Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Project

This project closed on September 30, 2009. Please read about Counterpart's current projects in the Caribbean.

In partnership with the local NGO, Ashe Performing Arts Ensemble & Academy, Counterpart International (Counterpart) implemented a Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Project in Jamaica between 2005 and 2006 that aimed to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission through educational entertainment ("edutainment") and building life skills of youth through the Jamaica HIV/AIDS Awareness Project (JHAP). Already challenged by issues such as poverty, unemployment and gender inequality, Jamaican youth ages 15-24 are forced to overcome their generation's leading cause of death, HIV/AIDS (Ministry of Health, 2006).

Early sexual initiation, low condom use, multiple sexual partners, lack of access to HIV/AIDS treatment services, inadequate nutrition and the negative stigma associated with the disease put Jamaican youth at an increased risk of HIV/AIDS transmission. Through education initiatives which train youth leaders, creation of media campaigns, integration of life skills into educational curricula and empowerment of the youth, Counterpart and our local partner Ashe Performing Arts Ensemble strive to increase awareness and reduce HIV/AIDS transmission in the inner-city areas of Kingston and Montego Bay.

In 2005 and 2006, Counterpart worked with Ashe to create plays, puppet shows, music and art shows, conferences and other youth events dealing with HIV/AIDS issues with the goal of increasing awareness, knowledge and interest among Jamaican communities. Event themes included: the impact of HIV/AIDS on Jamaican youth and families, disease transmission and prevention, responsible youth behavior, voluntary testing and counseling for HIV/AIDS and the role of gender and sexual exploitation of young girls by adults.

Part II:
In 2008, The Coca Cola Foundation funded another Counterpart-Ashe Youth AIDS Awareness Project in Jamaica. The "One on One Vibes Village" project again targets youth through an edutainment school-based approach that will reach over 1,000 high school students with youth-friendly HIV/AIDS prevention and reproductive health education. UNICEF in Jamaica is providing additional funding through the Ministry of Education to support teacher training in the edutainment methodologies.

The project targets first form secondary school students by conducting a "One on One Vibes Village" in each school followed by two school visits to further explore the edutainment messages on sexuality, communication, and decision making skills. In the village, sexually transmitted infections are characterized through edutainment performances in the "HIV/AIDS Horror House," followed by peer counseling discussion with the students in the "Chill Room & Abstinence Lounge." Peer links from every school are trained in peer counseling, leadership and communication to reinforce messages delivered through the Village and Ashe's two follow up visits.

Learn more at the Ashe Performing Arts Company website.

We also run a similar project in Haiti. Please visit to learn more.

Photos:
(Top) © Counterpart International.
(Bottom) Schoolchildren enter the "Vibes Village" as part of an Ashe edutainment performance. © Counterpart International.