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Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
 TeachAIDS has received an award worth up to $120,000 in free AdWords advertising from Google. This generous donation will empower TeachAIDS to promote our efforts and enable more people globally to more easily access to our free research-based, medically accurate, and culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention tutorials.
TeachAIDS has made high-quality HIV prevention materials available online for free since its inception. Presently, pilot animations are available in English, Hindi, Spanish, Kinyarwanda, and Mandarin and used in 25+ countries. A number of the finalized versions will be launched on December 1st, World AIDS Day. The animations will feature voices of celebrities like Shabana Azmi, Nagarjuna, Scar, Former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae.
Google’s advertising grant will increase the visibility of our global outreach efforts. We would like to thank Google for their kind donation in promoting high-quality HIV and AIDS education efforts.
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Friday, August 20th, 2010
 On-air personality and host of “The Gabz fm Sunrise“, Oratile Jazzelle Kebakile, has kindly gifted her voice to TeachAIDS. She plays the role of the Motswana doctor character in the newest TeachAIDS animation.
Known popularly as Jazzelle, the on-air personality hosts ‘The Gabz fm Sunrise’ weekday mornings with seasoned journalist Thebe Mogapi. Gabz fm is an urban adult contemporary radio station that broadcasts nationally across Botswana. Jazzelle’s show is available worldwide and is a blend of hard-hitting interviews, social issue debates, interactive sessions with youth, sprinkled with humor.
Discovered at age 16, Jazzelle became known as one of the new breed of radio presenters with the arrival of private radio in Botswana in 1999. Professionally trained as a Public Relations Practitioner, she has worked with some of Southern Africa’s most well respected organizations including ESPAfrika (The Cape Town International Jazz Festival), Hotwire PRC, TBWA/Medcom and OP Advertising. Jazzelle has emceed a variety of high profile events including the 2009 Coca Cola World Cup Trophy Tour.
After discovering TeachAIDS, Jazzelle says “when the invitation and opportunity availed itself, there was no doubt I would make time for this because it’s an important tool to be used for many good years in my country and beyond. As an African woman and mother, HIV and AIDS are social ills that I believe I have a responsibility to sensitize my people about.”
TeachAIDS is proud to bring Jazzelle’s dynamite personality and spirit on board our HIV and AIDS education efforts.
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Thursday, August 19th, 2010
 Hats off to all the wonderful people that attended this year’s San Francisco AIDS Walk in Golden Gate Park. The 24th Annual AIDS Walk San Francisco attracted more than 25,000 participants and has raised more than 3 million dollars this year. Founded in 1987, the SF AIDS Walk is the largest AIDS fundraising event in Northern California. Over the years, it has raised more than $76 million to go towards HIV prevention efforts along with testing and care services.
This year, TeachAIDS was a selected partner of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. As a beneficiary of the Community Partnership Program, Team TeachAIDS raised more $4000 to go directly towards HIV and AIDS related efforts in the Bay Area.
Congratulations to all those involved—our efforts combined contributed to the continuation of HIV-related services, policy work, and infection prevention for the Bay Area and beyond. Thank you and see you at the 2011 AIDS Walk!
Event Pictures
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Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
 Youth in Rwanda watch TeachAIDS animations as part of FACE AIDS efforts Working in the Kirehe, Kayonza, Ngoma and Rwamagana Districts, FACE AIDS is using the Kinyarwanda TeachAIDS animations to educate young Rwandans. Through their “Training of Trainers” program, they have educated more than 100 chapter leadership members on how to use the TeachAIDS animations as part of their own awareness activities. Between the ages of 14 and 25, these youth will then use the TeachAIDS materials to educate their own community members, including primary and secondary school students as well as out-of-school youth in their area. Through this training model, FACE AIDS will educate more than 3,000 young people across Rwanda.
Through their partnerships with governmental programs and non-governmental organizations, including the National AIDS Control Commission (CNLS), the Network of Rwandan Living with HIV/AIDS (RRP+), and Partners In Health, FACE AIDS has identified the most vulnerable youth in the Eastern Province. Using these networks, and the social workers based at local health centers, FACE AIDS has been able to identify thousands of orphans and other vulnerable youth and engage them in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
TeachAIDS is proud to support the wonderful efforts of FACE AIDS. Your mission to mobilize and inspire youth worldwide in the fight against HIV and AIDS is commendable.
