Greetings to one and all!
I have just returned to Windhoek after 6 weeks on the road. I
travelled by myself for the first month, and filmmaker Geoffrey Silver
joined me for the last two weeks. In the two months since my last
newsletter much has developed and I am excited to bring you the
details! Let me begin with receiving our official approval back in
mid-May:
After several postponed meetings and weeks of waiting, I was finally
given a meeting with the full HIV/AIDS Management Unit (HAMU) team in
May.
The meeting was successful, despite the usual governmental hiccups! We
were to review the classroom video and agree on a plan to implement the
training workshops - but their TV/VCR had no sound! We drafted a
letter for the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education to
sign. This letter was the official introduction from HAMU to the
different Regional Directors to require school participation in the
training workshops. The letter was drafted, signed, and faxed to the
regions on the 17th of May, and we were finally all set to actually train teachers!
During the next two weeks, we received 1000 Teacher's Guides and 600
classroom videos at Rivendell where they are now stored. From my desk
there I spoke with RACE coordinators, Regional Directors, Regional
counselors, Principals, and teachers and arranged the venues, participants, catering and accommodation for our 14 workshops in the 4 southern and eastern regions, [Karas, Hardap, Omaheke, and
Otjozonjupa]. (RACE means Regional AIDS Coordinators for Education,
they are often Peace Corps volunteers.)
Sekolo's first teacher-training workshop was held on June 6 in Schlip,
in the Hardap region; it went well. The next day I drove to a new
workshop location, gave a workshop the following day, and repeated the
pattern for the next six weeks. In total I trained 80 teachers from 51 schools, and drove 6000 kilometers!
Each workshop starts at 9:00am and finishes at 4:00pm. We have a
morning tea break, lunch and afternoon tea; no meeting in Namibia is
complete without food and sugar! In the morning I give a presentation of new facts and statistics on HIV in Namibia. As part of that we discuss the impact of HIV on the country as a whole and on the
education sector specifically. My presentation also covers the
different medical treatment available to those with the virus. I then
distribute the Our HIV ABC materials (which always goes down well) and
explain the best ways to use them with learners. The materials are
designed to encourage discussion, so the workshops model that
discussion for the teachers: Teachers discuss topics that they will in
turn discuss and lead with their learners.
The workshops follow Sekolo's philosophy of strengthening the education
of HIV prevention to provoke behaviour change and the reduction of new
infections. I present the 'ABC' [Abstinence, Be faithful, and use a
Condom] in equal emphasis, and we all discuss why this equal approach
is important. In order to give their students 'the whole picture', teachers must know and be confident in their own understanding of the 'ABC', even if their own personal belief is abstinence only, or condoms
only. We have had many fruitful and thought-provoking discussions!
During our discussions of the A, B, and C throughout the day are woven
the need to improve decision making skills, to develop value systems,
and to deepen the perception and value of relationships and respect. I believe that with all of the information at their fingertips,
presented in ways that help form and guide decision-making and moral
structures, we will help young people (and their teachers!) keep safe
from HIV.
The Regional Directors, RACE coordinators, Regional Counsellors and
Principals who helped organise and support the workshops expressed
their enthusiasm for Sekolo's project. They expressed thanks for the
additional training, updated information, and new resources that we are
delivering to teachers. Teachers themselves responded positively to
the training workshops and are genuinely convinced that Our HIV ABC
will help effect behaviour change among their learners. I received a
handwritten note from one teacher at the Okamatapati Junior Secondary
School saying the workshop was, 'enjoyable and informative. It has
broadened my knowledge about the HIV pandemic.' Regardless of whether
the teacher was old and experienced, or young and inexperienced, spoke
English well, or struggled with it: across the board the reception was
really positive. I was particularly pleased that all but two schools
in the regions managed to get to workshops even if it meant driving
over 100 miles.
I feel as though Sekolo's blue Nissan 'bakkie' (pick-up truck) must now
be a familiar sight on all Namibian roads! The past 6 weeks of driving
have re-kindled my love of this country and its beautiful contrasts. The final workshops were in the far south of Namibia, an area I have
not worked in before. I am told the landscape is unlike any other part
of Namibia, mountainous at times, vast plains at others, barren
desert, or fairly lush with vegetation and amazingly green! I also
worked in the far northeastern corner in the 'armpit' underneath the
Caprivi strip. This section on the border with Botswana is in the
Kalahari Desert and is inhabited predominantly by the San peoples. The
unique desert geography is truly exquisite and yet, in almost perverse
contrast, dismally economically poor and barren with children barefoot
and in rags, and government schools with broken windows and stolen
doors.
Filmmaker Geoffrey Silver joined me for the final two weeks of
workshops. In April he began work on a film presenting the HIV/AIDS
situation in Namibia. Footage of the workshops and interviews with
individual teachers will be included in the film. We will present it
this Fall to illustrate the devastating impact of HIV on Namibia and
how our work helps mitigate the situation and provide hope for the
future.
Now that we've successfully completed the pilot workshop phase of the
Our HIV ABC programme, I look forward to continuing the work in 2006. The pilot workshops covered 4 of the 13 education regions in Namibia. The northern regions are much more densely populated than those in the
south. Consequently, there will be many more workshops per region as
we proceed northward, and less driving!
This week I met with my Education Ministry contacts at HAMU to lay the
groundwork and plan the full implementation of training workshops. I
will return to Namibia in mid-November to work with them to arrange
workshops for January in the northern Oshikoto region. With the
success of 14 pilot workshops under my belt, they reaffirmed their
enthusiasm about working together to ensure the continued smooth
progress of the project.
In September I return to the US for 3 months to report back to everyone
and to continue fundraising. Although several speaking engagements
have been arranged already, I'm working with the Board to organize more
so that I have the opportunity to speak with each of you and answer any
questions you may have about the work you have supported. We will be
submitting grant applications and requesting donations in order to
raise enough money to fund the remaining workshops.
Thank you for your previous support and continued interest and
steadfast encouragement in Sekolo's work and belief in me. I truly
appreciate what your donations have enabled and my appreciation is
multiplied every time I receive thanks from individual teachers.
I look forward to seeing you all this Fall. In the meantime, please
visit the updated Sekolo Projects website at
www.sekoloprojects.org for
pictures of the workshops and enthusiastic teachers you have trained!
Be well and enjoy the rest of the summer,
Elizabeth
