On the 21 of January the Hope Project Interns went to
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Infant Jesus Convent School in Melaka.
This is the first time we have our workshop in small group of around 50 students. Still, we didn’t have the ice-breaking game as we found the game “Move-if” not suitable for form 5 students. To me, the beginning is the most important part as if it is well-thought; we can have attention from the audience throughout the presentation. We didn’t manage to have an astounding one, but I suggest that we might put in a short video of “Counting down for 8 seconds” and end it with a statement “In every 8 seconds like what we just counted, one person dies from AIDS.”
Jessica introduced the difference of HIV &AIDS, and illustrated how HIV attacks immune system.Mike told them how it is spread and what’s safe to do with people living HIV. Jessica reminded the students of QQR. Then, it’s my turn to tell them how to prevent HIV and conducted the first activity “High risk and Low Risk Action”. Pedro continued with the blood test and treatment. After that, I passed them the message of anti-discrimination to the AIDS patients and more information of NGOs that deals with AIDS.
Regarding the first activity, we had it in four groups this time and each of us went into the group and discussed with them. I like this arrangement as we interacted more with the students, but the sense of competition among groups would be lessened as they might change the answers after they get hints from us. Generally, the categorization of those actions is a bit controversial, as some actions may fall between two groups, and it’s hard for us to give a clear-cut answer, this might confuse the students and does not give them a clear message.
Concerning the second activity, the response was good as we asked for true or false. But when we asked for the reason like “why do you think using condom is 99% effective?”, it’s hard for them to reply as it is exactly what I have just mentioned in the presentation and there’s no solid reason for that statement. Thus, I think we could skip “why” questions on some all-known facts. Besides, I have found that almost all students are confused with the statement “If I have AIDS, I have to take many drugs for the rest of my life.” This might reflect that we should modify the presentation on treatment part to reinforce this message.
