Ending AIDS

Objective:

You will be able to analyze how authors unfold a series of reporting on HIV prevention methods in multiple cities in order to create a resource addressing an HIV prevention method that could support reducing HIV in your own communities.

Warm-up:

1. Make a list of things you know to be true about HIV. Consider the following as you make your list:

• How does someone contract HIV?
• What does HIV do to the body if it is not treated?
• What is the difference between HIV and Aids?
• How can someone prevent getting HIV?
• What treatments are available for someone with HIV?

Watch this video to learn more about HIV and the efforts to prevent it.

2. According to UNAIDS, 35.6 million people in the world were living with HIV at the end of 2015. What countries do you think have the largest prevalence of HIV? Click here to check your answer.

3. Additional Challenge: Research the prevalence of HIV in your own community.

4. According to the same UNAIDS report, new HIV infections have fallen 6% since 2010. Make a list of reasons you think the rate of HIV infections has fallen.

5. The first cases of HIV were documented in the mid-1980s. Why do you think that HIV continues to thrive around the world? Who do you think is most affected, and why? Make a list of reasons, and be prepared to share your responses with the class.

Introducing the Lesson:

Today's lesson investigates resources that are part of the reporting project "Ending AIDS" by journalists William Brangham, Jon Cohen and Jason Kane. The project analyzes efforts being made to combat the spread of HIV in communities all over the world.

Watch the Meet the Journalist video attached and answer the accompanying questions to find out how the journalists identified and reported on this project.

Introducing the Resources:

Today,  you will investigate efforts in San Francisco, Georgia, New York,  Rwanda, and South Africa to prevent the spread of HIV. As you review the following resources, analyze how the authors balanced interviews, facts and images to report their stories by doing the following:

1. Answer the comprehension questions that accompany each resource.
2. Use a table like the one below to track what you notice in each piece:

Jot down notes addressing the following questions in order to prepare for a discussion:

1. What are the barriers to ending the AIDS crisis globally? What are the most effective solutions?
2. How do the barriers that other communities face compare to barriers you see in your own communities?
3. Which of the solutions presented in the reporting could be useful to your community?
4. How did the authors balance interviews with facts to present each story? What was the impact?
5. What moments in the reporting were most compelling? Why? How did the reporters capture and present those moments?

Extension Activities:

1. Read the attached article "Zimbabwe: It Takes a Village" and use the table above to analyze how the author presents the state of HIV prevention efforts in Zimbabwe. Write a short reflection that compares HIV prevention initiatives in Zimbabwe to another location reported on as part of the Ending AIDS project.

2. Using details from each of the reporting pieces, write an essay that addresses the following prompt:  Will we see the end of AIDS? What will it take to see the end of AIDS?

3. Using details from the reporting, create three visual resources for your community members that highlight successful methods to preventing the spread of HIV.