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Students Health Dialogue
Ukraine has one of the highest new infection rates for HIV worldwide – reason enough for two medical UW/H students to found the Students Health Dialogue (SHD) in 2004. The idea was sexual education in order to reduce the number of new infections considerably.
They followed in the steps of the nation-wide prevention initiative of medical students entitled “Mit Sicherheit verliebt” (safely in love). In cooperation with Ukrainian medical students SDH started a multiplicator program where young students sensitize adolescents to issues related to HIV and AIDS. Ukrainian partners schooled at Witten/Herdecke University since 2006 visit schools in their region on a regular basis to pass on the acquired information to students. They are not always welcome, however. “Showing a condom in class may turn out to be a problem,” says SDH member Johanna Schippers, “some parents do not wish their children to be ‘corrupted’ like this. It is essential to provide comprehensive information on planned activities on parent evenings in advance.” Nevertheless the project has now been embraced by 14 Ukrainian cities and is mostly self-organized. “The initiative has our ongoing support, specifically in fundraising, and we intend to help founding an international support organization,” says Johanna Schippers. “This would certainly bolster acceptance among locals.”
Having safely established the Ukraine project, the Witten SHD now focuses on activities in Germany. Apart from Add Action also supported by SHD (see page 20), medical students of the initiative “Mit Sicherheit verliebt” go to schools in Witten and the region to provide sexual education. “The sexual education classes I had at school were terrible,” remembers Johanna Schippers. “Many in our initiative tell the same story, so this is reason enough to do it better.” The first step is to ask pupils to write down an ABC of sex-related terms. “This helps them to overcome initial shyness; they are asked to write down one term for each letter and then to discuss this term. This helps them to open up.” Some questions which pupils do not care to voice aloud are asked via blackbox and answered. “Many are pleased with the opportunity to ask somebody who is not much older, and whom they are not going to see again.”
The questions presented often reveal “rather dubious attitudes and ideas”. “We found that many 13 to 15-year-olds are well acquainted with porno sites and famous porno queens and therefore have distorted ideas of sexual intercourse.” SHD strives to correct such misconceptions. Johanna Schippers: “When they all know how to use condoms, when they all have been told that HIV and AIDS are not the same thing, and that there are sexually transmitted diseases requiring protection, then you feel you have made a difference, and this is great.”
SHD was awarded several prizes, e.g. the national award “Start Social” (2005), the Hector Poster Prize (2006), and some members of the initiative received the Jörg Hogens Student Award (2007).
Contact:
Marie-Therese Georgii, info@students-health-dialogue.com