The best way to teach a child is to let the kid teach his/her age mates. This strategy was witnessed by the Youth Health Organisation (YOHO) volunteers as they used kids to teach other kids about health-related matters, especially HIV/AIDS.
Various primary schools took part in the competition and only three schools that appeared in the top three were selected to be in the DVD of the Children’s Theater.
A total of 62 schools took part in the competition.
On Thursday, at the launch of the Children’s Theater calendar, the UNICEF representative, Jose Paulo De Araujo, said, “I trust that to be effective in communicating with young people, we have to join them, to communicate with them as peers, to have fun, to share feelings and not preach and this is what YOHO does.”
Araujo applauded YOHO for a job well done as it took a lot of effort to come out with the DVD.
In the documentaries in the DVD, the children demonstrated a clear understanding of the 10 basic facts about the spread of the HIV. Theater was chosen as it demonstrates a way of our daily lives. It also promotes the children’s participation, thus learning firsthand.
Araujo said that everyone in the country is aware of the lack of recreational facilities but this should not be used as an excuse to indulge in alcohol consumption and risky behavior. He further asked for more involvement and participation of children at planning, implementing and evaluation of HIV prevention programs.
There was a stage performance by the children and, the day after, there was a stage performance by various artists while the children competed in a beauty contest.
