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India, a country of 1.3 billion people, has the highest number of people living with the HIV virus in the world. Currently it is estimated that there are 2.4 million people infected with HIV. This is 0.3% of the Indian population. This percentage increases, however, to 0.97% in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This is the second highest infection rate in the country. Studies show that 31% of all cases are found in the age group of
15-29.
It is here, at the roots of the next generation of awareness that the No Apologies program targets its impact. No Apologies is a character-based, abstinence-until-marriage curriculum which aims to provide both HIV/AIDS awareness and education, as well as encourage young people to choose abstinence as their method of precaution. The No Apologies program is unique in its approach to HIV/AIDS awareness. Rather than simply providing and promoting awareness of HIV/AIDS in terms of sex education, it discusses the virus in the context of life, love and sex. It also seeks the help and cooperation of the schools where it is taught as well as the parents of those being taught. The curriculum recognizes that parental involvement in sex education is a key factor in delaying, and potentially eliminating, premarital sexual activity. Most awareness programs are media-based and promote prevention by means of protection— that is, the safety measures of safe sex. This method bypasses the culture of accountability to one’s family which is so prevalent in Indian society. While there must be sex education, there is also a need for relevant strategies for awareness— awareness that is not restricted to bill-boards and classrooms but that which can seep into the conversations at the family dinner table.
By encouraging conversations about love and sex in the home, which are terribly rare in India, the No Apologies program hopes to also encourage awareness of HIV/AIDS and thus do away with much of the stigma surrounding the virus. This practice of having conversations about sex in the home setting is an additional benefit for the rural parts of India where HIV/AIDS awareness is not as easily spread through media and education as it is word-of-mouth.
Studies on HIV/AIDS in India have also shown that there are 0.1% more cases in urban areas than there are in rural areas where there is more stigma attached to the subject. So with an increasing amount of people (especially youth) moving out of rural areas and into larger cities it is crucial that they receive education on HIV/AIDS before they disperse into more cosmopolitan places so that they are aware of the virus before they are even more prone to encountering it.
In January 2009, Hand of Hope worked in eight Zillaparishad High Schools at Antharam, Jawaharnagar, and Balajinagar in Narayanpet (located in Mahbubnagar District in Andhra Pradesh) introducing the No Apologies program. Here, unlike so many other rural areas that generate income through agriculture, extreme drought has forced the people to find work mostly through weaving saris leaving many in search of employment. So here, in the midst of rural homes and community, and a migrating younger generation, Hand of Hope was able to introduce No Apologies into the schools of Narayanpet. Hand of Hope conducted ten work shops, reaching 1,278 students with the No Apologies program.
These work shops continue to reach many young people with the truth about HIV and AIDS every month. |
