WEST AFRICA PROJECT

Mr Freddie Caut-Pinto introduces Dr Taylor
to a class in Accra, Ghana

In January and February 2001, Dr. Robert Taylor, the HAC director, travelled to West Africa for an STD prevention project. The object of the trip was to observe the conditions in Ghana and Senegal first hand and to evaluate how the Health Awareness Connection could play a role in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in other countries.

In Accra, the capital city of Ghana, after meeting with Mr. Freddie Caut-Pinto of the Consortium of HIV/AIDS NGOs in Ghana (CHANG) and Mr. Robert Laryea, the Director of the Youngsters Peer Education Program (YPEP), Dr. Taylor was able to teach several classes in STD/HIV Disease prevention at three different junior-secondary schools. A total of about eight hundred and fifty pupils were taught which represented the entire student population of the three schools. The classes were all well received by the students and the school personel. Adolescents are naturally curious about sex and they payed strict attention to what I had to say and I found not a great difference from the many classes that I have taught in the Boston metropolitan area Although I usually emphasize abstinence, one of the local teachers had asked me to particularly emphasize it during my classes which I did. It was a bit dissapointing to get the first question from a young student. He wanted me to show them how to use condoms. The lesson I learned was that you can talk about abstinence all day but young people are still going to have sex. At least they did seem receptive to the use of condoms.

After a week in Ghana, I journeyed to Dakar, the capital city of Senegal in West Africa. There I met with Mr. Gary Engleberg, the co-director of Africa Consultants International, an organization specializing in sexual and reproductive health. We agreed to collaborate in the project as described below.

Since it is impractical to travel the world teaching classes in STD prevention, we thought of what the Health Awareness Connection can do to make a bigger contribution in this field. What we are doing, in cooperation with the oganizations in Ghana and Senegal is to develop STD prevention materials in the form of flipcharts with photos and descriptions of STDs on them. The written descriptions wil be in the native language and english or french. The graphic nature of the photos really emphasises the seriousness of the diseases and it holds the attention of the audience. The idea is to make an impact to enable them to think. When they think about sex, they should think about STDs. Flipcharts with photos of STDs are wanted by the teachers and STD specialists whom I met. They should be large enough to show in front of a class and be sturdy to be used often and for a long time. Laminating them or using plastic coated cardboard will be most durable especially in tropical environments. This is a low-tech intervention that is very practical and feasible for a modest cost. Prototypes have been made and we are looking for funding sources to produce these in quantity and distribute them to countries in need. We also hope to make these available in many different languages for downloading directly from our website very soon.