MALUMFASHI IN RETROSPECT.
by segun daniel..
Unless you have been there and have had a first hand experience of this most welcoming, warm and accommodating set of people dwelling in northern Nigeria, you will continually hold a wrong impression of them. Considering my background as a member of an anti AIDS club from school in the south western part of the country, the NYSC posting to the home state of our amiable president-Umar Musa Yar’adua, while he was still the executive Governor of Katsina, was a privilege and an opportunity to reach out to the youth population about AIDS and its devastating effect on our future as youths. As a UNICEF trained peer educator and the president of the UNICEF ANTI AIDS CLUB, we moved around with our awareness campaign throughout the length and breathe of the Malumfashi zone, Katsina state Nigeria and here are some of the events in retrospect.

AT THE FCS RALLY .
Influencing your peers positively was the theme of this annual one week camp programme organised by the fellowship of the Christian students in Malumfashi zone in Katsina state. the programme which was a religious one encouraged our coming to speak, convince, inform and educate their members about health issues most especially the reality of HIV/AIDS in our society. So on the final day of the rally we were invited to talk to this cross-section of young adolescents from the entire Malumfashi zone of Katsina state on positive values for better living and health related issues such as Aids. The participants benefited from a number of topics ranging from right decision making, assertiveness, being focused, goal setting, building a sound self esteem, making the right friends and so on. and these topics were spoken on and taught by these resource persons ;Mr. Abu Fred, Mr Ularan and was led by Mr Segun Daniel, who also talked about pertinent issues of HIV/AIDS as it relates to all the mentioned topics. However, there were IEC’s that were distributed to all the participants present....

AT THE GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.
At this event that took place at the Government Secondary School for the deaf, a large number of students benefited from this one of a kind HIV/AIDS awareness campaign which was organised and conducted with a view of reaching out to all and sundry with this advocacy message about AIDS. We were warmly received by the school and the teeming population of students who have been anxiously waiting for our arrival, in order to learn and enrich their young minds with the relevant information they needed to have about AIDS –the possible ways of infection, prevention and most especially vital issues of their reproductive health, which ordinarily have been relegated to the background by the society around them. Though it was extremely challenging, it was worth it. The question/answer session was very interactive and with sign language, pictorial illustrations, posters, handbills, and a standby interpreter who was put to use for the benefit of those with partial hearing disability, the point was driven home that AIDS IS REAL and easily contractible but PLAYING SAFE IS KEY to prevention.


SPREADIND THE MESSAGE AND NOT THE VIRUS at G.U.S.S.
On this beautiful, bright and sunny day it was time for another life changing HIV/AIDS awareness session and this time it was about “SPREADIND THE MESSAGE AND NOT THE VIRUS” campaign. And guess what! Right inside the dinning hall of the Government Unity Secondary School Katsina, issues of the HIV/AIDS and reproductive health was being broken down to bits and was served to the student in their hundreds not leaving out their teachers who were in attendance as well. It was a session of simple approach interaction like never before as it was made to be a wonderful on-the-hot-seat interview-like session. And surely it was an unforgettable outing in the duty of advocacy and awareness campaign in our entire Katsina state experience. The student were enlightened on what hiv/aids is, what STD’s are, how one can fall into danger zone of contracting HIV, out-lining risky behaviours that could make one vulnerable [like premarital sex],issues of peer pressure and hiv, modes of protection and prevention ,why we need to go for voluntary counselling and testing, why there should be no need for discrimination and stigmatization against infected people, how to educate other people with what they know and have learnt about HIV/AIDS and reproductive health issues-[which happened to be the most endearing to these students] and so forth. I must confess that it was quite an experience with these students who were hungry for knowledge about the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and with the fun part of quiz and question and answer session and folksongs on AIDS rendered, YOU CAN BE SURE THAT WE LEFT THEM BETTER THAN WE FOUND THEM.


