Peace Corps volunteers used the TeachAIDS software as part of their three-day training program. To date, Guyana maintains its own cultural barriers to providing individuals with medically accurate HIV education. TeachAIDS tutorials help overcome these cultural barriers, which enable teachers to learn and present the information in a more comfortable way in their classroom settings.

“The TeachAIDS presentation was a huge success and the teachers gave positive feedback when I presented it to them. They found the material to be simple and clear with the visual and audio accompaniment appropriate for their older children with disabilities.”
- Jocelyn Friedman, Peace Corps Response Volunteer, Guyana

Established in 1966, the United States Peace Corps Guyana program has provided 581 volunteers in the areas of education, health, and HIV awareness. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) particularly supports the efforts of Peace Corps volunteers working in HIV prevention, which includes a wide range of programs. As a leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in Guyana, the Peace Corps’ HIV and AIDS awareness campaign targets populations within the 15-44 age range.

TeachAIDS has partnered with Peace Corps volunteers around the world in order to further their HIV prevention campaign efforts. In Guatemala, TeachAIDS, PEPFAR, the Ministry of Health, and Peace Corps volunteers have collaborated to build capacity and help strengthen prevention programs within the country.

Photo: Peace Corps uses TeachAIDS to educate special needs teachers about HIV prevention in Guyana.

“There is a lot of interest in the deaf community in Liberia West Africa on the subject of HIV but capacity building and funding are lacking in order to develop this interest…I would like to say thanks a lot to your program Teachaids for assisting me assist the deaf in the educations on HIV/AIDS” – Mrs. Agatha Borbor, Sign-Language Interpreter

The TeachAIDS materials served to prompt a discussion about the importance of drug adherence, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and the process of HIV testing. Through the TeachAIDS materials, Agatha was able to expand and improve the content of her lessons. She said, “Again I would like to say thank a lot to Teachaids for increasing my knowledge on HIV/AIDS. I really desire to assist more deaf because they are always left out due to the fact that many well meaning people do not know sign language to communicate with them.“

TeachAIDS is immensely proud of the courage and conviction of Mrs. Agatha Borbor, who worked tirelessly to overcome the communication barrier, and many other challenges, to bring HIV and AIDS education to her community.

Photo: Agatha Borbor uses the TeachAIDS Educator Handbook to teach deaf students at Free Pentecost School, Liberia

Held at the Arts Theatre at the University of Lagos, Akoka, the goal of using the TeachAIDS tutorials were two-fold. First, HACEY used them as an effort to arm young people with critical HIV prevention information, particularly around modes of HIV transmission. And, second, they were used as a springboard to prompt open discussion among young people. An expert panel consisting of representatives from the Commissioner of Health Lagos and the Nigerian Academy of Science, among others organizations, entertained questions on HIV prevalence, leadership, and prevention-related efforts, and discussed creative, collaborative strategies for the future.

Health Action Concerning the Environment and You (HACEY) is a non-governmental, non-religious, and non-political organization which is dedicated to informing and empowering youth on health-related issues. They make a special effort to reach orphans, vulnerable children, and school-going youth and young adults to promote knowledge around critical health issues. Through seminars, conferences, and publications via journals and magazines, they are able to create learning opportunities and reach their target populations.

TeachAIDS applauds the efforts of our partners in Nigeria to help prevent new infections among the world’s youth. We are happy to provide support to HACEY’s outreach efforts as it continues to work to educate Nigeria’s youth about HIV prevention.

Photo: Youth and young adults at the Arts Theatre at the University of Lagos participate in the “Getting to Zero” campaign.

Project Aarambh focuses on providing knowledge and resources to promote HIV/AIDS and reproductive health knowledge among rickshaw pullers in India. As an economically disadvantaged and marginalized population, rickshaw pullers comprise a vulnerable population in Uttar Pradesh. In addition to this initiative, The Dove Foundation also promotes outreach efforts through their Youth Education Program-2011. This program aims to improve the national health status through targeting adolescents and young people. In partnership with schools, YEP-2011 has provided education to over two thousand students about HIV/AIDS, obesity, and hepatitis. As the organization continues to expand, it will initiate projects in nearby districts in order to break communication barriers.

The MTV Staying Alive Foundation is a global grant-giving and content-producing public charity operating in affiliation with MTV Networks International. In 1998, MTV launched the Staying Alive TV series, which grew to be the world’s largest multimedia HIV prevention and awareness campaign for young people. In 2004, the MTV Staying Alive Foundation was created, expanding the initiative into a charitable, grant-giving organization to support youth-led initiatives committed to stopping the spread of HIV in local communities. To date, the Foundation has awarded 304 grants in 61 countries across the world, distributing over $3 million. In association with the MTV Staying Alive Foundation, The Dove Foundation seeks to empower and support communities to implement and sustain projects in health, education, and youth outreach.

