In 2006, Piya Sorcar, a graduate student at Stanford University, started working on her PhD topic — How do you teach about taboo topics without talking about them? She chose HIV as a case study given that it was considered as a topic having the highest stigma. In 2009, this idea spun into the social venture TeachAIDS — an initiative to provide state-of-the-art education materials to spread knowledge about HIV and AIDS.
“I selected HIV as the primary example as it had been identified as a topic with dual stigma. Meaning, not only was HIV itself taboo to discuss openly, but other issues related to it like injection drug use, commercial sex work and death were also taboo topics.” says Piya.
As she conducted human subjects research on this critical topic, she realised that there was limited knowledge among young people. “We followed a scientific approach to conducting research. Our studies demonstrated that young people had many questions about basic issues around HIV transmission and treatment. The interdisciplinary professors guiding the research at Stanford determined that there were several critical gaps in student knowledge” says Piya, adding, “there was so much of misinformation around conceptual knowledge. I started focusing on India as reports showed that it was to be the next hot-zone for people affected with HIV. Globally, India has the third largest nationally infected population, after South Africa and Nigeria.”
Recently, TeachAIDS launched 14 interactive software versions in seven languages with 22 celebrities to be used across the country. “The research demonstrated that young people are much more likely to listen and want to learn from someone whom they deeply admire and respect,” she says. This led her team to start approaching various iconic figures across our country to donate their voices and likenesses in the animated productions. Today, they have cultural icons such as Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna Akkineni, Shabana Azmi, Shruti Haasan, Anushka Shetty and many altruistic others who have lent their voices for the software. “In each case, it only took one instance to share the work and they immediately agreed to join our efforts.”
During the research phases, Piya and her team also found that an effective way to communicate with young people globally was through animation. So coupling animated figures with national and international celebrities, was a winning combination to optimise learning outcomes around HIV, in particular with it being a taboo subject.
With over 10 years of research material now, TeachAIDS which started with just five countries today has an alliance with 82 countries. However, the global impact of the materials are far more impressive. “We have more than 250 partners across the world who supply this material to schools, counselling facilities, hospitals, clinics etc. But the exciting part is that since this content is available online and offline for free, anyone is able to replicate and distribute it under a Creative Commons License.
The magic is in the multiplier effect. In fact, we recently met an Indian pastor in South Africa, who after retirement, spends the majority of his time sharing the TeachAIDS materials around the country. Along with a 6-disk burner, he carries speakers in his car to play the materials for young people and make copies of the animations for schools, rehabilitation centers, and clinics” says Piya.
During her time working on HIV related issues, Piya has come across disheartening stories which compelled her team to work even harder. “One of the many disheartening stories came from Zimbabwe where the myth that a sexual encounter with a virgin can cure someone of HIV. Our partner organisation informed us that there were many children being raped in the villages. One such child was only one-day-old” says Piya sadly.
Piya comes from a family of entertainers. Her father, PC “Manick” Sorcar, is an internationally award-winning animator, while her grandfather was the legendary magician PC Sorcar. Even today, she continues to take guidance from her father as she coordinates dozens of animators across the India and the United States. “I remember when we started and our animators would have various questions and concerns, I would quickly send the inquiries to Baba and ask for advice. He would immediately sketch out various ideas and circle back to me,” she says.
For the 38-year-old Piya, TeachAIDS is her life. Her husband Shuman Ghosemajumdar, a cyber security expert, too has stood with her all this while as a tremendous source of strength. “It’s a complete coincidence that my husband’s birthday also happens to be on December 1, World AIDS Day! So, I am usually travelling or on stage on this special day away from home. But he’s incredibly supportive and has encouraged me all the while to work hard and do what we can to arm children with this critical knowledge. Hopefully, with this initiative, we have been able to greatly increase knowledge levels, so my husband can have his wife back,” she says with a laugh.
So, what’s the road ahead for TeachAIDS. “The company’s name is based on the idea of ‘teaching aids’. The research we do on HIV/AIDS was the first topic pursued and there will always be more work to be done on these efforts. However, simultaneously, we will start engaging on another topic that needs global attention,” she says, adding with a laugh, “Maybe having a kid can be the next project.”
