The National Aids Programme Office inAnguillaheld a successful two-day Easter Skills Workshop for schoolchildren while educating them about HIVAIDS. The 22 students were drawn from grade 5 in the Primary Schools and form 2 at Campus B of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School.
National Aids Programme Director, MaezaDemis-Adams, spoke to The Anguillian about the workshop, an annual event sponsored by the Social Security Board. “It is a workshop that incorporates HIV prevention education and a skill. This time, for the skill, we decided on kite-building and sewing,” she stated.
“The first part of the opening session is normally on HIV education. We talk about stigma, discrimination; how the disease is transmitted; and how infected persons are treated. In the second session we go into skill building so the children are not just coming at the office to listen to HIV prevention messages. They also have hands-on activities. We have done knitting and various other skill-building activities in the past. I think this event has been going on for five years now.”
Mrs. Demis-Adams said previous workshops were predominantly attended by girls, but this year she was pleased that there were eleven boys and eleven girls in attendance. “This year we wanted to attract a large number of boys and so we decided on doing kite-building, as one of the skills, and I am very happy that their turnout was so good,” she said.
The boys were assisted with kite-building by Barbadian teacher at Campus C, Henderson Burgess. The kites were flown atEast End, outside the normal area of aircraft operations. The girls were taught how to sew purses by Programme Officer, Jillian Gumbs.
Asked how the children were responding to the HIVAIDS education programme, Mrs. Demis-Adams said: “The good thing about these students is that they have been exposed to HIV education in the Primary Schools, through Health and Family Life Education, and this is being continued in forms one and two at Campus B by the Programme Officer,” she explained.
“Over the last three years the children have been exposed to HIV education, so this workshop is just to reinforce it and to focus on stigma and discrimination; how HIV positive persons are treated and how to engage and work with peers in a friendly manner. The skill-building sessions help to promote those skills.”
