Marion Higgs
reviews
Courage to Care — A Workbook on HIV/AIDS for Schools
by Gisela Winkler
(R80, Catholic Institute of Education)
This book should be called ‘Courage to Hope and to Care”. It presents compassionate and intelligent arguments about why we should hope and care in the face of the HIV/Aids epidemic. The book is never sentimental and asks readers to put iron in their souls and face up to the reality of Aids.
Many brave people are interviewed in the book, from the well-known to the most humble. We learn a lot about their daily courage as people living with HIV/Aids or as caregivers.
From page one the book is unapologetic about what it expects from teachers and other adults in the school system as far as their response to the epidemic is concerned. This workbook assumes that teachers are serious about making their schools safe places where learners and teachers are respected and cared for in very practical ways.
Chapter two presents a brave lady who tells her story and allows her photograph to be published. Yes, this book is about courage! This chapter, like all of them, invites learners and staff members to discuss important issues such as discrimination and denial. Some of the questions include :
– Describe the attitude of your community towards HIV/Aids
– What prevents people from speaking freely about the disease?
– What would help them become more open?
There is also a section in each chapter entitled ‘Reality, challenge and hope” which invites us to think deeply about Aids and to take sensible and compassionate action. Each chapter then ends with a section called ‘Positive, practical action for schools”, which includes classroom activities.
Chapter three chases the reader out of dreamland. For instance, schools are presented with a real challenge: learners and teachers who are ill.
What to do? Useful information is given on how as people living with HIV/Aids can build up their immune systems while on medication. Caregivers, family and friends are given advice on how to respond to the emotional and spiritual needs of people living with HIV/Aids.
Throughout the book, schools are advised to take universal precautions in dealing with people living with HIV/Aids. Simple instructions are given on how to prevent the spread of infection, as well as guidance on how to provide nursing and rest spaces in the school.
Chapter six focuses on the tremendous energies of teenagers and on their positive ability to be creative. There are good ideas on how to channel these positive forces.
Chapter seven insists that one of the most important ways to help teenagers be safe is to help girls become more assertive. We know this is the critical struggle zone in the war against infection, so this makes chapter seven compulsory reading.
The workbook encourages schools to develop a reflective and thoughtful mindset about assisting school members who are ill in a practical way. This is an excellent approach for a book designed for school use. What also makes it a must for schools is that it teaches learners in an authentic and down-to-earth way about values.
The book bravely faces the reality of teenage sex and refers to safe-sex practices. However, we need a clearer statement about what constitutes safe sexual practices. Any book that focuses on HIV/Aids must deal with this fully.
This workbook is so effective in its emphasis on developing, holistically, a respectful practice towards oneself and towards the people around one that it has earned the moral space to be
candid about condoms.
The book bursts with practical suggestions on how schools can assist their members in dealing with this epidemic. However, for many teachers the text will be too dense for unmediated use in the classroom. I suspect that teachers would find it helpful if a shorter learner’s manual accompanied this valuable workbook.
For more information contact the Catholic Institute of Education at Tel: (011) 433-1888