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  • Title: Malawi uses games to educate the young.
    Author: Dodd R.
    Journal: AIDS Anal Afr; 1995 Oct; 5(5):14-5. PubMed ID: 12290455.
    Abstract:
    Recent figures suggest that Malawi has the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, with at least 12% of the sexually active population estimated to be HIV-seropositive. In urban areas, 30% of women attending antenatal clinics are infected with HIV. By March 1995, more than 37,000 AIDS cases had been reported. Adolescents and children about to enter adolescence in Malawi are at particular risk of contracting HIV. Attempting to avoid exposure to HIV, many men have spurned mature female prostitutes in favor of young girls. In exchange for school fees and other gifts, girls as young as eight years old have sexual intercourse with mature Malawian men. These men are often infected with HIV. It therefore follows that five out of six youngsters with HIV in Malawi are female. Since their female peers are involved with older men, boys are increasingly having sex with the older women rejected by mature men. Studies suggest that 55% of school pupils have experienced sexual intercourse, 76% of whom first had sex when they were younger than age 15. "AIDS Challenge" is a board game developed for distribution to all secondary schools in Malawi with the purpose of educating students about AIDS. It is played on a modified snakes-and-ladders board, using a pack of 100 cards, each with some true or false statements about AIDS. 36 boys and 35 girls aged 13-20 years from a government secondary school participated in the first trial. Four weeks of playing the game had a significant effect upon pupils' knowledge of HIV. While some of the statements on the cards are specific to Malawi, the game can easily be adapted for use in other African countries. The game is available from UNICEF Malawi at Box 30375, Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi.
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