Norman Wai and the Foundation for Young People implemented a HIV/AIDS awareness campaign with the aim of minimising and reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

Who's involved?

Project leader: Norman Wai

Lead organisation: Foundation for Young People

Other organisations: The Teya Malg Youth Group; Students Association WHSA; Walmug Adventist Youth group; Provincial Aids Council and Division; Provincial Department of Education

Objectives:

• Encourage the practice of preventive measures to avoid the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• Disseminate information in peer groups, families and communities.
• Appreciate and show love and concern for people living with HIV/AIDS.
• Treat each other (both male and female) as equal and promote Gender Equity.
• Pass information on living positive for those living with HIV/AIDS Virus.

Activities:

• Organise a one-day in-house training session with Provincial Aids Council officers to train at least 10 youth volunteers on the latest HIV/AIDS information including statistics, access to prevention, transmission and care, gender issues and to receive materials (brochures, posters and condoms etc). 
• Disseminate a brief report on the latest HIV/AIDS information in Papua New Guinea;
• Organise meetings with the 10 'trained' youth volunteers to disseminate HIV/AIDS information and distribute stickers, posters, brochures and condoms to students and staff members of targeted institutions;
• Ensure that the students and staff members will further disseminate the information to others as organized by student representatives;
• Provide information on positive living and good nutrition for healthy life styles for people living with HIV/AIDS;
• Run 8 radio spots over 8 weeks with the local radio station to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS;
• Publicise all the activities through local radio, television and newspapers;
• Evaluate the impact of the activity by asking a minimum of 100 school youth to complete a survey on their knowledge of HIV/AIDS before and after the presentations by the volunteers; analyse and report on the results of the evaluation;
• Investigate and report on ways of continuing this activity in the future.

Results:

The project visited 29 instituions all located within five Districts out of the total seven districts in the province.  It reached out to a total of 11,721 people who directly received the information and will be passing it on to others.

The group is hopeful to continue the project in the future. They hope to try to improve their methods of presentation to include drama, poetry, storytelling, video shows, puppetry or oral discussions about HIV/AIDS and its impacts. 

Downloads:

Final Report [PDF 116Kb] 
Project Proposal
Workplan