Programme NotesThe World of Difference Gambia programme shows how young people from different cultures can work collaboratively on a health education project.
Aims:
Synopsis:
Six boys from an inner London youth scheme head for the Gambia. One of them, Louis, has parents who come from the Gambia. Louis has never been to the country before so the trip has a special meaning for him. He tells the story of the journey the boys take as they meet a group of young people from the Gambian YMCA to plan, research and make a video about HIV / AIDS.
The programme follows the young people as they research how HIV is affecting people in the Gambia. They go to a rural village and hear how some health messages are shared through songs. And they learn that less than half the population in Gambia can read and write, so video can play an important part in raising awareness. They also visit the only community centre in the Gambia where people meet and are open about their HIV status stigma is a big problem.
The young people decide their own awareness-raising video should focus on stigma, and they make a short drama that is shown on Gambian television.
Curriculum Relevance:
CITIZENSHIP
The programme will help pupils to think critically about their responsibilities as global citizens. The programmes include issues with a political, spiritual, moral, social and cultural dimension.
Students will get an insight into the rights, responsibilities and duties of citizens and the role of the voluntary sector. They will have an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of different ways of bringing about change at different levels of society.
Pupils will learn about:
After watching these programmes, pupils will have the opportunity to:
PSHE
Students will learn:
Background Information:
The six boys from London attend a youth project called 'The Drum' run by London City YMCA. Through their youth project they learn about health issues affecting young people. The London City YMCA is part of an international network of YMCAs, so they also get the chance to find out about young people in other parts of the world.
The group had been emailing some young people in the Gambia, in West Africa, finding out about the issues affecting them and seeing if they could work together on a joint project.
They came up with an idea for a collaborative video project, designed to raise awareness of HIV / AIDS - a video that would be mainly used in the Gambia, and would be shown on Gambian television. Because literacy levels are around 50 per cent in the Gambia, video is an important way of spreading information and raising awareness. So, a second part of the project involved kitting out the Gambian YMCA with video equipment so they can make other educational programmes in future.
HIV and AIDS rates are relatively low in the Gambia, but they have risen substantially in the past decade. Cases are severely under-reported because there is such stigma attached to having the virus.
Religion plays an important part in life in the Gambia and the country is 95 per cent Muslim. The remaining 5 per cent of the population is Christian. Religious leaders from both faiths in the Gambia preach the importance of abstaining from sex before marriage. Even though HIV can be spread in other ways, the one people focus on is sex. Someone with HIV is someone who has had sex - and if this is outside marriage it is frowned upon. It makes it hard to spread messages about the importance of condom use to stop the spread of the virus.
In recent years the government has been introducing campaigns that talk about preventing HIV by abstaining from sex. They go on to say that if people can't abstain, then they should use a condom. The message still hasn't changed everyone's minds, and it is not popular with all religious leaders.
The two groups of young people carry out their research for their video in two main places ...
Kabakel is a rural village in the Gambia where the Gambian YMCA has been supporting a variety of different projects. This includes support to a woman in the village who nurses people through illnesses, and helps people to take preventative health measures. The young people meet a singer who helps to spread health messages through song.
Santa Yalla is a community of people who are HIV positive. It's the only centre where people with the virus can meet and be open about their status. The people at the centre are hoping to change people's attitudes to reduce the stigma.
Activities:
Discussion points
Planning a health education campaign
Ask students to identify a developing country where HIV is a growing problem. They should find out as much as possible about how health messages are currently being put across establishing why this is the case. They should also gather together some data on HIV rates, particular challenges facing health workers, and any organisations that are currently working in that country. Then they should plan a campaign to change people’s minds or behaviour.
Here are some of the questions that students could consider: Should they focus on educational work with young people? Should they try to change attitudes amongst older generations? Should they use videos, posters, leaflets, songs? And how should they work with people in the country itself so that the messages are appropriate in terms of the content and tone?
Links:
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The Gambia YMCA
Y Care International
Lonely Planet Gambia
Credits:
Gambia
Director: Rosa Rogers
Producer: Karen Gilchrist
Camera: Zac Nicholson
Sound: Steve Anderson
Editor: Conal Percy
Additional Music: Da Fugitivz and Kairo Sounds of the Gambia
Cambodia
Director: Rupert Miles
Producer: Hilary Durman, Nancy Platt
Camera: Alan Duxbury
Sound: Andy Morton
Editor: Glenn Rainton
Bolivia
Director: Adrian Cooper
Producer: Karen Gilchrist
Camera: Anson Hartford
Sound: Rashad Omar
Editor: Conal Percy
Additional Editing: Tamara Maclachlan Series Music: Nick Harvey
Production Secretary: Sue Lampey
Executive Producer: Hilary Durman
