HIV Awareness raising in prisons and communities

Last weekend, we gathered over a 60 young people from 4 different regions. They are all part of our Siam-Care educational sponsorship program and from underprivileged backgrounds. And thus vulnerable. HIV sees the biggest increase in their age group and background. 

During the weekend, which took place in the jungle of Central Thailand, we offered a fun and interesting program. There as much laughter through the games and social activities we organized. Furthermore, we raised awareness by warning the youngsters about the risks of (unprotected) sex. 

The teenagers went home with increased knowledge on sex and looking after yourself well, despite coming from a poor background, amongst other topics. With your support, camps like these can take place. They are valuable moments for young people to work on themselves while being destracted from their dire life situations. 

We often share stories of change, and about how we try to protect people against the risks of (unprotected) sex. But how do we do this again? And why do we do this? In this update, we would like to share some more details of our awareness project.

In Thailand parents and teachers rather don't talk about sex. Resulting in  one in every twenty girls at the age of 15-19 ending up with a unwanted pregnancy. HIV also still spreads because of a lack of knowledge and education, mainly amongst youngsters. 

For that reason Siam-Care made an awareness program, consisting of:

1. Sex education in secondary schools. We inform teens about the risks of (unprotected) sex.  We have conversations about respecting their own bodies and that of their peers. In Mukdahan, which is bordering Laos, the work in schools has an extra dimension, which is raising awareness to prevent human trafficking.
2. Training of teachers. We help strengthen the knowledge and skills of teachers on the topic of HIV and child protection and teach them to pass on the knowledge to their students.
3. Training of leaders of churches and congregations. We equip leaders with knowledge and skills on HIV and other sexual transmitted diseases and help them to train others.
4. Activities in collaboration with local authorities. On special occasions (such as Valentines Day) we organize special events, focussing on training locals in an informal setting.