COMMUNICATION FOR BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

UNICEF’S INNOVATIVE COMMUNICATION PROJECT

ON HIV/AIDS BAGS PRESIDENT’S AWARD

TEJ-PRASARINI, DON BOSCO COMMUNICATIONS IMPLEMENTED THE PROJECT IN MUMBAI

Mumbai, December 1, 2002: Mr.Ajay Kanchan, Project Incharge, UNICEF, Delhi and one who conceived the Innovative Communication Project on HIV/AIDS received the President’s Award from President Abdul Kalam in the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the World AIDS Day today. The Award is the recognition for the innovative process of involving adolescents to talk to peers on HIV AIDS. Tej-Prasarini Don Bosco Communications, Matunga had implemented the project in Mumbai last year.

Three Nodal centres formed the crux of this process: Don Bosco Youth Centre (Kohima), Delhi Public School (Delhi) and Tej-Prasarini Don Bosco Communications (Mumbai). The Process implied getting the active participation of 6 schools in the vicinity of the nodal centre. Tej-Prasarini initiated this process in June 2001 when 10 students from each of the schools in its vicinity (DBHS, St. Joseph’s Wadala, DPYA, AES, Auxillium Convent, SIWS and two government schools) met every Sunday from October to December 2001 at Tej-Prasarini. The students were taught the process of communication, given opportunities to meet doctors and HIV positive people, devise a questionnaire, conduct a survey of the awareness levels of HIV AIDS in their localities, draw a television script based on the findings of their survey, get feedback and approval of their scripts from prominent Bollywood personalities like Mr. Mahesh Bhatt, Anupam Kher, Tanuja Chandra and others, and then shoot the entire film by themselves under the guidance of professionals from film industry of Mumbai. The Film Andy Sir was the climax and result of this process in Mumbai. The Kohima Centre presented Yours Forever and Delhi presented Kya Mujhse Dosti Karoge? (Will you be my friend?).

Continuing this process in the year 2002, the students are now preparing TV Advertisements and going to schools, colleges and community centres showing the films they have prepared and interacting with the students of their own peer group (Std. 9^th and 10^th) facilitating discussions on HIV AIDS under the guidance of authorised members of Project. The Project builds the capacity of the adolescents to talk about the killer virus and lead the process of attitudinal and behavioural change in their peer group. This project in the Mumbai Nodal centre was carried out under the supervision of Fr. Darryl D’Souza sdb, Director of Tej-Prasarini, Mr. Sanjay Jha, Film-maker and Programme co-ordinator of the Project and Tej-Prasarini staff in collaboration with 8 schools in Mumbai and active support from MDACS (Mumbai District Aids Control Society) and Unicef (Mumbai).