Getting Educated

As in the rest of the continent, HIV/AIDS is a growing problem in Liberia. For the last six weeks, a group of kids from Francis Gaskin Orphanage and their school mates have been in a special HIV/AIDS education course created just for them.

When the class began, some of the kids (and teachers) didn’t even know what HIV/AIDS was. The instructor used fun and rewarding teaching methods that included age appropriate conversations about HIV/AIDS. The kids were not just memorizing the information (as is common in Liberia), but they were actually able to apply it. They could even take the big English words “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” and change them into simple Liberian English phrases that even their grandmother would understand! Through drama and songs, they became comfortable explaining this new information. By the end of the six week course, they were teaching their friends in other classes and people in the community as well.