26 Nov 12
Peace Corps The Gambia (PCTG) and the National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) hosted our third annual HIV/AIDS bike trek in the Central River Region (CRR) on the South bank hitting up four schools and about 20 classrooms. Some twenty PCV's across all sectors, environment, education, and health, and 15 or so Gambian counterparts as students, teachers, health workers, NAS employees, and community members, worked together to sensitize some thousand plus students grades 8 and 9 on HIV and AIDS.
The sensitization occurred over a span of two days per class. Day one covered, as basically as possible, what HIV is, what AIDS is, how the two are different, how the virus can spread through the four body fluids: blood, breast milk, vaginal fluid, and semen, and how you can protect yourself. That day included a discussion about blood soldiers and how HIV can reduce the number of blood soldiers (white blood cells) until you are susceptible to a number of illnesses by which point you acquire a syndrome. We then discussed the most common way HIV is transferred, that being through vaginal sex. Mind you we spoke with the headmaster at the schools, gained all necessary permission, and had Gambian counterparts to help us deliver this message in a predominantly conservative Muslim country. Following the sex talk we got to do condom demonstrations on coke bottles. I now have three successful condom demonstrations to add to... something, my resume? The rest of the time was filled with activities emphasizing our points and clarifying how HIV is both spread and NOT spread. A tricky one for instance is mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites you, they are not transferring blood they are transferring their saliva (how malaria is spread) and taking our blood to give directly to the baby mosquito as a blood meal. So you cannot get HIV/AIDS from a mosquito bite. Similarly, sharing the same food bowl, the same drinking glass, or sleeping in the same bed while NOT exchanging any of the four fluids, etc etc., does not give you HIV, which are some common local misconceptions. Day 2 addressed how one can speak up and out about HIV and AIDS in their communities. The subject is typically taboo but sharing accurate knowledge about the disease, how it can spread, and how to be protected is one of the best defenses. As that saying goes, learning is knowledge and knowledge is power!
Not many people get tested in The Gambia. There's a lot of fear and cultural stigma around the issue. The system here for pregnant mothers that go to the clinic is that it's an opt-out test meaning that you get tested by default unless you opt out. So as I understand it, the only data we have here is from those pregnant mothers that actually make it to the clinic and that don't opt out which isn't very much data points. So the national average here is 2.4% which is doubled from the last few years. A smaller pool recent numbers from a small region in the CRR gave 20% positive! Which is actually rather alarming for the small pool size. The CRR has the highest rate of HIV which is why the bike treks have been focusing on that region the most.
Before the trek we had to teach for "practice" in one of our local schools. A friend helped me do this at my school in my village which has probably never been exposed to HIV or AIDS talks. My counterpart wasn't able to come but the teachers at the school were amazing and practically took the lesson into their hands and not only led it but led it in the local language so that there was no confusion. One of the teachers was so passionate about the topic she wants to start to put a drama together to sensitize the rest of my community! She's the leader of the Peer Health Club at the school and is a most amazing teacher there.
We'll see what we can do. Below is a brief clip of one of our classes. This female counterpart only spoke her local language, Mandinka, and was leading the kids in a song about being healthy. I thought it was pretty awesome and so pulled out my camera. Enjoy, if it loads!
Peace Corps The Gambia (PCTG) and the National AIDS Secretariat (NAS) hosted our third annual HIV/AIDS bike trek in the Central River Region (CRR) on the South bank hitting up four schools and about 20 classrooms. Some twenty PCV's across all sectors, environment, education, and health, and 15 or so Gambian counterparts as students, teachers, health workers, NAS employees, and community members, worked together to sensitize some thousand plus students grades 8 and 9 on HIV and AIDS.
The sensitization occurred over a span of two days per class. Day one covered, as basically as possible, what HIV is, what AIDS is, how the two are different, how the virus can spread through the four body fluids: blood, breast milk, vaginal fluid, and semen, and how you can protect yourself. That day included a discussion about blood soldiers and how HIV can reduce the number of blood soldiers (white blood cells) until you are susceptible to a number of illnesses by which point you acquire a syndrome. We then discussed the most common way HIV is transferred, that being through vaginal sex. Mind you we spoke with the headmaster at the schools, gained all necessary permission, and had Gambian counterparts to help us deliver this message in a predominantly conservative Muslim country. Following the sex talk we got to do condom demonstrations on coke bottles. I now have three successful condom demonstrations to add to... something, my resume? The rest of the time was filled with activities emphasizing our points and clarifying how HIV is both spread and NOT spread. A tricky one for instance is mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites you, they are not transferring blood they are transferring their saliva (how malaria is spread) and taking our blood to give directly to the baby mosquito as a blood meal. So you cannot get HIV/AIDS from a mosquito bite. Similarly, sharing the same food bowl, the same drinking glass, or sleeping in the same bed while NOT exchanging any of the four fluids, etc etc., does not give you HIV, which are some common local misconceptions. Day 2 addressed how one can speak up and out about HIV and AIDS in their communities. The subject is typically taboo but sharing accurate knowledge about the disease, how it can spread, and how to be protected is one of the best defenses. As that saying goes, learning is knowledge and knowledge is power!
Not many people get tested in The Gambia. There's a lot of fear and cultural stigma around the issue. The system here for pregnant mothers that go to the clinic is that it's an opt-out test meaning that you get tested by default unless you opt out. So as I understand it, the only data we have here is from those pregnant mothers that actually make it to the clinic and that don't opt out which isn't very much data points. So the national average here is 2.4% which is doubled from the last few years. A smaller pool recent numbers from a small region in the CRR gave 20% positive! Which is actually rather alarming for the small pool size. The CRR has the highest rate of HIV which is why the bike treks have been focusing on that region the most.
Before the trek we had to teach for "practice" in one of our local schools. A friend helped me do this at my school in my village which has probably never been exposed to HIV or AIDS talks. My counterpart wasn't able to come but the teachers at the school were amazing and practically took the lesson into their hands and not only led it but led it in the local language so that there was no confusion. One of the teachers was so passionate about the topic she wants to start to put a drama together to sensitize the rest of my community! She's the leader of the Peer Health Club at the school and is a most amazing teacher there.
We'll see what we can do. Below is a brief clip of one of our classes. This female counterpart only spoke her local language, Mandinka, and was leading the kids in a song about being healthy. I thought it was pretty awesome and so pulled out my camera. Enjoy, if it loads!
A worthwhile project. Some nice enthusiasm in the video!
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