Teachers in the Global Fight Against AIDS

There are 33.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS throughout the world. Today is World AIDS Day - a day of opportunity to raise awareness and educate about the disease which affects all nations at the most local level.

From 2007 to 2009, I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cape Verde, a country where the government funds prevention and awareness programs for HIV/AIDS in an effort to maintain low infection rates in light of unique social and economic risk factors in the country. My site for two years was at the Teacher Training Institute / University of Cape Verde. I had the opportunity to work with engaging students who were studying for their teaching licensure. For World AIDS Day 2009, I worked with a group of these students, faculty, and the Coordination Committee for the Fight Against AIDS on an awareness campaign that reached beyond the walls of the school and into other classrooms. At the end of November, the series of workshops for students about behavior change culminated with an event that had teachers educating teachers about the behaviors that prevent transmission of AIDS. In the midst of the main foyer of the Institute, surrounded by posters conveying tri-lingual messages about positive behavior change, teachers and students wore the symbolic red ribbon.

Teachers have the opportunity to make an exponential impact on their community through educating and interacting with their students both inside and outside of the classroom. This summer, Promosini Takhellambam, a biology teacher in India and alumna of the International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP), organized a seven-day workshop on HIV/AIDS awareness in Manipur State in Eastern India, a region that has experienced a rapid increase in reported HIV/AIDS cases. For the workshop, which was funded through the ILEP Alumni Small Grants Program, Promosini brought together over 150 fellow teachers, students, and administrators from different schools in Manipur State. Biology teachers educated participants about the transmission of the disease and a psychologist helped students to understand the stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS and how to show compassion and respect for those living with the virus. The workshop provided content and information that teachers and administrators can include in the curriculum and in their classes. This new content will empower students with facts to make healthy decisions and to cope with rising infection rate of HIV/AIDS in Eastern India.

Teachers around the world, including my former students, Promosini, and other alumni of the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA) and ILEP, are working within their communities and classrooms to educate and promote understanding about HIV/AIDS and those living with the virus. World AIDS Day is a day to promote awareness and education about the virus and to think about new ways to engage communities and students to think critically about what they can do to protect themselves and to educate those around them. Teachers play a continual and influential role in that effort.