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Do you have any advice on how to incorporate HIV/AIDS education into traditional girls' schools or how to gain acceptance for such education within the community? (4 answers)

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RE: HIV/AIDS and Conservation - Day 1 - impacts of AIDS on natural resources and conservation capacity by Drew Crandall on 03-07-2007
Drew Crandall
Posts: 1
Thank you for holding this forum. I am currently managing a Girls' Scholarship Program that provides primary and secondary education to girls in areas of high biodiversity, where HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact on communities, families and the natural resources they depend on. We believe that we will have an increasing number of applications from girls who come from families struggling to cope with the loss of heads of households, income, workers, etc. We would like to incorporate HIV/AIDS education into the girls' lessons, however, several of the communities in which we work are traditionally Muslim and are hesitant to allow their girls to receive HIV/AIDS and reproductive education.

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --

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Nov 11, 2008

RE: HIV/AIDS and Conservation - Day 1 - impacts of AIDS on natural resources and conservation capacity by Sara Wilhelmsen on 03-07-2007
Sara Wilhelmsen
Posts: 2
This is a great question. I have followed up with my colleague who works on prevention of HIV/AIDS in youth and hope to have some information to share with you either tomorrow or Friday. I have also forwarded your question to our contacts in the field who work with Muslim populations and may be able to share curriculum that can be adapted to the cultural context in which you’re working as well as some lessons learned. It would help to know in which countries does the Girls’ Scholarship Program work in?
Thanks,

Sara

Sara Wilhelmsen
USAID

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --
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RE: HIV/AIDS and Conservation - Day 1 - impacts of AIDS on natural resources and conservation capacity by Baraka Kalangahe on 03-08-2007
Baraka Kalangahe
Posts: 5
Dear Drew

Good to know you have this program. I understand the difficulties you are facing in working with Muslim Communities. My suggestion is first to indentify the muslim scholars in the area. These are Shekhes and Madars teachers. These are good entry points. Sit down with them and introduce the topics and themes. Once they understand, you will review together so as to comply with what is in the Holy Quaran and Sunna.

The contetion issues is the use of condoms. So if you can base fine tunes your topic to be in line with the Quaran as far as reprosuctive health is concern.

Judy do you remember Farmaz Vahidna from Iran doing her PHD in Berkeley . She was one of the Panelist during the session on PHE Workshop in Berkeley. She can be valuble resouces in contributing to the sublject and help Drew.

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --
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RE: HIV/AIDS and Conservation - Day 1 - impacts of AIDS on natural resources and conservation capacity by Sara Wilhelmsen on 03-08-2007
Sara Wilhelmsen
Posts: 2
Drew,

Family Health International, through the YouthNet program, recently produced “Teaching Adults to Communicate with Youth from a Muslim Perspective” with a complementary participant handbook. Both can be downloaded at http://www.fhi.org/en/Youth/YouthNet/Publications/FLE/index.htm .

Sara

Office of HIV/AIDS
USAID

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --
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RE: HIV/AIDS and Conservation - Day 1 - impacts of AIDS on natural resources and conservation capacity by Jacques du Guerny on 03-08-2007
Jacques du Guerny
Posts: 3

Dear Drew,
Although I do not have advice on girls in Muslim schools in the area of HIV and AIDS, one of the important actions that can be undertaken without creating objections is to instil in the minds of girls the need for and urgency of acquiring marketable skills so that they can find paid jobs, if possible also a bit outside of the traditional female jobs for which there is a lot of competition. If they understand that they can stand on their own feet, empowered by their skills, they will be much less at risk of looking for sugar daddies... In rural areas, there are also useful marketable skills such as medicinal plants, etc.

Jacques

-- Updated Mar 30, 2011 --