We applaud The Dove Foundation for their outreach and education initiatives in Uttar Pradesh, India. TeachAIDS looks forward to continuing to support HIV prevention efforts throughout India.

With no electricity to power the software, leaders utilized a car battery and an inverter to project TeachAIDS on a wall for learners.

“Students rarely get to watch any type of TV, so teaching from animations projected on a screen vastly enhanced their learning experience and enabled their focusing capabilities… Because there is such a social stigma against talking about HIV/AIDS in Kasigau, we struggle with students participation… the interactive nature of the technology allows for a more dynamic learning environment, rather than a static experience.” – Alexandra Isaacs, HIV/AIDS Educator

Founded in 2004, ABE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates out of Miramonte High School in Mt. Kasigau, Kenya, a region about 200 kilmeters southeast of Nairobi and several hours from an accessible city. ABE was founded after community members recognized the health and education disparities disfavoring underserved areas surrounding Mt. Kasigau. With 1.5 million individuals living with HIV, and 1.2 million children orphaned by AIDS, Kenya maintains one of the most devastating HIV epidemics globally.

Since the release of the pilot Swahili TeachAIDS tutorials, numerous individuals and organizations in Kenya have partnered with TeachAIDS to further their mission of eradicating HIV.  At the University of Nairobi, for example, Dignitas Project uses the tutorials as a key component in its leadership institute training curriculum to empower local leaders in underserved communities. Arche-ONLUS, another organization in Kenya, uses TeachAIDS to educate over 1200 pupils yearly across more than 20 schools.

TeachAIDS applauds the efforts of A Better Education Club to educate children and adolescents about HIV prevention. We look forward to our continued collaboration with our partners in Kenya to provide accessible and culturally-tailored HIV education.

Video of Talk – Teaching Taboo Topics to Save Lives

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission. The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDxWomen was hosted by The Paley Center for Media, and took a curated look at women through the lens of change agent, intellectual innovator, and idea champion.

“TeachAIDS has worked with an incredible team of world-class experts, governments around the world, and UNICEF to create a clear way to understand what you need to know about HIV and AIDS. Their tutorials are being used globally and are quickly becoming the standard in HIV and AIDS education. Explore and use this innovative tool. Challenge the myths and misconceptions that still exist in our society.” – Festus Mogae

With an infection rate of 23% in Botswana, TeachAIDS partnered with and was supported by Botswana’s Ministry of Education, UNICEF, Barclays Bank, Yahoo!, Stepping Stones International, and Stanford University to develop a comprehensive and entertaining approach to help combat HIV-fatigue.

“While performing across multiple countries, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS on African communities. TeachAIDS has developed a powerful and novel approach to truly connect with children and youth in my country, and throughout the other African nations. I am immensely proud to be part of this important work, which I know will have great impact on learning.”  – Game ‘Zeus’ Bantsi

The TeachAIDS materials have been formally approved by the Deputy Permanent Secretary and the Curriculum, Development, and Evaluation sector at the Ministry of Education in Botswana and will be implemented in every primary, secondary, and tertiary school throughout Botswana. In addition, the software is available for free via the TeachAIDS website.

The Linear (non-interactive) English and Setswana versions of the software are available on the TeachAIDS YouTube channel. The interactive software versions are available for download by contacting TeachAIDS directly.

The Linear (non-interactive) versions of the software are available on the TeachAIDS YouTube channel:

“When I first heard about TeachAIDS, I knew it was exactly what our country needed to fight against the tremendous HIV-fatigue we are facing.  Launching these animations and making them available for free is huge step in increasing knowledge and curbing infection rates. I feel honored to be part of this historical moment. – Thato ‘Scar’ Matlhabaphiri

This latest HIV and AIDS prevention software was developed in collaboration with VenSat, a world-class animation company with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Hyderabad, and Chennai, to create all of the new animations at a generously subsidized rate.

Photo: Starring Jazzelle, Scar, Tref, and Zeus as the voices and likeness in the latest TeachAIDS animations — featured in the English and Setswana Interactive and Linear versions.

With more than 20 million users and 1 billion personalized recommendations per month, StumbleUpon is the leading way to discover content and information that informs, delights and surprises. In addition, more than 60,000 marketers have used StumbleUpon’s Paid Discovery platform to promote products and services. StumbleUpon is based in San Francisco and backed by some of the same investors behind Google and Facebook.

We would like to thank StumbleUpon for their support and efforts to promote HIV and AIDS awareness.