DEVELOPMENT REPORT - HIV Stigma Toolkit

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - HIV Stigma¹ Toolkit
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Monday, January 19, 2004

This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

People living with AIDS and the virus that causes it suffer not only from the disease, but also from the stigma linked to AIDS. Stigma means any bad thoughts or acts toward another person that are not based on facts. People have stigmas³ about H-I-V and AIDS- infected patients for many reasons. The disease is connected to blood, sickness and death. H-I-V is often caused by actions that are not accepted by many religions and communities. These include sexual activities between men and the injection of illegal drugs. Also, people are afraid they will get the virus from being near people who have HIV or AIDS.

 
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Experts have created special programs, campaigns and education tools to stop the stigmatization⁵ of people with AIDS.

One group, called the Change Project, has developed teaching information for people at the local level fighting the disease. It is called a "Toolkit for Action."

The toolkit includes fifty-seven teaching exercises that community groups and educators can use to help improve people's knowledge of the disease. The goal is to help people understand stigma, why it is an important issue, what causes stigma, and ways to end the stigmatization of AIDS patients.

The toolkit uses several training methods and materials. For example, many activities involve group discussions and the sharing of ideas, fears and personal experiences. Other activities require people to present information or act out stories in front of other people. There are even exercises that use pictures and songs.

The toolkit has exercises that deal with stigma in different ways. There are activities that teach about caring for HIV-AIDS patients in the family. Other activities teach about stigma faced by children. There are also exercises to teach people about sex, morality and dishonor.

The Change Project created the toolkit with the help of the Academy for Educational Development and the United States Agency for International Development.

It was developed from a three-country research project.

AIDS activists⁶ from more than fifty non-governmental organizations in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia helped write the exercises.

You can get the toolkit from the Change Project's Internet Web site. That address is changeproject.org. Changeproject is all one word.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Robert Cohen.

1 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 stigmas   

n.耻辱的标记，瑕疵( stigma的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Wind may affect the set of fruit by desiccating the stigmas. 风可影响座果，因为风吹干了柱头。 来自辞典例句
• Monterey's transpiration of pistils and stigmas are lowest. Monterey的柱头和雌蕊的失水速率均较低。 来自互联网

4 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

5 stigmatization   

n.描绘，陈述

参考例句：

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》