Report: THE IYD FINALE

IYD Finale

This report is about the culmination of activities conducted during the International Youth Day (IYD) campaign that was launched on the 12th of August. The 45-day-long campaign saw the whole of Mumbai come together and observe International Youth Drive like never before. Despite being a drive targeting the youth, the campaign generated response from the older generation too. It was encouraging to see people from all age groups participate so enthusiastically in the HIV awareness drive.

The activities of the campaign were:

• Colleges carried out various activities to raise awareness about the importance of condom usage in fighting HIV/AIDS

• Took part in a massive mobilization drive where each Red Ribbon Club group went to a slum community in Mumbai to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS

• At each slum they worked closely with the Ganpati Mandals and
initiated them into joining the cause

• A documentary competition was also held side by side that showcased all these efforts. The documentaries were made by students of BMM colleges in Mumbai

An Overview  

Condom Mera Dost

Condom Mera Dost

The youth, especially those living in Mumbai are quite open to the idea of sex. They do not shy away from talking about sex and also acting on it. The objective of this activity was to promote Safe Sex and hence Normalisation of Condoms.

Today’s youth is very attached to his/her friends. The relationship that they revere amongst everything is friendship. You can say that the key driving forces in their lives are their peers.

So you get the youth to involve their friends in Condom Promotion – a simple and effective strategy. Based on above thought process, a concept was created called “making a friend for life”. And that’s how CONDOM MERA DOST came about.

Ganpati Mandal Activity

MDACS made use of their partners – RRCs and NGOs to carry out the Youth activities at Ganpati Mandals. These mandals have key active groups during the season and these were educated and activated as strategic partners to RRCs so that the messages on HIV/AIDS were spread to both Ganpati Mandals and the slum community.

RRC members - the youth brigade

Youth celebrating FRIENDSHIP

Red Ribbon Clubs are youth groups at colleges who work for spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS among the youth. Since youth is a vulnerable population it becomes essential to communicate with them. Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs), which work under the guidance and leadership of the Communication Department of MDACS, enable us to reach the objective of communicating to the youth.

Scrap Books made by students

We roped in 140 Red Ribbon Clubs (RRCs) of colleges and the students of 100 colleges to conduct this activity. Every college conducted the activity on August 12, 2011 outside their college campus, thereby reaching out the youth at large – even those in the locality, other than the students.

Every RRC documented the campaign that their college conducted. This documentation was in the form of a scrap book and was made colourful with pictures, experiences, case studies.

The Festival 

The Festival was held at MDACS where all the RRCs mobilized their respective colleges. There were over 3000 youth present on the 27th of September from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm. MDACS was bustling with enthusiasm and anxiety as the question of the day was 'Who would win the BEST COLLEGE AWARD?' It was no less than a college festival.

Competitions at the Festival

• The competitions were all on the theme of HIV AIDS
• All colleges to get the Grafitti Wall (used in college activity)
• All colleges carried the condom man that was given
• All colleges to submit their scrap book / case file for the on ground activities of 'Condom Mera Dost' and 'Ganpati Mandals'


Rally:

Rally

On the day of the finale, the students left their respective colleges in a rally to reach MDACS premises in the morning. They conducted street plays on HIV/AIDS on their way.

Stencil Painting Competition:

Stencil Painting Competition

The contestants were given cardboards on which they cut HIV slogans creating stencils. They used these to paint the slogans on the compound wall of MDACS.

Dance & Street-play:

Dance & Street Play

Groups of students performed dances and street-plays that spread knowledge of HIV/AIDS to the audiences. Correct messages about HIV were spread to the large number of people present.

Quiz Competition:

Quiz Competition

A lot of people were registered for the quiz. Everything was, of course, based on HIV. The first round was a written one and 16 colleges were shortlisted for the semi-final. The semi-final was conducted in 4 rounds with 4 colleges participating in each stage. One winner was selected from each round and the four winners went on to compete in the Quiz finals.

Poster Competition:

Poster Competition

Students created posters that brought forth messages on HIV and these were displayed during the festival. The best ones were awarded prizes.

Special Features at the Finale

Grand Finale with the many features

Condom Game Booth
Display of Grafitti Wall
Autograph on the Condom Man
IYD Campaign exhibition: Newspaper Article boards and scrap books

The Award Function

It was indeed essential to reward the Red Ribbon Clubs for their efforts. The finale was a platform where the efforts of the RRCs were acknowledged.

The winners & The Stars of My Friend Pinto - Kalki & Prateik

The awards were categorized as follows:

IYD-2011 program helped the RRC members become change agents and bring about awareness in the community.

College students (Red Ribbon Clubs) were awarded for:

1. Excellence in community program
2. Excellence in Red Ribbon club programs in 2010 – 11
3. Excellence in IYD finale

MDACS partnered with ‘My Friend Pinto’, an oncoming Bollywood movie. The stars ‘Prateik Babbar and Kalki Koechlin’ were present for the Grand Finale Awards Ceremony and extended their support to MDACS in their cause of condom promotion and blood donation.

Look out for the next blog to know how ‘Kalki and Prateik’ joined hands with the youth.