Caribbean AIDS Program Targets Youth

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

Teens learn about HIV/AIDS prevention through discussion and games.

March 19, 2001 —  As a teenager, Mark Scott attended a Red Cross HIV/AIDS program meeting in Jamaica. Today, the 23-year-old admits how ignorant about the deadly sexually transmitted disease he was at that time. He did not understand the breadth of the AIDS threat facing him and his peers. Because sex was a taboo conversation topic among Jamaicans, Scott had never even discussed the risks.

"In Jamaica, we are in denial about young people having sex," said Scott, who is now the Caribbean region youth delegate for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Eventually, the AIDS program that he attended could benefit countries throughout the Caribbean.

Together We Can targets teens between the ages of 13 and 19, who are considered at great risk of contracting HIV.

At first leery of broaching the topic, Scott soon began to talk freely about HIV and AIDS with his peers. "I didn't know much about the virus and wasn't into the discussions at first. But we played games that made it fun to learn and I became excited to talk positively and openly about something that was usually ignored," Scott said.

Scott, 23, participated in "Together We Can," a program run jointly by the American Red Cross and Jamaican Red Cross aimed at reducing AIDS among juveniles throughout the Caribbean. Every week, an average of 15 Jamaicans die of AIDS, with most of those being infected before the age of 29, according to the Jamaican National AIDS Control Program.

Through group discussions, educational games and interaction with HIV-infected peers, the Red Cross has taught youth to spread AIDS awareness and education to other Jamaicans between the ages of 13 and 19. After the training, they return to their communities and schools in pairs to hold educational sessions on AIDS prevention. Each participant agrees to reach out to at least 30 peers.

The Red Cross program gives teens a rare opportunity to discuss AIDS prevention in an open environment.

The lessons can be hard to accept, but Jamaican youth are still excited about learning, Scott said. "It was very frightening to learn about HIV," Scott said. "The program made us aware how easily you can contract the disease."

AIDS is the leading cause of death among Caribbean residents between the ages of 15 and 35, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Fifty percent of those diagnosed in the region are between 25 and 35 years old, and likely contracted the disease as teenagers.

Through "Together We Can," a program launched jointly by the American Red Cross and Jamaican Red Cross in 1993, the Red Cross hopes to provide youth throughout the Caribbean with the knowledge they need to practice prevention, said Ellen Parietti, a spokesperson for American Red Cross programs in the Caribbean.

A particularly poignant moment of the program comes when some specially invited participants reveal to the group that they are HIV-positive, Scott said. "It's mind-opening when you interact with someone who is HIV-positive before you realize it," he added. "We learned that you can't tell from looks alone whether someone is HIV-positive. It helps you realize that if you have been doing things to put yourself at risk, you may have HIV without knowing it."

Mark Scott (white shirt) first learned about the Red Cross as a Together We Can participant. Now he is the Caribbean region youth delegate for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Scott has observed a drastic change that the Red Cross program has on Jamaican teens. He has witnessed teenage girls – who have a higher rate of infection than teenage boys in the region -- acquire a new confidence to say "no" to sex, and teenage boys who have decided to abstain or use condoms. Participants are interviewed a few months after the training ends to determine if they still stand by the convictions, and usually they do, Scott said.

Moreover, the program has inspired participants to address other problems facing Caribbean youth. "It also helped us deal with other issues such as crime and violence," Scott said. A group of "Together We Can" graduates even started a youth group that now includes more than 60 members.

The Jamaican program also has inspired a regionwide interest in AIDS education, giving rise to the creation of the Red Cross Caribbean AIDS Network. Red Cross societies and youth in other countries have begun to start their own "Together We Can" programs.

The program also gained recognition from UNAIDS, which asked the Red Cross to take a lead role in educating and preventing AIDS among Caribbean youth. In an effort to live up to that request and diminish the threat of AIDS in the region, the American Red Cross is working to fund "Together We Can" programs in more Caribbean countries.

"The impact of these programs will go beyond education about AIDS. We want to give youth knowledge that will convince them to change their behavior," Parietti said. "In addition, I think it will empower youth to address other social problems in their communities. When you empower youth, the sky's the limit because they take that to other aspects of their lives."