Stepping Stones Training Module

[Guest guest]

Dear Forum members

I take this opportunity to inform you that Actionaid India has come out with a

training module called Stepping Stones which used over 100 countries to

communicate HIV and AIDS effectively amoung any type of group with day to day

life behaviour changing, gender equality and sex and sexuality.

Actionaid has taken the lead to conduct Training of Trainers in the country for

the last 6years accross the country and this module is very effective amoung the

staff, grassroot workers and community actionaid also conducted few

international and national level trainings at the Master level.

This module has been addopted by many NGOs like KHPT for their link workers and

Government has shown some interest towards this module.

This year in during the month of July Actionaid is organising a National level

Stepping Stone Training in Bangalore and we are inviting applications.

The following is the details of Stepping Stones Training.

Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a participatory training package about HIV, communication and

sexual health. It is a module that enables individuals to explore themselves,

understand HIV/AIDS not merely as a health problem but its connectivity to other

social variables and in the process imbibes the skills to empower oneself.

Stepping Stones is a comprehensive package that aims to enable men and women to

describe and analyze their experiences and to develop their own solutions to the

sexual health dilemmas they face. The package enables people to explore the huge

range of issues that affect sexual health –including gender roles, alcohol

consumption, traditional practices, attitudes to sex and life as a whole and

most importantly the personality of the person.

Analyzing the above underlying causes in small peer groups, in an open and

supportive environment enables the participants to adopt desirable behaviour and

thus benefit themselves, their partners, their families and the communities at

large change their behaviour. It follows the four precepts of Learning about our

sexual health and sexually transmitted infections including HIV; Sharing and

discussing problems and ideas by talking with our peers, partners and children;

Caring by accepting responsibility for the way in which our behaviour affects

others, including HIV people and their families; Changing behaviour in ways

which we want in order to improve our sexual health.

Issues for India in the Context of HIV which can be addressed through Stepping

Stones.

STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION: HIV and AIDS-related stigma in India is severe and

often encountered in the healthcare setting itself and extends to areas of

employment, education and social practices.

Gender-based stigma is a major phenomenon. Stigmatization leads to exclusion of

positive people from information, preventive services and treatment the most.

Stigmatization increases harassment by society and state.

BREAKING THE SILENCE AROUND ISSUES OF SEXUALITY: In a conservative society,

where the subject of sex and sexuality is taboo in many homes, young people have

limited sources of reliable reproductive health information. While movies, cable

television, the internet, and other media have introduced the urban youth to

modern images and lifestyles, they lack the social infrastructure to cope with

even the most basic questions about their own bodies.

The study, which included grade school and college students, also revealed that

despite a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, many young people have unprotected sex. Two

common reasons given by youth for not using condoms are that they are hesitant

to obtain those (39.3 percent) and fear side effects (34.3 percent), according

to the study " Premarital Sexuality and Unmet Need of Contraception. "

CORRECT INFORMATION ON SEXUALITY, CONDOM USE, HIV AND AIDS: Due to prevalent

cultural mores and inadequate number of programmes and institutional mechanisms,

people do not have access to correct information on sexuality, condom use, HIV

and AIDS. Many awareness programmes are moralistic or have clinical overtones

and thus are rejected by communities.

The problem is worse with adolescents as their information needs are very

different. They are often denied information on the grounds that it would make

them sexually promiscuous, thus forcing them to seek information from peers,

which may not be correct. Being emotionally and biologically vulnerable, they

have to be handled sensitively and empowered with information on how to protect

themselves.

BCC vs. IEC

Much of HIV related information has been in terms of general awareness

programmes, referred to as IEC programmes (Information, education and

communication). While these programmes impart knowledge, it does not translate

into change in attitude and behavioural practices.

The need is for tailored, pre-tested, culturally acceptable and relevant

programmes for various segments of the population, to cater to their needs.

These are BCC programmes (behavioural change communication), which lead to

desired changes in behaviour.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE ISSUE: One of the key problems in combating HIV and AIDS in

Asia is the denial of its existence. In India, the majority of the policy makers

and larger population has ignored the issue and denies that it is an area of

major concern.

Action Aid India and Steppingstones

ActionAid India looks upon the issue of HIV and AIDS in the framework of

restoring rights of the marginalized and the vulnerable. In 1998 realizing its

strong link between poverty and AIDS, AAI initiated its HIV and AIDS program.

Action Aid's interventions would thus be grounded in the framework of redressing

global poverty and building capacities at the national level to safeguard the

right to health including provision of HIV/AIDS prevention through awareness,

training of NGOs and CBOs, government functionaries and including the HIV and

AIDS agenda in all development programmes, especially those focusing on women,

girls & children(children who are deprived of adult care and protection,

children of parents in stigmatized occupations such as sex workers etc. ).

On the one hand these will address the underlying causes to some extent while on

the other being rooted in the development agenda, will find greater

acceptability and participation from a society that is still largely

conservative.

The existing work of ActionAid using Stepping Stones (SS) Methodology has helped

in understanding the following:

Development of a healthy relationship between men and women starting from

attitude to sexuality is of utmost importance.

More awareness about rights and also increased sensitivity towards others rights

would help in combating the issue.

The Stepping Stones process has facilitated people to come together for

collective action.

Peer Educators emerged from the SS processes are powerful means to take this

back to community and thereby leading the process of change ahead.

The increased awareness about rights and confidence has helped young women and

girls to protest and self defend in the situations of sexual exploitation.

The focal persons, facilitators, organizations and the youth who have become

aware and sensitive towards the issue of sexuality, HIV & AIDS and gender

related issues has been helping others in the community about the disease which

has further led to increased sensitivity towards both the PLWHA and the affected

Kindly rewert back to us for further details

With Warm Regards

P.

Consultant Actionaid India

Thematic Unit HIV and Aids, Bangalore

e-mail: <williamwvi@...>