Javier is a 13-year-old boy who lives with his mother Gladys, who owns a coffee shop at Acomet, a taxi cooperative in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador. Acomet is involved in the “raising awareness on HIV taxi project” developed by Red Cross societies in Central America.
Gladys heard about the project through taxi drivers themselves who regularly stop at the coffee shop to eat. They also gave her a leaflet presenting the main activities.
One day Javier’s school teacher gave the children a research assignment related to prevention and transmission of HIV. Javier knew his mother had some knowledge on the subject and asked her for help. They worked together on a presentation. A few days later Javier returned home full of pride because his presentation had been so good that the teacher asked him to present it to the whole school. Then, he was able to share his knowledge with all the other teenagers.
“The taxi business involves contact with all kinds of people. We have an opportunity to share information on HIV prevention, stigma and discrimination associated with it besides raising awareness on the issue, like the Red Cross had done with us. I think that the members of the cooperative now feel the need to disseminate useful information to others,” explains José Victorino Pineda, member of the taxi cooperative Acontaxis.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to respond to AIDS, but we should be more conscious about the issue. We have a role to play in guiding those who don’t know about it. I have children to whom I have never spoken about HIV prevention because I didn’t know. Now with the training I have from the Red Cross, it will help me to guide them. First I will talk with my family about HIV and then I will do it with my passengers,” adds Osmín García, driver at the taxi cooperative Acontaxis.
Just like Javier and his mother, many people in El Salvador benefited from the taxi driver awareness project, another initiative that contributes to better-informed communities.