This resource aims to raise awareness and understanding among young people of HIV and AIDS and the impact the epidemic has on those affected by it. The main focus of the kit is the performance – five stories told by people affected by HIV and AIDS, both in the UK and abroad. These can be read or acted out by young people.

It is quick and easy to prepare an assembly using the kit. All you need to do is photocopy the script, decide who is going to read each ‘voice’, then have a read through or rehearsal before the performance.

To get more out of the exercise, encourage students to think through and plan all aspects of the performance. You can choose to use the add-on activities in this kit to prepare for the assembly and to enhance the performance.

The follow-up activities can be used after the assembly with smaller groups. These are designed to give young people the opportunity to look in more detail at the issues raised in the assembly.

There is an accompanying ten-minute briefing on HIV and AIDS for teachers and other educators with background information on the subject.

This assembly kit is suitable for young people aged 11-16.

• To help students understand the scale of the global HIV and AIDS epidemic, including in the UK
  
• To increase students’ understanding of how the HIV virus spreads and how to protect themselves
  
• To help students appreciate how people can be affected by HIV and AIDS in different ways
  
• To encourage students to empathise with people who are HIV positive

The personal stories in this script describe how HIV and AIDS can affect people, both in the UK and in developing countries. The stories should ideally be read out by different people to emphasise the difference between each person’s situation. If they feel confident enough, students can try acting out each story.

Go through the script carefully together and encourage students to express their thoughts and feelings about it. Make sure they feel comfortable with the words and ideas. You may like to adapt the language to suit students’ age, maturity and interests.

Make sure you cover the ‘Reflection follow-up’ in a later session to discuss the questions young people are left with at the end of the assembly.

Narrator
HIV and AIDS is a huge global problem. In just over 20 years, the virus has killed more people than all the wars and disasters of the last 50 years put together. 

Forty million people worldwide are now living with the disease, and the virus is still spreading fast.

We are now going to hear the stories of five people whose lives have been affected by HIV in different ways.

Voice one: Eric from South Africa  
My name is Eric. I am 23 and I live in South Africa. I look fit and healthy now, but four years ago everything was different. I was very thin and I spent most of my days in bed.

After I was diagnosed with HIV, many people called me names and avoided me. Most people are afraid to talk about HIV and AIDS. Many feel so ashamed that they won’t even tell their boyfriend or girlfriend if they’ve got the HIV virus.

My life was going downhill fast, until I got help from some charity workers. They helped me to accept that I have HIV. As soon as I started to feel good about myself again, I began to eat more healthily and I got stronger.

Now I’m much better and people have stopped avoiding me so much. Some think I’ve been cured of the disease. I have to explain that it never goes away but that I am looking after myself properly now.

These days I spend my time teaching other young people to talk openly about HIV and AIDS. Young people need to know how to protect themselves, because no one can help us unless we help ourselves first.

Voice two: Maxine from Glasgow
My name is Maxine. I’m 20 and from Glasgow. I got HIV from my first boyfriend. Two years ago I went to the sexual health clinic for a check-up. They asked if I wanted an HIV test and I thought I might as well. I never thought it would come out positive. I thought HIV was something that gay men and junkies got, or people in Africa.

My boyfriend had no idea that he had HIV. We cried a lot and talked a lot, then decided to stay together. We told our parents and a few close friends. They got upset and scared, but after finding out more about HIV they became really supportive. That meant everything to us – the last thing we needed were people pointing fingers or avoiding us.

I don’t regret finding out that I’m HIV positive, because it meant we could get counselling and drugs which help us to stay healthy. Also, if we didn’t know, we could be passing on the virus to other people.

I’m really looking forward to the future. The drugs can make you feel tired and ill sometimes. But I’m still studying, and getting on with my life. HIV isn’t necessarily a death sentence, but it does change your view on life completely.

Voice three: Kindman from Zimbabwe
My name is Kindman. I’m 27 and I work as a volunteer with the Red Cross in Zimbabwe. I visit people who are living with HIV and AIDS and try to make their lives a little easier.

Today I visited two little boys – Helger and Lawrence. They are brothers. They are so sick that they can’t sit upright, and they have no energy to walk or play. Their mother died of AIDS last year, and their father is HIV positive. Only their grandmother, Agnes, can work and look after them.

I advise Agnes on how to avoid becoming infected with the HIV virus. I also tell the family to eat nutritious food, but it’s frustrating because we all know that they can’t afford to. When I visited the family at four o’clock, no one had eaten since the night before. Three years without rain means they can’t grow maize and vegetables anymore. If they have any money, they spend it on medicines which are really expensive.

But it’s not hopeless. People all over the world are helping us to make HIV-positive people’s lives better by giving money to organisations like the Red Cross. Believe it or not, it only costs £8 to feed Agnes and her family for a whole month.

Voice four: Linda from Nigeria
My name is Linda. I'm 14 and I come from Nigeria. I live alone with my little sisters. Our parents both died last year. Nobody said it out loud, but I think they died of AIDS. That’s quite common around here now.

I’ve heard that more than a million children in Nigeria are living on their own now because their parents have died of AIDS. I sometimes wonder who is looking after them, giving them food and hugs, and making sure they go to school.

My sisters are only eight and 10 years old, so I have to take care of them. I try to keep our house and clothes clean, but it’s hard. At night, we worry that someone will break into our house because everyone knows we live alone. I also worry about not having any money or enough food. Our neighbours help us out when they can but they can’t always afford to.

I don’t want to, but I might have to drop out of school so I can get a job and earn some money. If I stay in school, it will be easier to get a good job when I grow up. But the most important thing is that my sisters and I stay together. We’ll manage, somehow.

