HIV/AIDS Awareness Week

This past week I hosted an HIV/AIDS Awareness Week at my school. It didn’t turn out the way I expected, but it was a huge success all in all. It was especially meaningful for me because it’s the first major project I pulled off without any Peace Corps support. Originally, I planned to show the BBC mini-drama “Palace of Dreams” (a Cambodian film about a love-triangle and their experiences with AIDS) via big screen projector in the courtyard of our school, followed by a Q&A session and prizes. As it turns out, we couldn’t get a projector, so we had hosted three workshops where we showed the video on t.v.s in some empty classrooms instead.

Our target goal was to reach out to 200 students and we had 181 participants. Considering my classes of 50 regularly only have 20-25 students, getting this close to our target was a success in itself. We began each session by asking students to identify facts and myths about HIV/AIDS to assess what they already knew. Then, my co-teachers, Chyworn and Mao, and I presented basic facts about the disease. The students had a ton of questions and were really engaged in the discussions. Next, we played the video and followed up with a few questions and prizes.

Now, it wouldn’t be a “successful” project in Cambodia if you didn’t run into some major problems along the way. Like the power going out half way through the video in one session and the DVD breaking in another. Luckily, I was able to get another copy of the video from one of the other volunteers in my province and the power never stays out for TOO long.

My school director was very excited to host the program because the Ministry of Education asks that all state sponsored schools teach basic health information, particularly focusing on HIV/AIDS, but many schools don’t have the manpower to host these types of workshops. I’ll admit, my co-teachers were a little reluctant to commit to the extra work, but I think they were pleased with the enthusiasm of the students. It’s hard not to walk away from excited students and not feel good about what you just accomplished.