a) Show the first half of the paper with the professions written on it to the mothers. Ask the mothers the following question:
A plane is falling and you may only give a parachute to one of the people listed. To whom will you give the parachute and why?
Note to facilitator: Give some time for group discussion and keep the second column closed up.
b) Open up the other side of the flip-chart paper. Give the group members some time to read the descriptions of every person listed
in the first column. Ask them the following questions:
- Will you still give the parachute to the same person?
- If you changed your mind, why did you change your mind?
Discuss stigma by referring to how easy it is for a person to stigmatise another person (to label another person) if you don't have
enough information about that person. It is the same with HIV/Aids. People who stigmatise don't have enough information or knowledge
about HIV/Aids or the person infected with the virus. It is important to educate other people about HIV/Aids and to help prevent
stigmatisation.
HIV, HUMAN RIGHTS AND STIGMA
BACKGROUND FOR THE FACILITATOR
Many people who are HIV+ are not able to speak about their status, either in their relationships in the family, at work, or while
socialising. This may be because they fear the stigma they may face and the rejection from people in their community. HIV/Aids should
be seen as a human-rights issue; it is not just about caring and compassion, but also about making sure that the rights of people with
HIV/Aids are protected.
This should be seen as an issue for the ENTIRE community. When people are unaware of their human rights, they seem to be more
easily abused.
Stigma
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Ask the group about the reactions of people they have disclosed to.
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Discuss positive and negative reactions.
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Discuss within the group why some people react negatively? Why were they scared people would react negatively?
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What did it do to them?
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Add the different contexts when discussing experiences: medical setting, at work, in the family, and with friends.
Discuss the concept stigma as an attitude or construction people have labelling and discrediting people not for who they are but
because they belong to a certain group. The behaviour or condition is not that different, but the meaning people attach to it and the
way people think about it makes it different. Stigma is therefore in the eyes of the other people and is not necessarily true of you as
a person.
Human Rights
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Ask the group to list things they have experienced or observed in the community that shows how people stigmatise people
with HIV. Look at each behaviour listed and relate it to the facts about HIV - is this appropriate behaviour? Is this behaviour
in agreement with people's human rights?
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All people have the same human rights, irrespective of whether they are young or old, male or female, and whether they have
HIV or not. Ask the group to list the human rights they know and situations they have experienced where they think their
human rights have been abused.
Human rights could possibly be abused by the following:
Governments refusing to acknowledge the rate at which HIV/Aids is spreading and therefore fail to provide its citizens with information
and services needed for HIV treatment and prevention.
*People losing their jobs because of their status
*People being rejected by their partners, families and communities
*People being tested without their consent
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Children
The KGOLO-MMOGO PROJECT