PEPFAR Training

Back to School.

We are back to school now after a week long training for HIV/AIDS: PEPFAR training. My student Alina and my fellow English teacher, Lydia, attended the training with me and they were great! I met them at the train station in Kiev since it was their first time in the Capital and then we headed to the bus stop where my organization met and transported all the training participants.

The training was held at a Sanatorium…like a summer resort for children/adults who have health problems. We each had one roommate in our rooms. My roommate was another Peace Corps volunteer and Alina and Lydia roomed together. The trainings were tough. Every day, we were up by 8am and in training by 9am. The trainings lasted all day until about 7 or 8pm every evening with only 2 coffee breaks, lunch and dinner.

As a PCV, (Peace Corps volunteer), I have done these trainings several times, but it was really powerful to see my Ukrainian counterparts learning so much and being swept up in the feeling of knowing they were being empowered to help their country.

The first day we learned about the biology of HIV/AIDS and the stages. We learned that HIV is the virus and AIDS (the complete collapse of the immune system) is only a result of HIV, but not actually a disease. We also learned that a person is most contagious in the first 6 months after contracting HIV, yet in these same months, an HIV test will show that they are negative.

After biology, we learned about transmission. There are four body fluids that HIV can transmit through: 1) Blood; 2)Semen; 3)Vaginal fluid;4) Breast Milk, (in order of concentration!).

Places and fluids that HIV/AIDS CANNOT spread through are:
Swimming pools
Hugs
Kisses (unless bleeding profusely!)
Saliva
Air
Sharing drinks
Hand shakes

We then studied prevention. The general teaching method of PEPFAR is the ABC teaching method.
A-Abstinence;
B-Be Faithful;
C- Condoms.
We learned that the ABC method is the most effective way to teach prevention because it gives people options. However, in Ukraine, teaching about condoms is not always allowed in schools. Our school has been lucky enough to be the only school in our town to be allowed to teach about condoms.

Lastly, we learned about stigma. All across the world there is huge stigma surrounding HIV positive people. In our stigma lesson, we had a discussion about who is guilty of their HIV+ status. As a whole, we came to the conclusion that people who make risky choices (sharing needles, unprotected sex, etc) may not be making the most responsible decisions in the world, but they still did not want their HIV+ status and therefore no one is guilty. However, we agreed that if a person knowingly spreads their HIV+ status or chooses to be ignorant about it, that is another story, and that person is guilty.

The second part of the HIV+ stigma training was about people who are already HIV+ and are progressing to AIDS. Most commonly, HIV+ people die faster if they are unhealthy and they do not have support. Unfortunately, in many countries, families are embarrassed and ashamed when they learn about their family member’s HIV+ status. In the second activity, we all had ten cards, which listed various aspects of life, including family, finances, mobility,  mental reasoning, etc. We then took away five cards of our choice and discussed how this represents a person in the first stages of AIDS. After a short discussion, we lost two more cards except this time we could not choose. We once again discussed how this represents a person with progressive AIDS and how they are more and more losing their ability to survive without support.

The training was super successful! At the end of the training, my counterparts and I planned an awesome project that we will implement in our school to spread information about HIV/AIDS. First, we will have a professional trainer come to our school and train 6 students and 19 teachers. Then, we will announce a art/photo/painting contest related to HIV/AIDS. The winning pieces will be printed in an HIV/AIDS themed calendar. On December 1st, International HIV/AIDS day, the six students leaders will train the 9th, 10th, and 11th classes. The calendars will be given out as prizes to the winning artists and the remaining calendars will be sold to support the purchase of condoms and other materials for the next year’s training. The six student trainers will choose six new students who will be the trainers for next year. The hope is that HIV/AIDS trainings will be a permanent yearly fixture in our school!

Wish us luck!!!