Who Cares About AIDS?

July 8, 2008

"There is not a classroom in Africa that has
not been impacted in some way by HIV/AIDS."

Who cares about AIDS? Christian Schools in Africa know they can’t sit back and watch as the disease claims the lives of many of their students’ parents, often disrupting their education. They also know that if they don’t bring AIDS into the classroom, soon, the younger generation may be lost to the disease as well.

WWCS believes it is uniquely positioned to influence its partner schools with field-tested, biblically-based HIV/AIDS prevention tools for the African classroom –- lesson plans entitled “Hope for Today’s Generation”.

“Hope” will help children make decisions that will keep them HIV-free. WWCS partner schools are attempting to reach young children before it is too late.

“The strategy for fighting AIDS should rest on protecting the so-called ‘window of hope’, that is, the children who are not yet sexually active,” said one educator from Nigeria.

“Hope” is an educational tool written by African Christian school teachers for the African classroom. A revised second edition is now complete and is waiting for funds that will cover printing and distribution in WWCS partner schools throughout Africa and beyond. Funding is needed in order to keep it affordable for these schools, and to translate the tools into French, the first language of over 20 African nations.

The potential impact of “Hope” is over two million children in WWCS partner schools in Africa alone. “We want to saturate the continent and beyond with an affordable teaching tool,” said Dale Dieleman, WWCS Field Director for Africa. “There is not a classroom in Africa that has not been impacted in some way by HIV/AIDS.”

Impact could spread beyond the classroom in the form of parent orientation classes. Parents and guardians will be invited to meet with teachers before the “Hope” courses are taught so that they are comfortable with the subject matter. This is a non-threatening environment for parents and guardians to be informed about not only what their children will be learning, but in the process, they will also learn about high-risk behaviors that may expose them and their families to HIV/AIDS.

“For some parents, this is new information,” said Dieleman. “AIDS prevention has been attempted through radio, TV, dramas and concerts, but even so it is difficult to reach many people with the right information.”

One item many parents need to be aware of is mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. A by-product of “Hope” and the accompanying orientation is encouragement to get tested through a process called Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT). Individuals who go in to be tested are first counseled on what to do if their test comes out positive. “They are told, ‘this is not a death sentence’”, Dieleman said. “There are things you can do to stay healthy through what you eat and the medication you take.”

Pregnant women who test positive must be educated on the risks for their unborn babies, and ways to avoid transmission when the baby is born. Many women are unaware of these risks or how to avoid them. The right information and behavior could save the lives of many unborn babies – future students in WWCS partner schools who will later receive similar instruction themselves through “Hope”.

Help WWCS stop AIDS before it starts. Give today to keep children and their parents informed but not infected through “Hope for Today’s Generation”!

For more information on “Hope for Today’s Generation” teaching tools, contact Dale Dieleman at ddieleman@wwcs.org or (800) 886-9000.  Top photo: Students at Nthunguni (The Rock) Christian School in Kenya, East Africa