Assignment 1B

Project title: fighting back stigma and discrimination

Project objective: To create a short film on stigma and discrimination amongst young people before the end of March 2011 and showcase it to young people between the ages of 15-35 in all the 13 regions in Namibia.

Magnitude of the problem: Many young people who are HIV positive face great stigma and discrimination from their peers, family members and community members, this has become so serious that HIV positive youths do not go to clinics to get their HIV treatment due to the fear of being labeled as being HIV positive and being discriminated against. Instead young HIV positive individuals stay at their homes with ought and treatment, when they become sick it may be too late to do anything. Many young people also prefer not to know their status because of the fear of being discriminated against. Namibia is ranked 5^th with the highest number of people infected by HIV/AIDS.

Difference in my community: Making the youths aware that HIV/AIDS can also infect them, and its not easy for people who are living with HIV/AIDS to deal with this problem, they need our support. The film also aims at creating behavioral change amongst young people.

What: Make a Short film and show case it to over 1000 young people

Why: to fight against stigma and discrimination amongst young people

When:  before the end of March 2011

Where: 13 regions, Namibia

Who: Youths between the ages of 15-30

How: through the short film

Background summary

Young people in Namibia make up the highest number of the population, it is estimated that 78% of the population is under the age of 30, of which 43% are under the age of 15.

HIV/AIDS continue to be one of the challenges facing the country, especially young people.  While there seems to be a reduction of HIV prevalence rate among 15-19ryrs old from 12%in 2000 to 5% in 2007, there is still a high number of young people who do not have a comprehensive knowledge about HIV/AIDS.  The DHS 2006/7 revealed that only 41 percent of males and only 31 percent of females have comprehensive HIV knowledge, and that more than half of young people have sex before marriage, and only 64 % of young women and 81 % of young men reported having used a condom the last time they had sex. Looking at this statistics it shows that many young people are engaged in sexual activities which lead to then contacting the virus, however some young people contracted the virus through birth.

Instead of supporting the youths that are infected by HIV/AIDS, society stigmatizes and discriminates against this individual, creating an uncomfortable environment for this young people. This can lead to these young people committing suicide or just them not taking their ARV treatments.   This whole issue also prevents young people from getting tested because of the fear associated with young people who are HIV positive.

The short film will be about this young girl who contracts HIV Aids at the age of 16, after telling her parents about her status, their parents chased her out of the house, she then find a shelter were she is staying, her whole family has neglected her and her school mates have distanced themselves from her, they all believe that if they stay with her they will contract the virus, this is because most of them still lack knowledge. When then meets up with a community councilor who inspires and motivates here to take her story public. She then attends training to become a peer educator and works with young people telling them her story and the challenges she faced when she was discriminated against, the short film will mainly address the issue of stigma and discrimination but also look at other issues such as behavior change, understanding HIV/AID and the importance of getting tested.

This short film will be used as a tool to address the issue of stigma and will be show case in places such as schools, in youth organizations and support groups.

Objectives:

      To Create a 45-50 min short film addressing the issue of stigma and discrimination

This object will help be achieve my goal because it clearly states the time frame the film will be, it’s not too short and not too long and boring.

      To raise awareness on the importance of involving young people as active participants in issues affecting them, by showing the positive role young people can play in addressing their Vulnerability and Marginalization.

Many short films that are currently made feature adults in them; I think we should use young people in this short film to address the issue related to stigma and discrimination amongst young people.

      To distribute 200 copies to schools, youth organizations and support groups around the country

By distributing it to organizations it will make it easy for the movie to be viewed by masses in all corners of the country.

Challenges and risks:

§  It will be difficult for young people in rural areas to view the film as there is no TV or electricity.

§  Youths especially males may ignorant and may not want to watch the film.

§  If the movie is not entertaining, youths are not likely to watch it.

Assignment 1

# High crime rate amongst the youths        #Alcohol Abuse     # Young girls go with older man.

#Become a burden to the parents               #An increase in HIV/AIDS amongst the youths

                                                             #Boredom

                                   Youth Unemployment in Katutura

High failure rate in grade 10 and 12.     Lack of funding to start SME’s        Small economy

Lack of skills training                            School drop outs                             Lack of moral Values

High Failure rate: In Namibia grade 10 & 12 take a national examination if youths do not achieve a certain point they either repeat the grade or left on the street.  On Average 35 000 learners that take the grade 10 exams only 52 make it to grade 11, those who do not make it have a choice to improve their grades or contribute to unemployment.

Lack of Funding: Many youths have potential to start their small Income generating business, but currently our banks lending system is not favorable to the youths, leaving many youths without capital and no job.

Small economy: Our economy is very small, which makes it difficult to find a job; our current unemployment rate stands at 52%.

Lack of skills training: Youths that are not able to perform well academic wise lack skills that are offered by the job Market.

School drop outs: some youths drop out of schools due to various reasons such as poverty, they then enter the job market trying to find a job, if they are luck they get low paying jobs.

Lack of moral values: Some parents have spoiled their children so much that they expected to get everything from a silver plate. This leads to many young people acting in unacceptable manners.

Most interested to change

 Am mostly interested n changing the behavior of the youths in Katutura, Having in mind the debates going on that one can never change a person behavior, I believe that yes it is achievable by constantly motivating the person, and leading by example, you can even use the tools that the person likes the most, example: Confronting him /her at a bar, and telling them that alcohol is not good. This is what I do on a daily basis trying to get more members to join our youth organization Young Achievers. With the help of my youth organization we can do a community mapping, then start mobilizing the youths to change their habits and behaviors.