HIV Testing Day

7.15.10
HIV testing was rescheduled to the day originally scheduled for our nutrition sensitization and we didn’t find out about the change until 2 days before…no surprise. However, we were able to mobilize in the community to let them know the date change…it was just disappointing because our HIV sensitization was all about knowing your status and now we had to delay the testing four another 4 days. We had around 125 people turn out to get tested and St. Mary’s (testing group) did a great job accommodating the large number of people and counseling. I had been asked numerous times at the borehole if I was going to get tested. At first I thought, Africa, needles…no way! However, on the day of, I felt the urge to get tested and went through the entire process…including sitting with the women who were waiting for their results. I wasn’t really all that nervous about my own status, but I tried to put myself in their shoes to try to understand the courage it would take to find out one’s status, knowing it could completely change your life.
When they called my name, I figured they would say, “Great, here are your results, thanks for coming.” But instead, they took me over behind the goat shed (the testing took place at our compound), for privacy, and we sat in plastic chairs (a little too close for comfort), and the counselor began asking me questions, “why did you come to get tested today?” “Do you have a boyfriend/husband?” “Why is it important to know your status?” The questions kept coming…and at this point I hadn’t even heard my status yet. For half a second I thought to myself…could I be positive? No…no way. But I still found myself getting a little apprehensive…finally…I hear the words, “Well, Rebekah, you are not HIV positive.” Huge sigh of relief…not exactly…but I did break out into a smile and thank him for his work, but quickly got out of my plastic chair and back out into the open.
The majority of the turnout consisted of women, which did not surprise me. When we went around doing door-to-door surveys many women said they knew their status, however, they did not know their husbands status. It is sad…the lack of disclosure between husband and wife here. There is a lack of trust and an obvious lack of concern as to how their choices affect one another. Men dislike the idea of using condoms here (at least in the village) and wouldn’t dream of using them with their wives. With a high trend of infidelity (side-dishing) here, I know I would live in fear of contracting the disease, even if I was faithful to my husband.
Hopefully, our message at the HIV outreach was one of hope. Mostly women attended the outreach. We approached the idea of disclosure, of being tested together with your spouse, but unfortunately the ones who needed to hear that the most, the men, where not in attendance. Life is not over here, once you test HIV positive, which we also emphasized in our message, especially through a testimony of a mother of 2 who had lost her husband to AIDS. The health centers have ARV’s available once you reach a certain CD4 count and they have a support program, called Positive Living. The day was a success…I’m anxious to hear about the results!

HIV Sensitization

7.8.10

We had our HIV sensitization Wednesday afternoon. Our take home message was “Know your status,” and I think it was clearly communicated through testimony, song, drama and discussion. The nearby health center has a Positive Living program for HIV positive people and we asked one of its members to come and share her testimony. It was a powerful opener to the event as she explained how she had lost her husband to the disease and is now living with HIV and raising her family. I wish I understood the language…I miss out on so many of the details as much is lost in translation. It is difficult to not be able to communicate effectively with people, especially when our work is so much about education and relationships. We have great Ugandan interns that help translate, but it’s not the same. Anyway, despite the language barrier, her testimony was powerful. She captivated the audience and delivered a message of hope. She encouraged the people to get tested so they could receive the help and support they need if diagnosed with the disease. My favorite part was she wore a baseball cap with “know your status” embroidered on it…“so perfect,” as Simon-Peter would say.
The HIV sensitization attracted the best turnout so far, although it was all women. The reason for the large turnout was due in part to a performance by a local drama group. Ugandans love to be entertained and any gathering is reason enough to dance, sing or watch a drama. We advertised during our mobilization that there would be drama and dance and as a result our turnout doubled! We still started late (African time), but the audience was captivated by the energy and message of the drama, which again focused on knowing your status and living positively with the disease. We had a group discussion after the first performance, led by our intern Simon-Peter and again I was lost in all of the Lusoga. However, based on the questions and body language it seemed like people were taking the message seriously and asking relevant questions. The second drama was pretty wild…the content being a tad offensive to the politically correct outsider in my opinion, but not to the crowd…it was almost like a Ugandan soap opera, with infidelity being the major issue. The drama’s were beneficial even if a little offensive to those outside the culture, because they stirred emotion and allowed people to talk about sensitive issues. Unfortunately, only a handful of men were in attendance and some left early (the meeting/performances were over 2 hours). Men need to be reached with the message of knowing your status, but many are stubborn and unwilling to listen. Many of the women we’ve met in the community know their status, but not their own husbands. As a result, they live in fear of getting the virus from their husband as many of the men have what Ugandan’s call side-dishes (extra-marital partners). Of course, this type of infidelity increases anyone’s chance of contracting the virus and increases transmission. It’s sad…HIV isn’t taken very seriously, mostly because it isn’t talked about, people don’t know their status, and if they do they are in denial that it will hurt them or those they care about. I hope that people begin to realize that they can’t live confidently in the dark…they must know their status in order to make the right decisions to protect them and the ones they love.
We have HIV testing at our house all day on Monday. I hope that those who heard the message on Wednesday follow through and come to get tested. There is so much fear around the virus that people would sometimes rather just not know. I’m praying that attitude changes.

