Combatting AIDS can be fun—or not? Jessica Eager is a young American working wit
ID: 369683 • Letter: C
Question
Combatting AIDS can be fun—or not?
Jessica Eager is a young American working with a group of international interns in the President Clinton AIDS-Awareness Campaign—a US-based educational NGO operating in Africa—that has sent the team out after a slide-show introduction to African culture and instructions to be creative. She thinks she has the perfect approach to getting the word out about condom use to young people in the village of Northern Nigeria. Remembering how AIDS education was effectively conducted when she was in college in Santa Barbara, Jessica thinks that the best way to reach young people is through a positive approach. Rather than promoting the health benefits of condoms and scaring young people with the threat of disease, she and her fellow interns create a local campaign based on skits that describe the fun of condom use in sexual situations. One of the more amusing skits involves a young woman attempting to put a condom on a banana and then on a large gourd while talking to the vegetable as if it were her naughty lover.
Initially Jessica is delighted that the skits appear to be such a huge success. Enormous crowds gather, and the young men in the village seem to be especially delighted with the presentations. But the Muslim elders in the village meet secretly and decide that this nonsense has to be stopped. They demand that Jessica and the interns leave the village immediately and that the Clinton AIDS-Awareness Campaign be reprimanded for promoting immorality. New York staff members rush to Nigeria to deal with the crisis.
ROLE PLAY. You are in one of the following three groups:
1. Sarah and the interns
Explain your position and see if it is possible to come to a compromise or a resolution of the conflict.
Explanation / Answer
First, it is good to educate people regarding the negative effects of AIDS. Then take steps to explain the appropriate methods to tackle this type of diseases.Although there are no medicines to cure AIDS currently, but a AIDS affected patient can live a healthy life if diagnosed early. So it's better to be aware of this disease & make people aware of it.As Jessica & her interns are doing in village of Northern Nigeria.People of this village are less educated & a strict follower of their culture.They either don't know the demerits of AIDS or don't want to go against their culture even if knowing the bad effects of AIDS. This case is very sensitive.So these type of people should be handled delicately.In this case Jessica's thought is right that young people should be approached in a positive way but campaigning through skits directly is not the right way to make them understand.
Jessica & her interns should read people's mind first that what they are thinking about sexual education & how they are reacting to it.Jessica & her interns should act like they are one of the members of the village.They should understand village culture first then try to motivate people towards the AIDS awareness programme gradually.It is necessary to make them understand about their health & life which is gifted by God.If they are believing God they should be educated in a devotional way.As their life is God gifted they have no rights to spoil it. They should try to maintain it by following the right path.
Educating through a funny skit may affect people's feelings.Muslim's opposed to this campaign becoz this type of campaign hurt their feelings.They were not ready to accept it easily.In their opinion it is all useless & Jessica & her interns are promoting immortality.The people who are opposing can tolerate the sufferings of their near and dear ones but don't want to go against their culture & traditions.Here it needs to wash these people's mind that being aware of HIV virus no one can be immortal.It's only a healthy practice to live.When there is a new resolution some people accept it at first & some people oppose it.But if we keep trying to convince these people who are opposing then one day they will merge with us as active social worker.
If I were with Jessica & her interns I will follow the steps which i explained above.If this situation is handled in a sensitive manner then i hope there will be a resolution to this conflict.