The message is clear

Members of Action for Life use role plays to start class discussions [Simon Rawles]

Lourdes Chara Estrada is 16. She joined Action for Life in Peru three years ago and now educates her friends about HIV and AIDS issues

“My teacher told me about the project because I was a good student. They invited me to a meeting and I went. Another friend was invited and came but afterwards her parents wouldn’t let her take part. Her father didn’t trust her too. He liked to know where she was going and wouldn’t let her go out much.

"The district where I live – La Vitoria – is very dangerous. It is common for parents not to trust their children to go out at night there. There are lots of teenagers with guns on the street corners.

"Maybe they have stopped studying or have finished school and now have no opportunities to do anything. Their parents don’t have enough money to send them to study.

"In their free time they have nothing to do but hang around the streets and take drugs, sniffing glue and drinking. They get money by stealing.

"At the traffic lights when cars stopped kids used to get the driver and passenger and rob them. The young people especially steal bits off the cars. Now our neighbours pay for police protection in the area. This just started four or five months ago but already things are a lot better.

Educational materials

Lourdes' family rents their home and she says one of their neighbours always had girls coming to his house. One day she went up to the roof to see what was going on, and saw he was naked with three girls, was giving them money, and they were all sniffing glue.

"When I first got involved with Action for Life I didn’t know exactly what it would involve and my parents didn’t either so they didn’t let me go to the meetings. It was the same for my friends because the meetings were out of school time.

"When I explained it was run by IES and showed my father the educational materials we were using and explained what they were doing he let me go. After about a year he stopped asking questions.

"I like IES very much because of how they treated me. I am really very quiet but I started to be more open and confident. Now people think I’m very funny. My friends in the group now say “what have we created?” and joke with me.

"Now I have friends from different schools.

"With IES we fought to have some time in the school to give some training. We asked the education authorities to include this as part of school planning. We have been training some students in the school so that they can continue this training next year when we have left.

Bringing the message to life

"It’s different seeing drawings than real pictures so we have used real pictures of people living with HIV. It makes the students more aware and us too. I was looking at some of the photos we used and hoping that nobody would have this illness.

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Members of Action for Life visit schools throughout Lima [Simon Rawles]

We try and relate to the young people in ways they understand rather than just read through the materials. We play games and laugh with them too.

"We are always thinking of new strategies and ways of keeping young people interested in this. We know how to talk to young people and to work with them. We teach young people they have the right to go to health clinics and get information.

"My message to the UK is that young people have the right to the right information that is clear and at the right time. They need it. It is good for them.

"Every one of you defend these rights and with this information you have, give this information to your family, friends, neighbours and others you meet.

"Keep fighting for the common good because it will be good for you and help you develop.

"It’s great and we save lives. The people are very nice. We all believe that even when we are older we will continue this work.

"The most important thing is for parents to trust their children more. After the workshop we ran with parents they wrote a letter to the educational authorities (the school principals) to support this sort of project.”

Involving parents

Lourdes father, Alejandro, looks after Lourdes and her brother while her mother,Yola, is working “As they are growing and changing, sometimes you need to be strict with them and sometimes to joke with them and be their friend,” he says.

He says he trusts Lourdes. His brother’s daughter got pregnant at a young age but he doesn’t think that Lourdes will do this. “Before we didn’t laugh and talk and joke like this. That was before the training”, he says.

IES has provided training to parents in the schools where they work as well as to the children. “Initially I didn’t like Lourdes going to the training in case there would be fighting or in case they might demand too much from her. But then Lourdes brought the materials home and explained what she was doing with IES. I said I’m like your father, brother, friend, we have to trust each other.

"I am thankful to IES for this training and proud of my daughter for sharing with her friends about HIV. She now has my permission,” he says.

“The training is very good and the talks they organise. If they could do the same in rural areas it would be good. But they are not working in rural areas because there is not enough money,” he adds.

Yola, Lourdes mother, says “She likes the training and I hope she will continue as she is. It is a shame that the training is ending. I hope she will not forget what she has learnt.”

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