight as Isaac hopped onto his feet, puffing out his chest while describing his footballer-like athleticism.
Following this Lydia's character is called into the doctor's office to be tested for HIV. The doctor, played by Shadrack, pleasantly informed his patient that she was not infected with the HIV virus. At this point, Lydia – fully enveloped in her character – jumped to her feet and began dancing around in jubilation, promising to herself and the doctor that she would forever remain cautious in protecting her status by always using a condom. Our audience, still silent up until this point, erupted in a massive cheer. The next segment had Lydia’s character discussing the hazards of HIV with her boyfriend, played by Francis. She encouraged him to be tested for HIV and they discussed how they would protect themselves from contracting the virus. Again, our audience showed their engagement with the story and its characters by cheering joyfully. The play ended by coming back to a conversation between Lydia and Rose’s characters, summarizing the lessons learned throughout the play.
GHEI had invited Madame Marcelline, the manager of Humjibre’s local health clinic, to give a lecture on safe sex and HIV prevention in the community. She showed her dedication to the cause by giving her presentation despite having not slept the night before, as she was delivering a child all through the night in her role as a midwife.
The next segment of the outreach -- condom demonstrations -- proved to be among the most compelling of the evening. Lydia, with the help of Shadrack, demonstrated how to open a condom package properly without damaging the condom. Next she rolled the condom onto a wooden penis model. Naturally, this elicited some muffled giggling in the crowd, which can be expected when conducting such a demonstration to all age groups at once in a culture that does not often speak of sex freely in public. The crowd was fascinated. Next, Aggie opened and displayed a female condom. Some gasps were heard as she unrolled the contraceptive, and it was apparent that many of the onlookers had never seen a female condom before. If we did not have anyone’s attention before, we certainly did at that point!
Selected CHWs then gave some closing remarks, with a final word from Clement, who thanked everyone for attending and encouraged everyone to consistently apply the principles presented over the course of the evening. GHEI staff then pulled out a large supply of condoms and distributed them free of charge to anyone who requested some. Many people were very excited by this, treating this gift as a sort of loot-bag for the evening.
The adults quickly dispersed after receiving their share of condoms, but many of the youth stuck around to chat with one another excitedly about all they had seen. I managed to get a few of their perspectives at this time.
“My favourite part about the outreach was the condom demonstration. I have to know this so that one day, when that day comes I am ready!” exclaimed Daniel, a junior high school student. His friend Charles was quick to jump in: “Yeah we liked it because HIV prevention is something that is important to everyone.” A high school-aged girl named Janet had this to say: “My favourite part was the play. I liked it-o! This drama taught me how to protect myself.”
I was also fortunate to catch the Chief of Humjibre, Nana Kwado II, just as he and his elders were leaving the grounds. He shared his thoughts on Humjibre’s World AIDS day celebration: “It is so important that our community knows about the risk of HIV, and how to prevent it. The play showed how to be careful and how to make sense of HIV with your partner. We thank GHEI for this education - we appreciate it, and we will always accompany and support outreaches for the program.”
GHEI would like to thank our wonderful CHWs and our health team for their tireless efforts in preparing for the event. Thank you also to everyone who attended. Together, let’s end the stigma and prevent the spread of HIV as we work towards an AIDS-free generation!
Thanks for your kind words! We were thrilled with the community's reaction.
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