GOVERNMENT SECONDARY SCHOOL KANKARA
In yet another school this time, it was the turn of the government secondary school Kankara located in a remote town in Katsina state. The acceptance was mind blowing and awesome, it was as if the messiah that knows all things had come to teach and show them the way. uttermost and most commendable was the leadership virtues that was put in to play by the principal of the school who joined in and stayed with us till the end of the campaign, leaving all official matters to rest as long as the we were there. That was an exceptional character of leadership by example on display. He even took it upon himself to do the job of interpreting and thoroughly explaining all that is being said, in the native language [Hausa], so as to make sure that none of his students go home with an excuse of not understanding some terminologies that were sometimes used in driving home a point.
With the assistance of the principal the campaign was successful as the students gained tremendously from the interpretation done by the principal, and now they are equipped to stand against the ignorance that has kept them in the dark for too long a time. Also, we are convinced that with people like the principal around the kankara community would not be the same again for education about HIV/AIDS would set the people free from the scourge that would have been feeding fat on their ignorance.

*Some of the participants and the coordinator,at the HIV/AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health training 2005..

The UNICEF/NYSC Anti AIDS Club 2005/2006 president-Mr Segun Daniel receiving a certificate of recognition, presented by the NYSC resident inspector for malumfashi zone, Mr.Okoliko in appreciation of the various awareness and sensitization campaign programmes on HIV/AIDS carried out throughout the zone.

In all of this i and my team at the Anti AIDS Club are sure that we left all of these people in Katsina, better than we found them. And that is fulfilment on our own part..

Dear reader,
One week after the tragic events of Cyclone Nargis, the path of destruction in Myanmar is evident. Reports indicate that 22,500 people are reported dead and close to 100,000 are still missing, indicating that death tolls can be expected to rise in the coming weeks. Millions more are now left homeless without food or access to clean water or medicine.
PSI, the parent organization of YouthAIDS, has a team of 600 staff on the ground throughout Myanmar they have already begun efforts to supply medical supplies and clean water to those in need. Working with other local organizations, PSI has delivered enough water for 1,000,000 people for one month and is working with its network of Sun Quality Health doctors to deliver medicine and health services to those desperately seeking medical attention.
They are racing against time. The situation is dire, catastrophic hunger and major diseases lurk at the edges of the 6 million+ community living in the area hardest hit by the cyclone. The people of Myanmar need your help. In the coming months, PSI will require an additional $1,000,000 to address the longer-term health implications of Cyclone Nargis’ devastation and avert more deaths in this time of need.
Your gift will help us deliver critical supplies and health services in Myanmar and restock supplies for the coming months. Please make a donation and read more about how the parent organization of YouthAIDS plans to save lives.
for more information visit; www.youthaids.org

AT THE PRESTIGIOUS OOU DINNER
In the quest for service, borne out of the vision to leave useful information at the fingertips of every individual and also create a platform for educating and encouraging people-involvement in HIV/AIDS advocacy, we registered our presence and made an indelible impact, in the lives of hundreds of students of the prestigious Olabisi Onabanjo University (s/w Nigeria), who were in attendance at a dinner event, organised by a group of students.
The crowd at the event was large and was too tempting to let go,without giving them an information that would influence major decisions of their lives and particularly that of the evening for good. And though it was an impromptu performance we are glad to have reached out to such a massive crowd ( such that you would never have found on that campus, in a seminar addressing issues of AIDS), with the song –THINK TWICE, which is one of the numerous advocacy songs we have put together and have been using as our advocacy tool at W.I.N.
It was the kind of song they wanted but with the message they needed. And we are convinced that the message of the song THINK TWICE, which is an all round advocacy song with a groovy feel,will spread beyond the immediate audience that listened to it first-hand that night, to several other people (like friends,colleagues and of course family members) and will cause the desired attitudinal/behavioural changes in their approach to sexual activities,thereby leading to safe and responsble living.

The Turning Point

The 14th International Conference on Aids & STI's in Africa,held in abuja Nigeria in 2005,was an eye opener and till date still marks the birth of this noble organization..it was quite an unforgetable experience for us,in terms of knowledge aquisition and impetus to impact the world around us.. And here we are reaching out to you, and we implore you to join in whatever way you can to change the world around you for good..

it pays to be involved!