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Table 3 Experiences with stigma and perceived impact of module

From: Perspectives of education sector stakeholders on a teacher training module to reduce HIV/AIDS stigma in Western Kenya

Theme

Illustrative Quotes

Experiences with stigma

‘It is because some or even the adults and some other teachers whom I’ve mixed with, when they hear HIV they get scared.’- Secondary school teacher

‘So because I know even some of the people even in the church and where I’ve mixed, when they hear of HIV they leave.’- Secondary school teacher

‘There’s a family we visited and the grandmother could just shout at the children talking the same way the video was talking about, “You will infect us”, “This your drugs!” You know when you talk about your drugs, you are already stigmatizing the child, so the videos are real life situations and that is really what is happening on the ground.’- Social worker

‘Okay, even there is a time, time for inspections, in boarding schools, I also had that problem. I could lock my box and tell my cube mates, tell them that I’m not around I’ve gone to …I’m sick I’ve gone home, but I’m around. Teachers don’t understand why you carry those drugs. So they remove it, they expose it, they ask you what they are for. They once caught me with those drugs, I had to fake a disease like I said I have chest problems and headaches, so this is the drugs I’m using. But it was, okay I didn’t have any other way to do it.’- HIV negative adolescent

Caregiver Role

‘In home environment, teach the parents to love their children, to create a positive attitude in children, to support them in all ways.’- Primary school teacher

‘Because I know by the end of the day when the other parents get to hear about this, they wouldn’t want their child to play with this [infected] child, so they can reach out to all these other children and try to give them what is factual and their role, they need to play a role in supporting this child.’- Social worker

‘Again with disclosure, I feel also that the caregivers should be told and be made aware that this student needs to be told. As a teacher I am talking from experience whereby there are some pupils now they are in grade eight, they don’t know why they are taking their medication.’- Primary school teacher

Teacher role

‘You can use the teachers, then the teachers will empower the parents, then the parents will take care of their children.’- Adolescent living with HIV

‘They’ll help the student suffering from HIV to be able to conduct their day to day routines and also be able to take their prescriptions every time without concealing the secret to the students or to any other staff in the school.’- Social worker

‘So teachers are the ones who should instill in the youth that anybody who is positive, there is nothing wrong, he/she is normal and he does everything and cannot just pass that condition like that.’- Secondary school teacher

Perceived Impact of the module on stigma

‘I think they will understand HIV better as a situation not as a disease that can kill. Then I think they will be able to help any student who is dealing with stigma and all that. They can help them to deal with it positively and change the attitudes towards themselves and how they relate with other people.’- Secondary school teacher

‘So I believe teachers when we watch such video and get information about what I have watched, we’ll be able to change the way we teach and the way we handle students.’- Secondary school teacher

‘If the teachers and the children can all be reached, the perception about HIV will definitely change.’- Primary school teacher

Lessons learnt

‘I have learnt that some of the teachers, parents and some members of the society, we are the people who cause this stigma to these children’- Primary school teacher

‘It made me aware of the barriers that our adolescents face, sometimes we take it too lightly or we think the problem lies with the adolescents, but you could have somebody who is so willing and so committed to their care and treatment and yet certain things at home are really holding them back.’- Mental health counselor

‘That a person living with HIV is not a wicked person in the community and infection of HIV virus is not the end of life. That a person may be able to live many years with HIV as long as the medication is concerned and also the clinics are available.’- HIV negative adolescent