Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

Today we were in the camp with the Anti-Aids Club who is facilitating a workshop for Parent-Child Communication. Teachers and students from the school were invited too and everybody just loved how much they learned. The workshop is a huge success within the camp and it’s nice to see that the club can be totally independent in giving the workshop as we would like them to continue teaching it after we leave. Sophie started out giving the workshop when she first came in Aug. 2004, then taught the members of the club to give it. It’s so uplifting to witness the learning process of people, especially when it can really help their community. Though it is often hard for people to accept that condom use and abstinence are the best way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS because there are so many misconceptions about the virus going around the camp. This is partly due to the Catholic Church advocating against the use of condoms, and the misconception that condom themselves contain viruses. I was speaking to the vice-prinicipal of the secondary school who informed me he didn’t use condoms because he thought that condoms gave you diseases. This is a man who is a leader in the community and who had followed several workshops on healthy living and who still thinks this… We’re hoping the workshops help to start to educate these people.

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 8:44 AM