One of the responsibilities of the district HFLE officers is to oversee the annual primary school HIV/AIDS poster competition. Several months ago, Joe and I solicited submissions from Standard IV-VI (roughly 5th-8th grade) students throughout the Cayo District. They were given the task of creating an eye-catching poster on the themes of HIV transmission & prevention or stigma & discrimination. We ended up with around 200 submissions. Joe then recruited artists, teachers and professionals in the HIV/AIDS field to judge the submissions, who pared them down to the top 20. Joe and I spent a week traveling around the district to take the top 20 posters on tour. We asked 30 students from a variety of schools to vote on their top 3, from which our winners were chosen. Awards were presented at a ceremony in San Ignacio. Our 1st place winner, Christopher Pulido, went on to the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan along with the top winners from the other districts, where they were interviewed for the news and had lunch with the Ambassador.
All in all, it was a successful endeavor, which hopefully succeeded in the aim of raising awareness about HIV & AIDS among Belizean youth. In a nation which suffers from a 2.4% HIV infection rate and intense stigma aginst people with HIV and AIDS, increased awareness is sorely needed.
One of the responsibilities of the district HFLE officers is to oversee the annual primary school HIV/AIDS poster competition. Several months ago, Joe and I solicited submissions from Standard IV-VI (roughly 5th-8th grade) students throughout the Cayo District. They were given the task of creating an eye-catching poster on the themes of HIV transmission & prevention or stigma & discrimination. We ended up with around 200 submissions. Joe then recruited artists, teachers and professionals in the HIV/AIDS field to judge the submissions, who pared them down to the top 20. Joe and I spent a week traveling around the district to take the top 20 posters on tour. We asked 30 students from a variety of schools to vote on their top 3, from which our winners were chosen. Awards were presented at a ceremony in San Ignacio. Our 1st place winner, Christopher Pulido, went on to the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan along with the top winners from the other districts, where they were interviewed for the news and had lunch with the Ambassador. 
All in all, it was a successful endeavor, which hopefully succeeded in the aim of raising awareness about HIV & AIDS among Belizean youth. In a nation which suffers from a 2.4% HIV infection rate and intense stigma aginst people with HIV and AIDS, increased awareness is sorely needed. 
2 comments:
It is really cool that the kids were so interested in the project. It seems that there is some potential to change the stigma, even if it's generation by generation. Way to go!
hey kitty, i am back a little bit. are you in the states?
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