WAC 2005 and "Wa Taghayyar El Helem..."

The UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund celebrated the “World AIDS Day” for the year 2005 on the first and second of December. Students from eight public schools from different Lebanese regions were invited to view and discuss a film “…Wa Taghayyar El Helem” […And the Dream has Changed] that covers a wide array of issues related to HIV/AIDS such as modes of transmission and prevention, testing, stigma and discrimination, role of friends and family, among others…The film and its facilitation manual were produced within the context of a regional project funded by UNFPA and OPEC Fund for Development on HIV/AIDS prevention. The project in Lebanon was executed by a local NGO i.e. Soins Infirmiers et Developpement Communautaire (SIDC) and coordinated with the National AIDS Control Programme (NAP). The viewing and discussion of the film took place at UNESCO Palace as one of many other activities within a health fair organized by the NAP to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS.

The 185 students who viewed the film were provided with an opportunity to discuss HIV/AIDS related issues through the facilitation of trained experts on this subject. After the session was completed, the young persons were requested to fill a form regarding their opinion on the film and the actors’ performance, whether they would recommend their friends to see the film, and if they learned any new information on HIV/AIDS as a result of this awareness raising session. A last question centered on whether the film offended them in any possible way.

The following results pertain to the feedback collected from the 77 male and 108 female students who took part in this intervention (mean age 18 years ± 2.8).

What were their opinions on the film and actors?
96.2% liked the film compared to 3.8% who did not enjoy it. Around 88% of the youth thought that the actors perfected their roles and 79% found them to be good actors. When asked whether the actors represented the Lebanese youth, 78.8% agreed on that issue compared to 10.4% who answered negatively whereas10.9% were not certain. When asked to share their feelings about the film: 68.7% said it was “beneficial”, 13.6% stated it is “realistic”, 7.9% said it was “appropriate to youth” and another 7.9% described it to be “touching”. Very few found it “slow”.

What new information and issues did they learn?
When asked to grade their knowledge on the following topics, total score being over 5 (where 1 stands for very little and 5 very much), the results came as follows:

What is the key message of the film?
When asked to state the main message of the film, the results showed two categories of answer: 85% of the young people stated it was about the importance of being aware on HIV/AIDS modes of transmission and prevention; whereas the remaining answers revealed the importance of dealing positively with the HIV infected person.

Very few respondents were offended by the fact that the film touched on pre-marital sex particularly as the story revolves around 2 young students who engage in a pre-marital relationship. One young person was offended because the movie gave a false impression that all youth are irresponsible and careless; whereas two other persons were agitated by the attitude of those who were afraid of getting HIV infection.

It is worth noting that the young people might have liked the film because the original idea and script were developed by young educators as well as people living with HIV who were in some activities related to the project executed by the local NGO (i.e. SIDC). Further more the young actors in the film were carefully selected as to present as much as possible the Lebanese youth group. They were university students specializing in drama. The facilitators who conducted the sessions were, for the majority, young trainers who facilitated the discussion and paved the way smoothly for discussion and debate.

It is recommended to use the film with young people and mainly when having a peer-to-peer education activity as a mean to create awareness on several HIV/AIDS related issues.