Aid for AIDS >> Un Batazo

"How much do you know about HIV and AIDS?" This is a central question to the work of AID FOR AIDS (AFA) and the youth peer education program of the same name. Of the nearly 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, about 12 million are youth under the age of 24. Thanks in part to funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the M-A-C AIDS Fund, AFA has been working to curb this troubling reality in 11 cities throughout nine Latin American and Caribbean countries. In 2007, this program is anticipated to deliver essential HIV prevention information to approximately 60,000 youth. Among the ways AFA teaches young people about HIV prevention is through hosting large scale AIDS awareness events. Building on the success of our 2005 AIDS awareness event in Cali, Colombia, AFA replicated and adapted this information dissemination program for young people in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic. We decided to hold this major daylong event in the Dominican Republic because nearly 10% of this nation's HIV population are younger than 15. AFA is therefore aware that HIV prevention is key to helping this country create the best possible future for its citizens. Working with their Department of Education, with media companies such as Antena Latina, and a production team provided by Venevision International, AFA hosted over 4,000 adolescents (age 14 - 18) from 23 schools at our "Un Batazo Contra el SIDA" program in Santo Domingo's Centro Olimpico on December 8, 2006. A central goal of this event was to cause today's Dominican youth to become more engaged in the importance of HIV prevention in a fun, culturally relevant, interactive, and entertaining setting. Ultimately, our program was meant to train these teenagers to take more responsibility for their sexuality. To accomplish this vital objective, AFA designed the event around the theme of baseball, which is by far that nation's most popular sport. It also relied on a combination of traditional education methods such as lectures and speeches, "Un Batazo Contra el SIDA" and communication methods that allowed the youth to learn from their peers. Two of AFA-trained peer educators from the Venezuelan arm of the program, Moises Gonzalez (aged 17) and Astrid Matamoros (aged 16), lead a "pre-event" workshop for the 150 peer educators the day before the event so that these youth could in turn provide much of the information to the several thousands other teenagers who we wanted to teach about this vital topic.
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Moises X, peer educator from Venezuela	Pre-events workshops
AFA utilized the baseball theme to model education after a game, whereby each "base" would be numbered, color-coded in one of the three national colors (blue, red, and white), and divided into the following topics: * First Base (Blue): Definition and Prevention of HIV and AIDS * Second Base (Red): Life Skills * Third Base (White): Stigma and Discrimination 25 pairs of our peer educators donned their colored and numbered baseball caps and were stationed at each "base", speaking about these essential topics of HIV prevention. Meanwhile the youth were invited to move between each of the three bases, and at the end of each session, each student was given a bracelet of that color to identify that they have received the vital information from that base.


Youth arriving	Receiving bracelets	Waiting between bases
The education portion of the event culminated at Home Base with live performances and appearances by some of today's top Dominican musical groups and celebrities, generously provided by Grupo Intermedia and Antena Latina. Dominican celebrity, Luz Garcia, was our the Mistress of Ceremonies She was terrific at keeping the energy level high as she introduced the theater group, performers, and speakers.

Rafael Ricart, Dr. Jaime Valencia & Jesus Aguais
Imagine 4,000 teenagers screaming and flailing their arms at the sight of their musical idols such as Frank Reyes, Ingco Crew, and Grupo Negro. This is what the youth have been waiting for. This is what and who they wanted to see. Learning about HIV/AIDS is just a by-product of their attendance mandated by the Department of Education and their respective schools. The theater group gave a compelling performance on fighting stigma and discrimination when it comes to young people and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Ana Simó, sexologist, reiterated the need for youth to remain vigilant, attentive, and informed about one's sexual health and well-being. The musical performers sang popular songs one can hear on any radio station and spoke intermittently about the importance of HIV education and standing up in the global fight against AIDS.


Such personification of a cause by individuals and celebrities that the youth admire or look up to was instrumental in allowing an unpopular healthcare message to resonate with youth. The message was basic and clear, and after seeing it reiterated so many times in such a short period, these young people are now in a considerably better position to adopt behaviors that can save their lives. Change will not happen over-night, but AFA'S AIDS awareness program represents one extremely effective and innovative approach to planting a seed for change. We are proud to have hosted this event of such magnitude, and we hope to implement similar large-scale presentations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean! "Un Batazo contra el SIDA" was made possible by funding provided by the following individuals and organizations: * Adriana Cisneros de Griffin * The Cisneros Foundation * Oscar de la Renta * Jose "Pepe" Fanjul * MercaSID * Charles Steinberg and the Boston Red Sox Click here to read a blog about the event by Jesse Sanchez, one of the writers for the Major League Baseball and the Boston Red Sox http://js.mlblogs.com/ (scroll down to "12.09.06")