Voice five: Jack from London
My name is Jack. I’m 25 and I work in a sexual health clinic in London. Recently, more straight young people have started asking me about HIV and AIDS. I guess it’s because more straight young people are getting infected with HIV than anyone else in the UK. They need someone to talk to, and we don’t judge anyone. We just try to help.

I tell people that the only way to protect yourself against HIV is to always use a condom if you’re having sex, and not share a needle or any kind of injection equipment with anyone.

To find out if you’ve got HIV you need to  have a blood test. You can get counselling before you take the test and, if you are HIV positive, you can get counselling and help to get on with your life. You can also take drugs against HIV. They can make you feel quite sick at first but they will prevent you from getting infections.

Most people with HIV in the UK live quite normal lives. The worst thing for them is often nasty remarks and other people avoiding them. That’s so pointless, because you can’t get HIV from things like touching, kissing, or sharing cutlery with someone.

The best way to stay safe is to get clued up, because if people don't know the facts, they can do really risky stuff. Safer sex shouldn’t be anything to be embarrassed about. If someone loves and respects you, they won’t mind using condoms. People should protect each other, not infect each other!

Narrator
Whose story made the biggest impression on you – Eric’s, Maxine’s, Kindman’s, Linda’s or Jack’s? Why? Did you learn something new?

Jack said that most new HIV infections in the UK happen among young, straight people. Are you surprised? Why do you think this is?

To enhance your assembly, choose from these add-on activities.

Picture add-on
A map can be a useful visual backdrop to the performance. Label the parts of the world where the voices come from. Each performer can then start their reading by placing their name on the map.

Speaker add-on
Meeting an HIV-positive person, or someone who works on HIV and AIDS issues, can be a great way to challenge stereotypes and allow young people to ask important questions. Contact a national or local HIV and AIDS organisation and ask if they can put you in touch with a speaker who can talk to your students about HIV and AIDS.

Music add-on
The script raises many important issues, including promoting inclusion and non-discrimination, protecting each other and supporting people affected by HIV.

Discuss the following with your group: how alone Linda feels; the difference that support, care and understanding has made to Eric, Maxine, and Agnes; and what Jack said about young people protecting each other. Note students’ comments on the board.

Write a song or a rap using the ideas on the board. Use a well-known melody. Ask small groups of students to write a verse each, and a chorus. Agree on a theme for each group based on student’s comments during the discussion.

Put the verses together, type up and photocopy the song and try singing it a few times. Give students time to relax and learn the lyrics. Consider performing it, either as part of the assembly or at a later date.

Reflection follow-up
Arrange a session after the assembly to discuss the issues raised. Young people may find stories about HIV-positive children and teenagers, or those who have been orphaned by AIDS, sad and upsetting. Try to channel these feelings into a discussion about empathy and respect. Use some of these questions to guide the discussion.

• Why did no one say out loud that Linda’s parents probably died of AIDS? Why would someone choose to keep quiet if they, or someone close to them, was HIV-positive or dying of AIDS?
• What would you say if a close friend of yours was worried about HIV? How would you want your friends to respond if you were worried?
• How would you react if one of your friends, or their family members, were HIV-positive? Do we have any reason – or right – to bully and discriminate against people with HIV?
• What motivates a volunteer like Kindman, or organisations such as the Red Cross, to care for and help people affected by HIV and AIDS? Why is their work important? What will happen to countries like Africa and Zimbabwe if the HIV and AIDS epidemic continues? What can we do to stop it?
• Talk about the fact that like Agnes and her family, the majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in poverty. Many can’t afford vital medicines that are available free in the UK. Why is this so? Is it fair?

Survey follow-up
Go through the script and discuss which HIV and AIDS facts students didn’t know before. Ask what else students would want to ask Jack, Maxine and Eric about HIV and AIDS. If students feel embarrassed, ask them to write questions on pieces of paper and hand them in anonymously. Read out the questions and decide on 10-15 to include in your survey. Include questions that reveal confusion, myths or negative stereotypes surrounding HIV and AIDS.

Ask students to research the answers to their questions. Create a multiple choice questionnaire with a few wrong answers and one right one for each question. Type it up and make a set for each student.

Ask students to do a survey on attitudes and knowledge surrounding HIV and AIDS among other students, teachers, local people, their friends and families. Remind them to make a note of each subject’s age and sex.

Compile your findings and analyse them. Were people more confused about some questions than others? How many answers did they get right on average? Did women know more than men or vice versa? Were younger people more or less clued up than older people?

Exhibition follow-up
Using the script and the ten-minute briefing as your starting point, choose four or five areas surrounding HIV and AIDS to focus on.

Ideas might include:

• the impact of HIV and AIDS in Africa
  
• HIV and AIDS in the UK
  
• HIV and AIDS in other parts of the world
  
• HIV and AIDS and young people
  
• HIV and AIDS myths and facts
  
• stigma and bullying or discrimination
  
• the red ribbon – what does it mean and why wear it

Divide students into groups according to their interests and ask them to research their chosen topic using the links in the ten-minute briefing.

Ask students to create a poster about their topic. Discuss interesting ways of presenting information, including fact boxes, cartoon strips, speech bubbles, big headlines, personal thoughts and stories. They can decorate the poster with drawings or photos from magazines or newspapers.

Drama follow-up
Create a role play or drama performance around different aspects of HIV and AIDS. Start with a discussion of issues such as: what exactly constitutes the disease; how and why it spreads; how it can affect people, their families and communities, both in Africa and the UK; and how we can stop it. Explore feelings such as fear, anger, shame, hope, love and trust.

Try bringing the script’s characters together, or developing new characters and storylines. Create a few short, stand-alone scenes or a full-scale play with a coherent storyline. Try including costumes, props, lighting or music, and consider performing your finished piece for others.