The IAPA educational initiative is spearheaded byour summer volunteer program, an eightweek program where students from Arizona universities travel to India to teach HIV prevention education in schools and the community. Our teaching groups consist of American volunteers who are both passionate about public health and dedicated to the cause of fighting the spread of HIV, as well as university students from within Chennai who serve as translators and teaching counterparts. This arrangement allows both Americans and Indians to teach and learn in the language with which they are most comfortable. IAPA guarantees that all members of the teaching groups are themselves knowledgeable about the topics included in our curriculum. This program confers an enormous benefit both to participating schools and students. The primary focus is to ensure that students are knowledgeable about HIV so that they can protect themselves from becoming infected; we believe that prevention is a sword that we as students can wield in the fight against HIV/AIDS. While many other organizations focus on providing education and treatment to high-risk groups such as sex workers and truck drivers, IAPA is addressing the needs of youth who will have to face these issues in coming years.

      Our curriculum is entirely fact-based; IAPA has no political or religious affiliations. We teach the basic scientific facts of HIV biology, HIV transmission, and how transmission can be prevented. We also teach about the progression of an HIV infection in the body, and why the immune system is so important for human health. We use a scientific approach to teaching about HIV in order to dispel the myriad of myths and stigma surrounding the virus. Beliefs such as the idea that only people who are visibly ill are HIV positive, or that HIV is a form of divine judgment not only contribute to higher infection rates, but also to a stigma that is associated with HIV positive individuals. We hope that through education, students can overcome these misconceptions and understand the reality of HIV/AIDS. Our curriculum also includes secondary information on other common health-related issues in India such as malaria, tuberculosis, and the importance of proper hygiene.

Creating a Sustainable Effort

      IAPA believes in the importance of creating a sustainable effort. To date, IAPA has been established in Chennai as its own charitable trust, and is run entirely in country by local staff. IAPA and IAPA India work closely together to develop and run programs and fund raise. IAPA is committed to sustainability, so we work with several local actors to ensure that programs are culturally sensitive and promote lifestyle changes within the communities we target.

• HIV Awareness through street plays and other public events
• Fund raising events in the US and India
• Funding of nutrition and medication programs for HIV positive individuals