AudiencScapes

A new HIV/AIDS education project meets university students where they are: on the phone, on Facebook and on the soccer field.

by Tawanda Karombo Harare, Zimbabwe

Harare, Zimbabwe—An HIV/AIDS advocacy and educational NGO here is using university and college students’ love and reliance on communications technology to deliver information about HIV prevention. More than 4,000 students from Zimbabwe’s colleges and universities have joined the organization, called “Students and Youth Working on Reproductive Health Action Team” (SAYWHAT).

“In Zimbabwe more than 60 percent of students in tertiary institutions have mobile phones,” said the organization’s program officer, Beatrice Savadye.

Recognizing this opportunity for communication, said Savadye, SAYWHAT “explored the use of bulk SMS [text] messages during the FIFA Football World Cup soccer showcase” held in South Africa in June and July this year. Under this scheme, a total of 8,000 messages on HIV prevention were sent out to 2,000 students.

SAYWHAT held a conference call with some of the students to whom the messages were sent. “A 10-minute conference call with a minimum of 4 people per call would ensue to bolster the messages sent,” explained Savadye.

Out of 20 Harare college and university students randomly selected and interviewed by AudienceScapes, 6 said they had received messages from SAYWHAT.

The Challenge of AIDS

According to the United Nations, Zimbabwe has the fourth highest rate of HIV and AIDS prevalence in the world. Zimbabwean college students have been hit the hardest by the country’s recent economic downturn and some of them have turned to prostitution and having affairs with older men as a means of survival. This, argues SAYWHAT, puts female students at risk of contracting HIV and other diseases.

Bernard Nyirenda, a recent graduate from the National University of Science and Technology, said peer pressure and lack of a family structure were also major factors that put college students at the risk of contracting HIV and AIDS.

“Students who stay at college residences have no one to control them and they end up yielding to peer pressure from friends,” he said.

Reaching Students Online and on the Field

As a way of empowering and preparing college students for life after school, SAYWHAT offers an additional service for students besides HIV prevention: an ICT-skills enhancement project. The group recently trained 40 students who will train other students on how to use computers and the internet. Just under half of Zimbabwe’s college students come from outlying areas where computer usage, let alone the internet, is limited.

Such computer readiness is important because SAYWHAT also runs a cyber-dialogue project on HIV prevention. The group selects certain students to use social networking sites such as Facebook to educate other students and youth about preventing HIV and AIDS.

“The program also saw 500 students participating in cyber-dialogues on HIV prevention,” said Savadye.

The organization said it also carried out “film-aided learning sessions coupled with soccer matches in 8 colleges and reached out to 2000” students. Facilitators would take advantage of the period before a soccer match and half time to discuss HIV-prevention issues.

Tawanda Karombo
Tawanda Karombo is a freelance journalist living in Zimbabwe. He has had experience with Financial, Business and Communication Reporting. He has previously written for The Financial Gazette (Business and Financial Weekly in Zimbabwe), MoneyWeb (South African Investment and Financial web publication) and The Zimbabwe Gazette (Online news publication about Zimbabwe) among others.

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