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Students, teachers and NGOs at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS campaign in Tiassalé (Photo: Teko Folli/U.S Embassy)

Students in Tiassalé take part in HIV/AIDS awareness campaign  

About 2000 students from high schools in Tiassalé took part May 29 in the US Embassy’s “HIV/AIDS Caravan” program. Designed to create awareness and build capacity to combat and prevent HIV/AIDS among students, as well as the general population, the program also brought together Ivorian government officials, local medical officers, teachers and representatives of NGOs involved in the struggle against the spread of the disease.

The session included a series of short videos in French on AIDS made by young Africans for youth leaders and students on the situations and dangers young people encounter. The projections were followed by an extremely animated Q&A session. The program closed with a hot debate led by local health authorities and representatives of CFMS-CI and other NGOs that are waging war against HIV/AIDS in Cote d'Ivoire. The students asked a lot of basic questions about how one gets contaminated with the virus, where and how to get testing, and what a person living with the disease must do in order to stay healthy.  Some students, apparently informed about HIV/AIDS, shared with their colleagues what they already know about the disease. The school’s principal said that the sensitization campaign came at the right time, as the students are preparing to leave for the summer break.

At the end of the program, schools and student associations received copies of the Nouveaux Horizons book entitled: “Sida: Ce que les Jeunes Doivent savoir.” The large turnout of students at the program was made possible in part due to the publicity provided by Radio Rurale Locale de Tiassalé – a proximity radio station that was created in April 2005 with the joint support of the US Embassy and the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI).