Students lead AIDS awareness campaign in India
by
Charlotte Knottenbelt
Resplendent in red saris, Billie Murdoch, Brook Shearer and Emma Shepherd
stand in a courtyard in a small village near Vellore in India. It is day one
of World Aid Week and the culmination of months of planning for the three
UniSA social work students, who have organised a week of activities designed
to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in one of India’s poorest regions.
The southernmost state in India, Tamil Nadu is also one of the areas worst affected by AIDS. The first event planned for the week is a cycle rally – more than 100 young local men attach banners to their bikes and cycle the 30km to Vellore, chanting HIV/AIDS awareness messages along the way. Covered by three newspapers, the rally is a roaring success and sets the tone for the rest of the week, which includes nightly street theatre performances by women’s self-help groups and a host of other grass-roots activities.
Billie, Brook and Emma have come a long way since they first arrived at the Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs (RUHSA) in Tamil Nadu to begin a three month placement as the final chapter in their lives as social work students. Asked to develop and implement HIV/AIDS awareness programs reflecting needs identified by the community, the trio threw themselves into the project which is now being lauded as one of the most successful of its kind.
They organised community meetings and school visits, as well as conducting a survey into the sexual behaviour of young people in the district – the results of which they’ve been asked to prepare for publication.
Over the four months that she was away, Emma Shepherd kept in contact with family, friends and UniSA staff via email, and here is how she described her experience:
“The people surrounding RUHSA are monetarily some of the poorest people in this world yet they are so willing to share their food and homes with you – it really puts a whole new perspective on what makes a person rich.”
“All in all I’m having the experience of a lifetime. I’m learning, I’m growing, I’m laughing, I’m crying, but most of all I’m really living. I have never felt so alive.”
“I’ve had the most incredible experience of my life to date and it has been everything and more than I could have imagined. Working with the RUHSA staff and community has been so rewarding and I feel as though I’ve grown professionally as well as personally from the work.”
“I'm apparently now officially a 'Social Worker'. I've finished my four year degree and managed to do it well. What a way to finish off a degree hey? … in India. Pretty cool.”
For more information on UniSA’s social work placement program in India, contact Dr Frank Tesoriero at the School of Social Work and Social Policy on (08) 8302 4515.