1. Introduction and reflection (5 min)

Introduce the topic and ask a few students to share their lessons learned of the previous lesson.

2. Warming up: Stand Alone (5 min)

Aim

1. Students develop a sense of how important it is to be part of a group and how it feels to stand alone.

How

1. All students stand in a circle. Call out a series of questions. If students answer 'yes',they go to the centre of the circle. If they say 'no', they stay where they are. They return to the circle after each question. During the game, the questions get increasingly more personal.
2. Questions to be asked:
   - Everyone who likes the colour red, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who comes from a rural area, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who is the first-born, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who is the last-born, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who plays sports, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who would like to be a peer educator, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who wants to go to university, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who loves music, stand in the middle;
   - Everyone who knows someone who has HIV, stand in the middle, and so on.

Teacher Tips

You can make the questions as personal as you or the students feel comfortable with. Add as many questions as you like.
You might invite students to ask questions as well, but avoid questions which could be too personal.

Wrap Up

In this activity you might have experienced how it feels to stand alone, to not be part of a group. Remember, that this could feel the same for people living with HIV as they are often excluded from activities or groups because of their HIV status.

3. Read & Do: 'U have a role to play too!' – Presentation (30 min)

Materials

Presentation 'You have a role to play too!'
Optional test: Game: Myths and facts about HIV and Aids

Aim

1. Students acquire knowledge and facts about HIV and become aware of myths.

How

1. The students read the presentation.
2. The presentation covers the following topics: - Basic information about HIV and AIDS
   - How to avoid it.
   - HIV testing
   - PEP treatment
   - What to do if you are HIV positive?
   - What is ART and how does it work.
   - What to do if you are HIV negative.
   - How to support people living with HIV.
3. After they have gone through the presentation, you may check the knowledge level of the students by asking them about those topics

Wrap Up

The spread of HIV can be prevented by always using a condom when having sexual intercourse and avoiding sharing sharp objects that might cause you to cut yourself.

There are HTC centres in your neighbourhood that offer HIV testing, also for young people like you. Make sure you know your status, so you know what you need to do to stay as healthy as possible and to contribute to stopping the spread of HIV in Malawi.

4. Do: Real life stories: What can I do? (25 min)

Material

Printout of the ‘Real life stories’ for each subgroup (when there are no computers).
Real life story 1: Small things make a big difference
Real life story 2: Liberating from the prison of stigma
Real life story 3: No matter who you are, you can make a difference

Aim

1. Students internalise their knowledge of HIV by reading and discussing the story of someone living with HIV and two stories of young people supporting people living with HIV.
2. Students think about what role they can play in supporting people living with HIV or those who are affected by it.

How

1. Explain to students that people who are infected with HIV should be called ‘People Living with HIV’. Avoid the term ‘disease’ or ‘patient’ as people with HIV are not ill and can lead a happy life and contribute to society. Also avoid the term ‘victim’ to prevent stigmatisation and to remove the impression that once you have an HIV infection you cannot do anything to manage it.
2. All students watch or read the story about Winnie who has been living with HIV her whole life as she was born with it. Winnie shares her challenges living with HIV and how she deals with them.
3. Students continue by reading the two inspiring stories of Yamikani and Dumisani, two young people that support people living with HIV in their own community.
4. After having read/watched the stories of Winnie, Yamikani and Dumisani, reflect with students on the following:
   - Is HIV a major challenge in Malawi?
   - What are the challenges for Winnie while living with HIV?
   - How is she dealing with these challenges?
   - What do Yamikani and Dumisani do to support people living with HIV?
5. Divide students up in smaller groups and ask them to come up with a realistic action plan on how they want to support people living with HIV in their own neighbourhood, addressing the following questions:
   - What activities is the group going to undertake?
   - Who will benefit from them and how?
   - What do they want to achieve?
   - When are they going to carry out the activities?
6. If there is time, ask students what they came up with. Each group can decide which activity they want to carry out in the week to come.

Wrap Up

People living with HIV deal with a lot of daily challenges and they have the right to support. They can use your support in dealing with these challenges. Each one of us can make a contribution by supporting people living with or affected by HIV in our own community.

5. Do: Make a postcard (15 min) (on the computer or on paper)

Materials

1. Computer: Postcard template
2. Paper version: Paper + coloured markers, pencils, pens.

Aim

1. Students are encouraged to take personal responsibility for themselves and for their community regarding the HIV epidemic.
2. Students select a message that will support a person living with or affected by HIV.

Teacher Tips

This activity can be done on the computer or on paper, depending on the available resources and what works best for the students.

How

1. Students choose a person who is living with or affected by HIV, someone they feel needs some support. This could be a real person, a classmate, friend, family member, teacher, it could also be someone they don’t know, such as a person with HIV in a clinic or an AIDS orphan (someone who has lost parents or guardians due to AIDS).
2. Students write a message to support this person, to make them feel less isolated and to empower them. Tell them to give a positive message and to avoid messages only giving pity. Tell students to keep it short and powerful. Students make a postcard with this message and decorate it.

Wrap Up

A personal message can help people living with HIV feel supported, less isolated and accepted. With a small gesture, a bit like a postcard, you can make a huge impact on the life of others. It needn’t be a real postcard: your message could be in a smile, a helping hand, or an act of friendship.

6. Lesson wrap up (5 min)

Conclude the lesson by saying:
'Stopping the HIV epidemic and the discrimination and exclusion of people living with HIV/AIDS is a responsibility we all have. We all have a responsibility to only practice safe sex. In addition, people living with HIV are equal to everyone else. They have the right to support and we have the responsibility to care for them. By openly supporting them we can help to break the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS’.

7. Homework: Taking action (5 min)

Invite students to do the following:
- Write their action plan in their Top Tip Peer Book and make a start with their plans.
- Send their postcard or deliver it to someone. Or another act of friendship
- Find out whether there is an organisation in their community that is working in the field of HIV (prevention, counselling, helping people living with HIV, advocacy).
- Find out where there is a HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC) centre which they could visit.