World Aids Day: December 1

In a country where it is estimated that 1 out of every 5 people are infected with HIV/AIDS, it was very telling that neither of us were even aware that December 1 was World AIDS day until we were talking to some of the staff that afternoon at The Project. The day passed without one school, child, teacher, or neighbor mentioning HIV/AIDS. We’ve seen an overwhelming amount of advertising about HIV/AIDS on billboards in Pretoria and even some TV programs, but this incomprehensible epidemic is rarely mentioned by the people of rural South Africa. Furthermore, due to this silence, there is still a lot of confusion and ignorance surrounding HIV and AIDS. Joe sat in on an elementary class in which the teacher told the students that the first case of AIDS in the world was in 2001. This is not altogether all that surprising in a country that just recently acknowledged that HIV/AIDS is a real issue. However, we were excited to learn that the Department of Education is thinking about incorporating HIV/AIDS as one of its core curriculum strands, alongside Math, Science, etc. Furthermore, we are looking forward to attending the Peace Corps HIV/AIDS workshop next March so that we can learn more about how to incorporate HIV/AIDS awareness and education into our school projects.