There was a little girl whose favourite playtime was to line up her dolls and teach them!
TODAY - she teaches real live people!
Stella was a Finalist and Winner of the Start-up Category of the Regional Busines Achiever's Awards 2005 in the Eastern Cape, sponsored by the Business Women's Association and Nedbank.
Merle Anderson - the artist (Passed away in June 2008)
Merle - your artwork is stunning and I will always be indebted to your talent and passion. I had the concept (with not even the ability to draw a stick man!) and you took my concept, gave it your special touch and artistic flare and the final product never ceased to exceed my expectations ! We had so much fun designing our posters and it was a real privilege to work with you. THANK YOU!
Our mission is to continue to be innovative and provide HIV/AIDS education with commitment and to make a difference in the lives of men, women and children everywhere.
HIGHLIGHTS IN THE HISTORY OF ED-UNIQUE AIDS
2009:
We launched our "Did you Know Series" of posters - which companies can download themselves, twice a month.The posters will target people who would not normally read HIV/AIDS information posters or books.They are designed to attract attention, spark debate and discussion and break through the complacency and "saturation" that many people have developed towards the subject.
2008 - 2009 - TWO YEAR CONTRACT TO TRAIN AND MENTOR PEER EDUCATORS AT MERCEDES BENZ SOUTH AFRICA
In 2008 we were awarded a two year tender to train and mentor peer educators at Mercedes Benz South Africa, both in East London and in Zwartkop. We have trained over 100 peer educators, who have been put through the basic three day training programme and thereafter received two hour monthly mentorship sessions which were designed to train them on specific issues such as :
1. The connection between TB & HIV/AIDS
2. Sexually Transmitted infections
3. The impact of Culture on HIV prevalence rates
4. Antiretrovirals
5. The theory of behaviour change
6. Basic counselling skills
7. Presentation skills................. ( to name a few indepth subjects we cover)
2007 - TRAINING AT DCSA (MERCEDES BENZ SOUTH AFRICA - DURING LINE SHUT DOWN
Ed-Unique Aids was tasked to run an exciting three month training programme at DCSA, during their line stoppage. We were asked to introduce their hourly staff to our board game, Choices & Consequences and to discuss HIV/AIDS in the allotted time. Did they have fun or what? A picture paints a thousand words!
2006 - 2009 - SIYAKHANA HEALTH TRUST TRAINING
Starting in 2006 we have been privileged to be used as Service Providers in an exciting project called Siyakhana, which is funded by DCSA (now called MBSA), Border Kei Chamber of Commerce and DEG (a German banking company). This project is aimed at assissting small to medium businesses to implement an HIV/AIDS workplace programme and this programme runs the full gamut and includes awareness training, line management training, Focal person training, Peer Education training and refresher workshops, Company policy implementation to treatment and management of employees and their immediate families who are HIV positive. The training component has been an exciting aspect of this programme as we trained focal persons from over 30 different companies for three days; thereafter training managers in each specific company, before the launch of the VCT campaign for all employees.
2005 : DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PROVINCE OF THE EASTERN CAPE
Ed-Unique Aids was awarded the tender to produce 12 000 board games, in 4 languages, for the Eastern Cape Provincial Education Department.The game, Stepping Stones, is designed for the HIV/AIDS programme for 7-11 year olds in the primary schools. We trained approximately 3000 teachers around 24 districts and had the most amazing response from teachers and coordinators alike.
2004:VANCOUVER, CANADA EXPERIENCE
In 2004 Stella, while visiting Canada, was invited to address Grade 7 pupils at Primary School in North Vancouver. Initially the school said: "Don't talk about sex; or how the virus is transmitted, just tell us what happens in Africa". Great! How do you talk about a disease that is mostly sexually transmitted and not have the children ask question?
However, the talk was finally approved and was extended from 20 minutes to 2 hours due to the interest of the children and teachers present. Many questions were asked and we were able to answer them in an "age-appropriate" manner.
Visiting Vancouver
More:
We have designed a brand new board game called Winning Ways, which has been tested and had a resounding effect on young people, who in today's world grapple with very serious problems, ranging from pornography, sexual abuse, relationship problems, self esteem issues, bullying and gangsterism, early sexual experience, conflict management and HIV/AIDS, to name but a few. We expect that this game is going to fill a great need to educate adolescents on subjects that require urgent discussion, debate and consideration. See our education materials section on games for more details.
In 2004 Stella was a Finalist in Radio Algoa's Woman of Distinction Award held in Port Elizabeth, for the contribution Ed-Unique Aids has made in designing user friendly, practical and innovative HIV/AIDS education materials.
