Life Skills Education Toolkit

LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION TOOLKIT FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN INDIA• 25

Directions:

ACTIVITY ONE

The Glove Game

Group Check In

1. Discuss why it is important to use universal precautions. This means that one must know how
   to protect oneself in situations where there is a risk of blood borne infections like HIV. It is
   difficult to know whether a person is infected because many people are in the “window”
   (symptom-free) period or may not have any symptoms.


2. Universal precautions create barriers between the doors of entry (mentioned earlier) and the
   fluids carrying blood borne infections like the HIV virus. In daily living, one of the ways that HIV
   can be transmitted is through blood. Gloves are a very good way to protect oneself because
   they create a barrier. If you do not have gloves, plastic bags can be used to cover the hand. It is
   also important to wash hands thoroughly after exposure. All these precautions also protect
   from Hepatitis B, which is more infectious than HIV. This exercise should not scare persons
   living and working with HIV persons, but should help in caring for them.
   Some of the situations where protection is needed:
   
   
   • If a person is bleeding, hand them a piece of cloth and ask them to stop the bleeding
     themselves until you can wear gloves to help them; and
   
   
   • With a glove, wipe blood spills immediately and then wash with a bleach solution. Put
     soiled clothes in a plastic bag and dispose.
   
   
   
   


3. Give each child a glove or a plastic bag to place on one hand. Enumerate different situations
   that may or may not require the use of a barrier such as a glove. If a glove is needed, they raise
   their hand. Otherwise they do not. This exercise also helps the facilitator to check if the children
   know how HIV is not transmitted.
   Some sample statements are:
   
   
   • A young person bleeds and the wound needs to be covered or dressed (glove);
   
   
   • Someone you know has HIV or is sick with AIDS and you shake hands (no glove);
   
   
   • Cleaning bloody mucous from a person with TB (glove);
   
   
   • A child falls and bleeds (glove);
   
   
   • A child’s tooth falls off and is bleeding (glove);
   
   
   • A friend who has HIV asks you to have dinner (no gloves);
   
   
   • A friend with HIV needs help in disposing sanitary pads during menstruation (gloves);
   
   
   • At a clinic, the nurse has to dispose an used syringe and needle (gloves); and
   
   
   • A person with AIDS asks you to sit on the bed and provide comfort (no gloves).