On a chilly October night twenty college students assemble in a Manhattan conference room. Some have traveled as far as two hours, others caught a cab from Greenwich Village. They will gather every other Monday for the next few months to be trained as AIDS Peer Educators. After the training period is over these students will go to college campuses throughout New York City and speak to their peers about late nights, dorm rooms and nonoxynol-9.
The Hillel of New York AIDS Peer Education program was initiated in 1995 by Debby Perelmuter, the Associate Director of Hillel of New York and Dr. Robert Zielony, Director of AIDS Education and Prevention at the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services. Their goal is to address the issue of AIDS on the college campus from a Jewish perspective. Their method is the Peer Education model, shown to be one of the most effective ways of halting the spread of HIV/AIDS. Although she oversees numerous projects, Ms. Perelmuter describes this one as "the most meaningful. It has real impact on the students who come to the workshops and the students who present them."
Peer Educators are recruited from New York campuses. They join the program for many reasons. Some are very involved in Jewish activities on campus, for others this is their first contact with the organized Jewish community. For Herzl Y., an art and psychology major at Queens College, the diverse backgrounds of the educators is essential for the effectiveness of the group. "We represent the diverse populations affected by AIDS, and each of us might reach a different type of person than the other." All share a commitment to see an end to the disease.
The goals of the program are multi-faceted. Sixteen years of AIDS education has shown that many people do not respond to messages of fear and facts alone. Although any AIDS prevention workshop will inevitably touch upon the devastating facts and the implicit and explicit fears surrounding HIV and AIDS, Dr. Zielony trains educators to help enable people to take control of their safety. He stresses role-playing as a way to teach negotiation techniques and to ensure that the students become active participants in the workshops. Anna Petelko, a freshman at Brooklyn College who joined the group because her Orthodox high school had no sex education and wanted to learn about HIV and AIDS, is impressed with the program's motto. "At the first session Dr. Bob [Zielony] wrote an old Chinese saying on the board: 'Tell me - I forget, Show me - I remember, Involve me - I understand.' That is really how we learn and internalize things. I am touched by the speakers who have come to share their stories, and especially by my co-educators, some of whom have lost people they love to AIDS."
With the philosophy of personal engagement in mind, the group has held presentations at more than a dozen New York campuses, some more than once. Peer Educators have seen tears in the eyes of participants as they spoke of a loved one lost to the disease. Often the educators will complement their presentation with a guest speaker who shares his or her personal experience of living with HIV/AIDS.
The Jewish component of the Peer Education program is manifested through primarily two activities. Several training sessions are devoted to textual learning with rabbis from the Center for Leadership and Learning (CLAL), a think tank on contemporary Jewish issues. Peer Educators are also encouraged to visit hospitals with the Tzvi Aryeh AIDS Foundation.
In its third year, the program has seen many graduates finish college and remain in contact with the Jewish community at a time when many others lose touch. By saving lives these students have also done something all the Jewish continuity committees wish for - actively engaged in Judaism.
Dinah Zeltser is a senior at Queens College.