There was a boy named, David. When David heard about HIV and AIDS on the radio, he didn’t know what they were. He knew about cholera and malaria, and he had heard coughs and colds. He decided to ask Mary his classmate about HIV and AIDS the next day at school.
At break, he found Mary. “Mary, can I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” she answered. “What’s the question?”
“What are HIV and AIDS?”
Mary looked serious and said, “I know a bit about both but not a lot. I know that HIV turns to AIDS and AIDS has no cure.”
David was disappointed because he had thought she could tell him all about both.
“We could find out more in the library you know,” she smiled.
“Really?” His face lit up.
“Yes, let’s go!” He followed her shyly into the library.
David didn’t often go into the library. He preferred to play outside. However, Mary loved reading. Sometimes, she read story books and information books.
Inside the library, Mary knew what to do. She looked at the books arranged neatly on one of the shelves. She picked one up.
“Here,” she whispered, “this should tell us something about HIV and AIDS.”
They sat down, opened the book and read the contents page. It had a lot of chapters on HIV and AIDS.
“First of all, what’s HIV?” asked David.
“Let’s see,” said Mary.
She turned to the back of the book and found the index. She read the entry ‘HIV 24’, so she turned to page 24 of the book. There she found a section about HIV. She read what she found to David, “HIV is short for ‘Human Immunodeficiency Virus’.”
David looked surprised, “They’re difficult words.”
“Yes,” answered Mary. “And it says AIDS is short for ‘Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome’. The letters that start each word have been put together to make new, simple words, AIDS and HIV.”
“Oh, I see, but what do they mean?” asked David.
“Let’s read this and find out,” said Mary. They read quietly for five minutes and learnt some important facts. They found out that HIV lives in the blood. It only passes from one person to another through body fluids, usually blood. This can happen when people have accidents, or have injections with dirty needles.
In the next part of the book they read that HIV will change to AIDS one day. However, there are now some drugs that make this take longer. When someone gets AIDS they will get ill, and then die.
The children thought that was very sad but then they read that it is not easy to get HIV. You cannot get it by talking to people, touching them, or even kissing them. People who have HIV are not ill and can live normal lives.
They also learnt that people can protect themselves from getting HIV. It is important not to use a needle for an injection that has been used by someone else. It is also important to take care in accidents where there is blood around.
Questions?
How did David hear about HIV and AIDS?
How did he decide to find out what they were?
How much did Mary know about them?
What did she know?
How did they decide to find out more?
Why do you think Ali ‘followed her shyly into the library?
Which page did they look at first in the book?
What was the book about?
Where was the index in the book?
Are these statement true or false?
- HIV lives in the blood
- You can catch HIV/AIDS from someone by touching them
- You can catch HIV/AIDS from someone if their blood gets into your body
- People with AIDS can get better
What did you learn from the comprehension?