Breaking
the Silence
The statistics
are alarming. Young people are the fastest growing risk
group for AIDS in the Caribbean, with girls leading the
pack. Half of all new HIV
infections are among youth (UNAIDS) and girls between the
ages of 15 and 19 are contracting HIV at a rate seven times
higher than boys the same age (UNICEF). Think of
the young people in your life; imagine how these statistics
will impact their futures. The prospects are disheartening.
Taking all this into consideration,
three organizations joined forces to implement a creative,
cutting-edge intervention in the AIDS pandemic. These
organizations - the St. Lucia Red Cross, the St. Lucia
Planned Parenthood, and Seattle's 911 Media Arts Center
-- combined their expertise in the design of program that
would address the problem of HIV/AIDS at its root causes.
 Their
brainchild is the Breaking the Silence project --
a free, out-of-school workshop series for St. Lucian youth. Breaking
the Silence combines media literacy, digital video
production, peer leadership training, and HIV/AIDS education. The
pilot program launched in August 2003 with the objective
of tackling gender inequity as a major risk-factor for
HIV/AIDS.
Over the course of six weeks, participants
in Breaking the Silence developed their self-esteem,
learned conflict resolution and assertiveness, and practiced
their communication and leadership skills. They were
presented the facts of HIV/AIDS direct from local experts. Participants
were also trained in the hands-on use of digital video
production and editing equipment. By the end of the
program, participants created their very own 30-minute
HIV-intervention video.
Because the Breaking the Silence video
was written, shot, directed, and edited by the youth themselves,in
their own language and on their own terms, the messages
presented speak more directly to those most at risk. their
video is currently being distributed as an awareness-raising
tool for thousands of viewers in classrooms, health centers,
television broadcast audiences, and video festivals across
the globe.
Breaking the Silence doesn't
stop there. Participants were also trained as peer
leaders so that they can return their communities and speak
to other youth about HIV/AIDS. The Breaking the Silence video
accompanies each presentation and helps facilitate deeper
dialogue.
Project Summary
Project Title
Breaking the Silence: Media arts and
AIDS education for Caribbean girls October 2003.
" Breaking
the Silence is a special project of 911 Media Arts Center
in collaboration with the St. Lucia Red Cross Society
and the St. Lucia Planned Parenthood Association.
Project Description
"Breaking the Silence" aims
to create and widely disseminate youth-produced and youth-targeted
messages about HIV/AIDS prevention in the Caribbean through
digital video production; to begin a process of systemic
change, empowering girls with skills and knowledge to leverage
against the inequities of gender and poverty; and to implement
a creative, cutting-edge intervention in the global AIDS
pandemic.
Role and Functions of St. Lucia
Red Cross
The St Lucia Red Cross took the lead
role in this project. The main objective was:
They
were responsible for :
-
Providing volunteers for Training.
12 girls aged 14-18yrs was trained in hands on digital
video production, TWC HIV/AIDS education and prevention,
language and communication skills, self esteem and
values and peer leadership.
-
Mentoring girls in developing highly
transferable vocational skills.
-
Strengthening life skills especially
decision-making and negotiation skills among teenage
girls.
-
Disseminating of HIV/AIDS related
information to the community.
Breaking
the Silence was launched 2003 as a pilot project,
Seattle1s 911 Media Arts Center working together with
the St. Lucia Planned Parenthood Association and the
St. Lucia Red Cross Society, with the objective of
creating a sustainable program that can provide ongoing
training and empowerment for youth in the Caribbean.
An evaluation of this pilot is summarized below. The
feedback from evaluations is being used actively in
re-designing the Breaking the Silence project for next
year.
 The
majority of participants strongly agreed that "Breaking
the Silence" was fun and interesting, that the program
helped them learn about themselves, their strengths,
and their leadership abilities. The majority also
strongly agreed that "Breaking the Silence" helped them
learn what they can do to make a difference.
100%
rated their self-esteem and values-awareness to be at
the highest level possible at the end of the program.
100%
of the students reported that the "Breaking the Silence" program
fulfilled and/or exceeded their expectations.
100%
would take the class again and would recommend it to
others.
Participant
Comments
Here
is a sampling of what participating students, had to
say about their experience of Breaking the Silence...
"I
find that it changed my attitude toward certain things. I
find that I'm doing better in school. I can understand
the teacher better now in school"
Tara Edward,
Bocage Secondary
"This
program gives us the opportunity to make a difference
in our society, because you'll find that young people,
if they speak about AIDS, they don't really speak about
it, they're just touching the edges of the topic. Now
I could go back and teach my peers what I learnt".
Juane St. Brice,
Micoud Secondary
"When
I look at it, I think Breaking the Silence is about giving
women the power to change society, both in the labor
force and in the contraction of HIV".
Julietta Gonzague,
Vide Bouteille Secondary graduate
The
video was successfully launched in October 2003, detailed
below are the next steps and immediate support needs.
Next
step:
-
Distribution of video to schools
for use in, in-school Sexual Education programmes.
-
Development of Teacher guide for
use of the Video.
-
Repeatedly broadcast on St. Lucian
television (which also reaches residents on the island
of St. Vincent).
-
Distribution of video as resource
tools to other islands in Caribbean.
-
Submitting Breaking the Silence to
international youth media festivals.
-
Re-designing the program to make
Breaking the Silence even more effective.
-
Evaluating what resources are needed
and available to ensure the repeat of the project.
To ensure that the program is accessible to youth from
underserved backgrounds, the training must be offered
free of charge, this means that Breaking the Silence
depends on donations and institutional support.
The
2003 Breaking the Silence project was launched
as pilot for ongoing programming. Due to the great
success of the program, fundraising is underway to repeat Breaking
the Silence next year, making the program available
to even more youth in the Caribbean. To give a
donation or for information about how you can get involved,
visit www.breakingthesilence.info or
email info@breakingthesilence.info
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