As always, the kids were exceptionally cute…can’t get enough of them! Hope you take time to check out the pictures and captions…they sometimes do a better job of describing life here than my words.

Outreaches

Click on the picture above to see the album and captions!
xoxo,
b

Fourth of July!

7.5.10

Yesterday was a good day. It was the Fourth of July, our Independence Day. I had a great idea to celebrate by having an American BBQ to celebrate! Nina made a flag, we went grocery shopping for the goods the morning of and I spent most of the afternoon sitting in front of our small charcoal stove.



The meal: minced meat hamburgers (mixed with onion and egg) with all the toppings…including ketchup! Cassava chips dipped in ketchup and apple crisp. Yum! This Fourth of July was like most at home, it drizzled during the afternoon reminding me of Seattle. Unfortunately, fireworks were out of the question as we would have to go pretty far up on the political ladder to get approval! But, despite not having fireworks, I felt the most American I’ve felt all trip sitting in front of the stove. We shared our traditions with Mutesi and the family. All of them loved the burgers we made and we all ate the chips together. Mutesi had never tried an apple so I shared some raw and cooked with her and she saved some of the seeds to try to plant…I told her it probably wouldn’t work to grow them here and even if it did the apples wouldn’t taste good for a long time. I do miss Washington apples. We buy ours here in the Indian run supermarkets…who knows where they come from.



We also, had our Family Planning outreach yesterday. A nurse from the nearest health center came and spoke with women in a very candid and humorous way. Around 15 of the women who came walked away with birth control pills or had an injection. The nurse thought it was a successful turn out so we were all pretty excited. This week we have our HIV sensitization on Wednesday and then testing next Monday. In between we’re going rafting down the Nile….I’ll be honest, I’m a bit nervous.
On Saturday, we looked at fabrics in the market and I actually found a couple I liked and am having a couple of skirts made. I’m excited to see how they turn out! Hopefully I’ll be able to wear them here the last few weeks and blend in a little. I also had a freak illness on Saturday. I started to feel some severe abdominal cramping and was very uncomfortable. I sat down on the stairs while the other girls ran some errands and found myself about 5 minutes later running to the bathroom at a Café we are regulars at across the street. Something hadn’t sat well in my stomach and I thought I might be in trouble. I sat on the toilet…which I usually just squat over…but I thought I might vomit as well. I started to feel faint and put my head between my knees and next thing I know I wake up with my body lying back to one side…I FAINTED! Weird. (sorry mom, I’m sure you’re freaking out right now) I woke up in a cold sweat, disoriented, nauseous and alone. Right before I passed out I was trying to text the girls where I was (luckily I had just put airtime on my phone) and so when I came to I quickly called them for help. I wiped the sweat off my body and waited outside on the stairs. I could feel the color coming back into my face, but I was still queasy. They came not to long later and fortunately, we had been with some of the UVP staff while we were fabric shopping and they were able to take me back to the UVP office where I rested over the next couple of hours. I felt fine after an uncomfortable bathroom experience and a couple hours of sleep. I was obviously weak after, but felt fine and my symptoms haven’t reappeared. I must have eaten something weird…thankfully it all passed through in one go. I look back and think so many things worked out…even though I was disgustingly sick…God came through with providing airtime when I needed it, the UVP staff, and a real toilet to use at the UVP office (better than the latrine!).

Uganda Fourth of July

Click the picture above to see the whole album and captions!