beautiful Project PLEASE READ

A beautiful day to all of you

I am in contact with these people oraganising a beautiful project in Guatemala and wanted to let you all know about it (see all their details below).

You might not be planning to be in Guatemala any time soon, but maybe some juggler friends ? if you have some time, please read and spread the word.

It is too good to not be mentioned here and I know you will all agree !!!!

Shine on
Cassandra

The Clown Project
Roving HIV AIDS Education in rural Mayan communities
Guatemala

To give access to information
to a vulnerable population
in a culturally appropriate manner

Potted Project Profile to August 2002

Mayan communities in Guatemala are demonstrably vulnerable both to the spread and to the impact of HIV according to criteria established by recent UNAIDS and FAO research. Yet access to basic information remains problematic in a country marred by the recent memory of 36 years of civil war, entrenched poverty and deep social divisions. Access to health and education remain minority privileges.

Since February 2001 a troupe of clowns and health educators have been touring some of Guatemala’s most marginalized and vulnerable communities, using a combination of street theatre, peer educator training, town meetings and intensive workshops with specific groups to share essential information about HIV and AIDS.

Following a successful pilot involving interventions in 25 rural communities of the region of Sololá, the Clowns have broadened their scope to include not only villages and towns of the predominantly Mayan western highlands, but also large landholdings which receive significant numbers of migrant labourers, prisons, border areas with Mexico and Honduras and coastal areas along the infamous so-called “AIDS corridor”. They have expanded outside Sololá to include eight other Guatemalan departamentos.

The Clowns have visited and performed in over seventy communities, over 3000 people have participated in their workshops, from prison inmates to high school students, preadolescents, firefighters, village health workers and midwives, evangelical pastors, sex workers and schoolteachers. Approximately 40 000 people to date have been exposed to essential health information through this lively combination of street theatre and participatory nonformal education.

The theatrical aspect of the strategy stems from the recognition that clowns are much freer not only in the way they look and express themselves, but also in what subjects they may broach in public. We believe clowning can be a lively and effective vehicle to transmit essential information and initiate public discussion at the grassroots on a difficult but important topic.

The impact of this strategy has not been systematically measured as yet, the Clowns having chosen to put their resources into fieldwork until such time as a formal evaluation can be carried out. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Clowns are succeeding in linking people with their local services, as demonstrated in the 150 percent increase in demand for condoms reported by the health centre in Guineales, Sololá, since the Clowns’ visit in October 2001. A flier containing essential information on transmission and prevention produced jointly with Médicos Sin Fronteras, the first document of its kind to have been produced in Mayan languages and piloted for cultural appropriateness and accessibility to people with low literacy, has been well received and over 25 thousand copies have been distributed to date in four Mayan languages and in Spanish. The Clowns have jointly produced campaign materials with UNAIDS and the Guatemalan government’s National HIV AIDS Programme.

Financial support has come from private donations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), the Panamerican Health Organisation (OPS/PAHO) and the

Details: The clowns can be reached as follows

Atz’anem k’oj Proyecto Payaso
Postal address: Lista de Correos
Panajachel, Sololá
Guatemala
Phone/fax: +502 762 1343
Phone: +502 490 0616 and 211 2127
Email: Proyectopayaso@yahoo.com
Street address: Centro de Salud
Calle Principal
Panajachel, Sololá

Mayan communities in Guatemala are demonstrably vulnerable both to the spread and to the impact of HIV. Yet access to basic information remains problematic in a country marred by the recent memory of 36 years of civil war, entrenched poverty and deep social divisions. Health and education remain minority privileges.

The impact of this decidedly innovative strategy has not been systematically measured as yet, the Clowns having chosen to put their resources into fieldwork until such time as a formal evaluation can be carried out. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the Clowns are succeeding in linking people with their local services, as demonstrated in the 150 percent increase in demand for condoms reported by the health centre in Guineales, Sololá, since the Clowns’ visit last October. Information flier produced jointly with Médicos Sin Fronteras the first document of its kind to have been produced in Mayan languages and piloted for cultural appropriateness and accessibility to people with low literacy, has been well received and over 25 thousand copies have been distributed to date in four Mayan languages. They have jointly produced campaign materials with UNAIDS and the Guatemalan government’s National HIV AIDS Programme.

[ 09 October 2002, 03:32: Message edited by: Cassandra ]

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