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Friday, August 6th, 2010
 TeachAIDS is pleased to announce a $26,000 award from the Yahoo! Employee Foundation to support educational animation development for Botswana.
TeachAIDS is currently developing an HIV/AIDS animation for distribution in Botswana. Partnered with the Botswana Ministry of Education and UNICEF, the TeachAIDS animated tutorials will be developed in both Setswana and English (Botswana’s national languages) and implemented into every primary, secondary, and tertiary institution across the country. The TeachAIDS materials will also be made available for free to educators operating in informal learning environments and any other organizations operating outside the scholastic environment.
Founded in 1999, the Yahoo! Employee Foundation (YEF) is a grassroots philanthropic organization entirely driven by their employees. Over the years they have given more than $7.6 million to nonprofit organizations around the world. In addition to offering generous grants to charities, YEF also sets up volunteer opportunities for employees, encouraging their community to get involved with global outreach efforts.
TeachAIDS would like to thank the generous employees at Yahoo! who have made this grant possible.
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
 Peer educators with the Dignitas Project gather local children to run education session to watch the TeachAIDS animations. TeachAIDS has partnered with Dignitas Project, a nonprofit organization working in slum communities in Mathare Valley, Kenya to provide organizational capacity to empower local leaders in underserved communities. Dignitas Project will use the TeachAIDS animated tutorials as a key component of its leadership institute training curriculum, accredited by the University of Nairobi. Through the use of the TeachAIDS materials, principals, teachers, parents, and community leaders across Mathare will learn how to facilitate discussions and inspire open conversations among youth and adults to overcome the HIV/AIDS threat.
The Dignitas Project’s leadership institute will support the development and training of 160 teachers, principals, parents, and community leaders living in one of Kenya’s largest and oldest informal settlements. With accreditation support from the University of Nairobi and a community-based model, along with intensive classroom training, on-site coaching and mentorship, Dignitas will improve education, health, and life opportunities for more than 6,000 children in 24 schools during 2011.
TeachAIDS is proud to support the tireless efforts of the Dignitas Project team. Together we will address the challenges associated with delivering high-quality HIV/AIDS education to slum communities in Kenya.
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Sunday, August 1st, 2010
 Winner of the coveted Channel O Music Video Award and one of the most talented hip hop artists in Botswana, Zeus, has joined the TeachAIDS team of international cultural icons. The 24-year-old generously donated his voice and artistic talents as he played the role of the Motswana student character in the newest TeachAIDS animation.
Over the years, Zeus has won the hearts of youth all over Africa. He has been featured on numerous international stations and media outlets including Y-FM, Metro FM, 5 FM, Kiss FM in Kenya, Hype Magazine, SL Magazine, MTV Base, and SABC. The young entrepreneur, founded his own recording and event company, D.I.Y. Entertainment, through which he released the popular album Freshly Baked. His music and brand has been licensed by a number of vendors, including, Mascom, Botswana’s largest mobile network company.
In 2008, Freshly Baked was nominated for the 2008 Album of the Year at the MTN-HYPE Magazine Hip Hop Awards. His track “Imagination” was also nominated for an award in the category of Best Reggae DanceHall by the pan-African music entertainment organization Channel O. In 2009, his song Gijima won the Best Hip Hop Video at the Channel O Music Video Awards, a pan-African annual award ceremony celebrating the top music artists on the continent, hosted by the continent’s biggest satellite TV music channel.
Zeus is no stranger to helping social causes. He uses his musical abilities to support a number of social ventures including Childline Botswana, Oxfam International, and Youth Health Organization (YOHO), a PEPFAR supported program dedicated to reducing new HIV infections among Batswana youth.
TeachAIDS is delighted to welcome the talented and entrepreneurial Zeus to our global efforts.
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Friday, July 16th, 2010
 The Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption was recently published and features a chapter by TeachAIDS founder and CEO, Dr. Piya Sorcar, and TeachAIDS board member, Professor Clifford Nass from Stanford University. The chapter focuses on the research behind the initial development of the TeachAIDS products and organization, and outlines ways to utilize interactive media to provide effective education to populations despite social and cultural barriers.
