Sharing HIV/AIDS awareness through creative ways in Vietnam | Print |
Image Vietnam—One thousand enthusiastic young faces were watching us. Their anxious smiles and expectant eyes clearly conveyed their excitement. Some were squatting under the cool  shade while the others were squatting under the hot afternoon sun. But nevertheless all of them were equally eager to wait for the show to begin.

Our young audience was from a junior high school in Tien Giang province in the South of Vietnam. Suddenly their excited chatter turned into a unison roar of laughter as the heads of the 8 colorful hand held puppets popped above the stage screen. A thunderous applause greeted these strange creatures jerking in time with the music from the tape recorder.



Image We were on a road show, to promote awareness about the AIDS pandemic among school children and colleges in 3 provinces in the south of Vietnam. Our troupe were members of the AIDS Programme of Vietnam, an organisation working with street children, drug users and sex workers.

The AIDS Programme is a sub-unit of the Communication Branch of Ho Chi Minh City Psycho–Educational Association formed in November 1996. The organisation consists of volunteer social workers with 4-5 years of being involved in AIDS prevention and community development work. The programme has 25 volunteers and 5 full time staff members who are trained peer educators and community organisers.

Steering away from the conventional methods of teaching AIDS awareness this team had designed a very creative process filled with colorful costumes, interesting puppets and other innovative props, cleverly used in a very participatory processes 1 ½ hour process where the audience was also totally involved.

Image The Vietnamese people are very culturally inclines and are generally very fond of singing and theatre. In the rural areas especially, this medium is proven to be effective in reaching an illiterate audience.

We were invited to perform in 3 provinces making stopovers in 6 schools and 3 headquarters of the local government there. In the course of 6 days we had performed about 6 shows and had 3 sessions with the local communities and government bodies.

“The children especially are very excited because of the colorful costumes used in the show, but what is more important is the message about HIV/AIDS is quite effectively communicated to them,” said Mr Pham Thanh Van, the leader of the troupe and also the coordinator of the AIDS Programme.

Van also plays the role of the legendary honorable Chinese Judge in a short skit, a highlight in the HIV/AIDS show. He presides over the case of 2 young people mislead and uninformed about safe sex practices and thus was strongly admonished in the court of this court.

Image A puppet is creatively used to depict the role of the virus who pointed the finger at the 2 young accused for not using the condom and other precautionary measure to prevent being infected by the AIDS virus.

In the end, the Judge dismisses the case with a stern warning to the young couple and then intentionally turns to the audience and poses the same questions to the young people there. He ends with a powerful and dramatic delivery to warn the young audience about the dangers of HIV/AIDS.

Image “We have seen the way AIDS education is conducted by many people and groups and most of the time they use the conventional classroom methods which does not really create an impact upon the listeners,” said Mr Nguyen Tran Huy, a member of the AIDS programme who works with street children in Ho Chi Minh City.

Interspersed in the 2 hour fun and laughter performance are also serious sessions where the attitude and knowledge level of the audience is tested. This is done in the form of a quiz show with token prizes given to those who have the right answers to questions about the incidence of HIV cases in Vietnam, and the kind of preventive measures used to prevent the spread of the infection.

Image Lively action songs are also part of the process together with catchy slogans. These techniques are part of the creative methodology to inculcate important messages that will make strong impression on the young minds as well as the adults too.

After each performance, we could already hear the children singing these songs about HIV and playfully chanting the slogans depicting calls to stop “SIDA” (Vietnamese term for AIDS).

 “This entire process of the show was very interesting and we could easily understand the message. We enjoyed it even though we had to squat under the sun for 2 hours, and I think all of us are a little more aware about AIDS today,“ commented a quiet 16-year old girl who was interviewed after a performance in the high school in Tieng Giang.

ImageHuy explained that each year they take their AIDS education work on tour to the north and the south, at least 2 times a year. But since their base in Ho Chi Minh City, they tend to do more education work within the city of 7 million people.

Despite the Vietnamese government’s open door policy to welcome economic aid and investments, today the disparity between the rich and poor is still very obvious, the latter group being the majority. There are so many poor people who have a very low educational level and lack the opportunity to receive development projects especially the women. Many come from the countrysides to look for jobs and more income.

ImageFrom the perspective of HIV/AIDS, this sector is identified as the “high risk behaviour groups” because they lack of knowledge and interests to learn about these things. The government tries to reach out to them but cannot help and support the majority of this “high risk” sector.

 The road show strategy is actually a device for the AIDS Programme to have sessions with local AIDS committee officials, women union and youth union leaders, all of whom are known to be the more influential positions within the Vietnamese Communist Party structure.

ImageVan and his team would dialogue with the officials after the show to convince them of the more creative methodology in promoting AIDS awareness. Their objective is to advocate for the more creative pedagogy and effective strategy to raise consciousness among the impoverished urban and rural population about the deadly disease.


ImageEvidently, the road shows were quite a hit because after each performance, the AIDS Programme team was invited to return and help train and develop the local teachers and social workers to become more effective in conveying AIDS awareness to the local poor communities and schools.

 “At least if the people do not want to listen to another human being about AIDS, perhaps he would listen to a Puppet!” Huy said with a smile.

 “The poor people are always in the cycle of poverty and that is why it is very important to help them especially the illiterate ones to gain more knowledge and learn more skills.” explained Van, a veteran of 10 years experience in AIDS peer education work.

 “Over the years we began to realise that working on AIDS issues is not only dealing with a disease but with human beings and their lives in general. So we also have to help them learn how to solve their daily problems and build a community among their people,” he added.  


Writer:  Jo Hann Tan, a Malaysian writer & community organiser trainer
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