Activities for Classes/Groups

  
 
 
  Here are some activities for you to try out on HIV/AIDS:

A 19 year old in Zimbabwe raises her two siblings
(one is not present) and her sister's three children.
Her parents and sister died of AIDS.
© UNICEF HQ02-0361 Giacomo Pirozzi

Head your own home

The number of child-headed households are growing in parts of the world like Africa.  Children who have no adults have to fend for themselves.  Look at the table for a list of things that you might have to do if your parents were away.  How would you fit it all into your day?

Tasks:

  • Shower - 10 mins
  • Make breakfast for yourself and your brother(s)/sister(s) - 20 mins
  • Make packed lunch for yourself and your brother(s)/ sister(s) - 20 mins
  • Get dressed for school - 10 mins
  • School - 8.45am-3pm
  • Food shopping - 1 hour
  • Homework - 2 hours
  • Cook dinner for family - 1 hour 30 mins
  • Eat dinner
  • Washing up - 20 mins
  • Household chores - cleaning - 1 hour
  • Get younger brother(s)/sister(s) ready for bed.
  • Get ready for bed - lights out.
Remember to include the time it takes to get to each place and back home.

Time
Task
6am - 7am

7am - 8am

8am - 9am

9am - 10am
At school from 8.45am - shade in this area until the time you finish!
10am - 11am

11am - noon

Noon - 1pm

1pm - 2pm

2pm - 3pm

3pm - 4pm

4pm - 5pm

5pm - 6pm

6pm - 7pm

7pm - 8pm

8pm - 9pm

9pm - 10pm

10pm - 11pm

11pm - midnight


Now imagine if you also had to fetch water (1 hour) and look after a sick relative (all day).  How would you manage your day?  How tired would you feel by bedtime?

True or False?

(In groups)
How true are the following statements?  Rate your answer with "True", "False" and "True and False".


A class in Cambodia learns about HIV/AIDS
© UNICEF HQ00-0135/Shehzad Noorani

(a) A healthy looking person can have HIV/AIDS.
(b) HIV/AIDS can be spread by sharing cups and glasses.
(c) HIV/AIDS is the biggest reason why people in the world die today.
(d) HIV/AIDS is a problem in New Zealand.
(e) Babies get HIV/AIDS from their mother's milk.
(f) A person gets AIDS when the HIV virus damages their body so much that it can't fight infections like a healthy body.
(g) Girls are more likely to get HIV/AIDS because they are weaker.
(h) More than a third of all people living with HIV/AIDS are under 25 which proves that young people do not listen when they are educated about HIV/AIDS.
(i) Children in child-headed households have to fend for themselves.
(j) There are drugs that can help a person with HIV/AIDS live a long and healthy life and eventually cure them.

Answers:

(a) TRUE.  A healthy looking person can have HIV for many years before they get sick, especially if they take drugs to keep their immune system strong.

(b) FALSE.  HIV can only live in the human body.  It dies quickly anywhere else so you cannot get it through sharing cups, glasses plates etc.  The virus needs to enter your body to put you at risk.

(c) FALSE.  HIV is the fourth biggest reason why people die in the world today.  However, it is a growing problem unless we tackle it now.

(d) TRUE and FALSE.  At present HIV/AIDS isn-t a problem in New Zealand but it has the potential to grow into one if people don't protect themselves.  In the number of people with HIV/AIDS was slightly higher than in 2004.

(e) TRUE and FALSE.  Babies are at risk of getting HIV/AIDS from their mother's milk but will not get it immediately from their first drop.  UNICEF asks that mothers with HIV/AIDS who do not have access to safe drinking water to make baby formula milk breastfeed their babies for no more than 6 months, to lessen the risk of passing on the virus.

(f) TRUE.  AIDS is caused by the HIV virus attacking the immune system to the point that the body can-t fight infections.

(g) TRUE and FALSE.  Girls are more likely to get HIV/AIDS because of how their bodies are made - NOT because they are weaker. 

(h) TRUE and FALSE.  More than a third of people with HIV/AIDS are under 25 but it's been proven that education is the best way to cut down the number of infections, and young people listen the most.  The ages between 10-14 are best for educating young people about healthy habits and peer education is also very effective as young people are more likely to listen to people their own age.

(i) TRUE.  Children in child-headed households are usually orphans who have no-one to turn to.

(j) TRUE and FALSE.  There are drugs that help a person with HIV/AIDS to stay stronger and healthier for longer but they are not a cure.  There is no cure - once the virus is in your body, there's no way to get rid of it.


Let's play TAG!

(Whole class activity)

It's easy to play and you've probably played before.  One person has the "tag" and has to try to pass it to someone else by touching them and saying
"tag".  Everyone else needs to avoid getting it.

Have the whole class play and then discuss the following questions:
  • How does it feel to be tagged?
  • What did you want to do when you were tagged?
  • What did everyone else do when you were tagged?
  • How did it feel?
 
Teacher's notes:
The point of this exercise is to get students to discuss being one person against the rest who all try to run away and isolate them for fear of catching the "tag" (a metaphor for HIV/AIDS).   All the person who is tagged wants to do is get rid of it.  Get students to relate to HIV/AIDS.

Design a poster 

You have the chance to make a poster about HIV/AIDS to place somewhere in your community to educate others.  Where would you place it?  For example, your school, the local swimming pool, the movie theatre etc.  What age group do you think you need to reach? 

Design a poster to educate others about HIV/AIDS.


Three young women perform a
play about HIV/AIDS in the United
Republic of Tanzania
© UNICEF HQ00-0316 Roger
LeMoyne

Put on a play

(5 people)

Drama is used as a good way to teach communities about HIV/AIDS.  In developing countries a lot of people can't be reached with education - perhaps they are child or adult workers or they can't read, so posters are no good for them.  Plays are a great way to reach out to everyone in the community.

Here's your chance to act out a play to educate others about HIV/AIDS.  Rebecca's parents have recently died from AIDS.  Educate the community about their attitudes towards her.

Characters:
1. Rebecca
2. Rebecca's only friend
3. Rebecca's Uncle who can't afford to take her in and look after her.
4. Rebecca's uneducated neighbour who doesn't want anything to do with her because she thinks she might get HIV/AIDS from her.
5. Rebecca's boss as she has had to get a job to support herself.

Each play gets judges on two criteria:
(i) How good the story is (group effort)
(ii) How well each individual member plays their part (so all parts should be as equal as possible).

Use your play to educate the audience about Rebecca's situation now and how she should be treated.

Research a country

(Individual activity)

Choose a country to do a project on about how HIV/AIDS affects it.  You should complete the following sections:
  • What problems does HIV/AIDS cause in [country]?
  • What's been done to combat HIV/AIDS there?
  • How do people live in that country? i.e. food, language, religion, jobs (are they mainly farmers?) etc.
  • Mark your country on a world map
  • What does their flag look like?

Present it to the class in one of these ways:
(a) Powerpoint presentation
(b) A speech to the class
(c) A display for the class