Book Description: Media professionals today are facing numerous changes within mass media that will continue to impact the creation and delivery of persuasive messages. The Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising: User Generated Content Consumption bridges the gap between professional and academic perceptions of advertising in new media environments through defining the evolution of consumerism within the context of media change. Containing findings from international experts, this Handbook of Research provides coverage of practical issues related to consumer power shifts, economic issues related to media exposure, and definitions to understand the dynamics involved with consumerism.
Chapter Abstract: Solving the problem of how to provide effective health education on diseases subject to social taboos is an immediate need. The social stigma of HIV/AIDS is particularly prominent in the developing world, where 95 percent of all HIV-infected persons live. Millions of people risk death from HIV/AIDS while cultures and laws resist change. New approaches must be created to provide education despite whatever social, structural, cultural, and legal barriers exist. Fortunately, the emergence of new media and information and communication technologies (ICT) has provided new ways to help bypass social taboos and provide effective education. This chapter discusses these challenges and presents criteria for evaluating the efficacy of educational campaigns aimed at promoting awareness relating to taboo topics using a specially designed HIV/AIDS curriculum—Interactive Teaching AIDS—as an exemplar. It incorporates key pedagogical and communication theories and approaches in order to maximize its efficacy. To provide psychological comfort and promote coherent understanding, this ICT-based application couples the presentation of biological aspects of transmission with culturally-familiar euphemisms and metaphors to communicate ideas about prevention measures. Created using a rigorous, iterative, and research-based process, the 20-minute application provides detailed yet accessible culturally-appropriate explanations of all key aspects of HIV/AIDS prevention. For people living in areas that cannot easily access explicit HIV/AIDS materials due to social, cultural or other constraints, the positive results of the authors’ study suggest that it is possible to design curricula that are socially-acceptable and accurate, that promote significant gains in learning, retention, and changes in attitudes. Furthermore, these materials can encourage learners to proactively seek more information regarding the taboo topic and share prevention information with others. Educators who are reticent to teach about such subjects due to embarrassment or lack of health expertise can utilize similar approaches to educate students.
The book is now available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
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Monday, July 12th, 2010
 TeachAIDS is pleased to announce that the talented hip hop artist, Scar, has joined the TeachAIDS family. The popular star will play the role of the Motswana male doctor in the nationwide launch for youth in Botswana. The animated tutorials will be released in December 2010 in both English and Setswana. TeachAIDS is partnered with the Botswana Ministry of Education and UNICEF to develop the HIV and AIDS prevention materials, which will be provided to over half-a-million children across the country. The animations are now in development and will be made available for free.
Thato Matlhabaphiri, popularly known to the masses as ‘Scar’, is a judge on Idols East Africa. As a judge, his pan-African search for the next big pop star took him to places like Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. A native to Botswana, Scar’s music has dominated the Botswana hip hop industry since 2001, with the release of three studio albums. His work has been critically-acclaimed, receiving two awards at the annual Botswana Hip Hop Music Awards (BHIPMA) in 2004, for Lyricist of the Year and Track of the Year (My People). One of Southern Africa’s most charismatic MCs, Scar has his own morning radio show reaching thousands of youth across the country. Scar was nominated several times for the coveted Channel O Music Video Awards as the Best Newcomer, Best African Southern, and won the prestigious award for Best Hip Hop Video in 2007. He has also guest starred in productions like Big Brother Africa, the Annual Miss Botswana pageant, and the 2009 Road to MTV Africa Music Awards in Nairobi, Kenya.
TeachAIDS is pleased to welcome the multifaceted and talented Scar to join our team of international icons.
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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
 Thanks to the generosity of Cambridge Associates, TeachAIDS moved into a new set of offices yesterday, with 1500+ square feet of space, at 2730 Sand Hill Road, Suite 100 in Menlo Park, California. Our new location is tucked in the center of the Silicon Valley venture capital industry and close to our research partners at Stanford University.
Cambridge Associates is a premiere independent consulting firm that provides investment oversight and consulting services to more than 800 clients worldwide. Founded in 1973 by James Bailey and Hunter Lewis, the company was formed to provide investment and financial planning to nonprofit, endowed institutions. Harvard University was one of Cambridge Associates’ first clients. Foundations, endowments and other nonprofit institutions make up the core of their consulting clientele.
We are immensely grateful to Cambridge Associates for their support. This larger office space and excellent location will be of tremendous assistance in TeachAIDS accomplishing its mission of bringing free, high-quality HIV/AIDS education to the world.
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