Ayo Kita Bicara HIV/AIDS | Bali ReGreen | Camp Magic | Basa Bali
AYO! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS reaches over 40 High Schools in Bali!
AYO! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS (Hey! Let's Talk About HIV & AIDS) is an Education Outreach Program launched by the BaliSpirit Festival in 2010 to combat one of Asia's fastest growing epidemics.
HIV/AIDS in Indonesia is one of Asia's fastest-growing epidemics, according to UNAIDS. Total reported cases rates in Bali have tripled over the last five years; with this emergent epidemic, Bali joins Papua, Jakarta, East Java, West Java, and Riau as a zone that needs immediate action, in the forms of preventive education and healthcare. Teenagers and young adults in Bali are particularly at risk, according the AIDS Countermeasure Commission, Bali. An estimated 50% of reported cases occur in young people aged 15 – 29.
The BaliSpirit Festival launched the "AYO! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS" (Hey! Let's Talk HIV and AIDS) Education Outreach Program in 2010, to combat this growing epidemic among Bali's youth. The BaliSpirit Festival firmly believes that education outreach programs such as AYO! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS, which empower teenagers to guard their own physical and emotional health and act with empathy toward others within their community, help us achieve our ultimate goal: to slow the spread of HIV & AIDS and to put an end to the stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV & AIDS.
By the end of 2012, AYO!'s Eduspirit Workshops will reach a total of 40 schools in Bali, all located within the six identified "high-risk" regencies of Badung, Denpasar, Buleleng, Jembrana, Klungkung and Gianyar. In 2013, AYO! plans to expand to the remaining three regencies of Karangasem, Bangli, and Tabanan.
AYO!'s EduSpirit workshops empower youth as agents of change and encourage open communication to spread accurate information about the disease and its prevention.
Workshops include presentations by team facilitators, as well as interactive, multi-media activities to provide:
- sex education through creative and engaging information exchange
- information on high-risk behavior, including unprotected sex and intravenous drug abuse
- information on HIV & AIDS testing and treatment
- direct and open discussion to overcome the stigma of talking about sex
- direct and open discussion to address the social stigma for HIV & AIDS victims and their families
- positive and fun yoga to conclude each session
AYO! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS also hosts an annual free music concert on the public soccer field of Ubud, Bali, to spread awareness about HIV & AIDS to a broader audience. In the last two years, more than 14,000 people have attended Ubud's preeminent live music event.
Education through interactive communication will help to slow the spread, reverse the stigma, and end discrimination surrounding HIV & AIDS.
AYO! Kita Bicara & AIDS supports teenagers as Agents of Change within Indonesia and the nation's greatest hope to slow the spread of HIV & AIDS. This community-based program encourages trust and openness within the community. Teenagers are motivated to talk openly about AIDS and to take action to help prevent its spread.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all supporters of the "AYO! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS" Outreach Program, including:
- YAMAHA
- Desa Seni, A Village Resort
- Yayasan DKT Indonesia
- BaliSpirit Group
- Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS Gianyar
- Pemerintah Kabupaten Gianyar
- Komisi Penanggulangan HIV & AIDS Propinsi Bali Radar Bali
- Bali Post
- Yayasan Spirit Paramacitta
- KISARA
- Yayasan Bali Children Project
With the aid of new and returning sponsors in 2013, Ayo! Kita Bicara HIV & AIDS can reach additional high schools throughout Bali. We hope that every teenager in Bali will be prepared to join us in the fight to end the spread of this disease.
AYO! Also collaborates with local nonprofit foundations Yayasan Spirit Paramacitta Foundation and Bali Children Project to help provide Balinese youth with access to HIV testing, as well as to apply for needs-based educational scholarship.
For more information and to donate, contact: outreach.program@balispiritfestival.com.
