EFLHE: GPI Benin Train More Peer Educators

As part of the on-going implementation of the Family Life and HIV/AIDS education curriculum in Edo State, Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), Benin Centre held a two-day training workshop for students from some selected schools and GPI Benin centre girls, from 23rd to 24th of June, 2011.

Funded by One World UK, the training workshop which saw 61 students and girls participating from 2 schools and centre girls, have as its goals to equip the students and the centre girls with the necessary skills and information on the use of the Learning about Living resource, which is the  electronic version of the Family Life and HIV/AIDS. The training was also aimed at creating a bond between students and their teachers towards effective communication in their various schools.

Welcoming the participants, Mr. Amadasun Ese urged the students and the centre girls to be attentive as they would gained useful information and skills at the end of the workshop which will make them better peer educators.

Topics facilitated during the training were: an overview of e-FLHE during which the students and the girls were told that the Learning About Living is the electronic version of the Family Life and HIV/AIDS Education curriculum, which dealt with comprehensive sexuality issues.

The students were also taken through computer appreciation skills, during which they were introduced to basic computer skills. This session generated a lot of interests on the part of the students and the centre girls.

Using the Learning About Living (LaL) resource, Blessing Ehiagwina facilitated the session on Self-Esteem, where they were taught what self-esteem is all about which include having confidence and thinking positive about yourself. Harping on the importance of self-esteem, she enumerated the six pillars of self-esteem to include, the practice of living consciously, the practice of personal integrity, the practice of self-responsibility, the practice of self-acceptance and well as the practice of living purposefully.

Next on the line of topic taken during the training was STIs and HIV/AIDS. This was facilitated by Toyin Bakare. Taking the students through the warm up exercise, info cartoon to discuss, the meaning of STIs, HIV/AIDS were explained in details as well as ways of contacting the HIV virus and how it destroys the body immune system. This topic generated a lot of interests from the students as most of them asked questions ranging from when will the virus metermophosed into AIDS, can one get it during the first sexual intercourse, and how long can the anti-retroviral drugs keep the person with HIV alive, etc. These questions were appropriately answered by the facilitator.

Appreciating the difference between a man and a woman, biological roles and societal roles were the issues under focus when Ayo Ediae facilitated the topic, Gender Roles, which was the last topic of the training.  From the information contained in the info cartoon section of the Learning About Living resource, the students were able to disabused their minds on the views have before as to who perform certain roles in the society.

The students and the centre girls later engaged in  practical sessions as they were divided into groups to facilitate a topic each to demonstrate how far they were able to learn during the training.

At the end of the training, the students were happy as they were able to learn new things during the training.