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In remote areas of Africa, how do you get the message out about ***/AIDS prevention?
In rural Ethiopia, where the majority of livelihoods depend on agriculture, members of farming
cooperatives are being trained as peer educators. They in turn teach other farm workers and
their community about ***/AIDS.
In a country where women make up nearly 60 per cent of the 890 000 adults infected with
***, peer educator Shibre is making a difference.
(Shibre Hirphe) Many women are ashamed of talking about ***/AIDS
because of the cultural constraint. We teach them about condoms and how to use them, but
talking about something related to *** intercourse does make them embarrassed.
When she’s not working in the corn fields or looking after her large family, 35-year
old Shibre talks to farm workers and at traditional and social gatherings.
Shibre’s confident approach and the fact that she is a trusted member of the community
have helped get the ***/AIDS message across.
(Asfaw Temesgen) Right after she took the training and started
educating her family and people in the area, it became a common practice for everyone to
discuss it. Now it has even reached a stage where people are voluntarily going to counselling and taking
***/AIDS tests.
Shibre is one of over 400 peer educators from agricultural cooperatives. Their training
is part of a project run by the International Labour Organization with support from the
Italian government. By communicating ***/AIDS prevention through the workplace, the message
is spreading to whole communities. In just three years the peer educators have educated
450 000 people about the disease.
(Lelissa Chalchissa) What makes this project unique is the fact
that it focuses on the farmers and even more specifically on the Agricultural Cooperatives.
This project not only reaches the cooperative members but also all those that are in the
surrounding area.
With committed people like Shibre spreading the message, even isolated communities like
hers have the know-how to stop the threat of ***/AIDS.