Blog
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Developing An Awareness of HIV/AIDS
February 10, 2010
It all started with an idea last summer, across 8,000 miles, from South Sudan to the United States. Gabriel Manyok, the Duk Lost Boys Clinic Outreach Coordinator, had an idea to begin a youth drama club throughout Duk County, that would teach about HIV/AIDS to the community using drama, a popular medium in South Sudan. Working closely with the John Dau Foundation staff, they developed the idea.
On Sunday, January 24 what began as an idea officially turned into reality. After having collected the youths from the county, 22 in all and nine of them girls, they began a week-long training. Gabriel sat with them under the shade of an old tree in the middle of Duk Payuel, prepping them for what was going to be a big week ahead. South Sudan may be the last untouched pocket of HIV/AIDS in all of Africa, but with its population returning from countries like Kenya and Uganda, where HIV prevalence is above 7%, it could quickly spread across the region.
That makes these youths and teachers the first line of defense in their communities. Several Clinic staff, who gave presentations on various topics throughout the training, told the youth that they were being sent out to spread a very important and very new message.
The training covered issues such as prevention, cultural attitudes, community mobilization, human rights and acceptance of people who are living with HIV/AIDS. It also covered other issues, including vaccine importance, hygiene and sanitation, and respiratory illnesses, which are very common in the area. For the youths, who were selected to participate by their communities, it made for a great source of pride to be part of the training, as well as a time to meet new people from across the county. They stayed in several ”tukuls”, which are traditional mud and timber huts, getting treated to sodas at the closing ceremony, in which they presented several dramas and heard speeches from Clinic staff. They also designed their own t-shirt, which will be printed in Kenya and distributed to them in the field as Gabriel follows up with each group. The students will also go out and train their peers, creating mobile theaters. All have their work cut out for them as this very important program moves forward, but it will move on as a community-based effort, which all began with an idea out of a small village in South Sudan.
