AIDS education for the island people
This past week I sat in a three day seminar concerning AIDS counseling for the people of the Lingira Island were I was staying. I hadn't been planning on going until the last minute but was glad to have the opportunity to sit in on the meetings.
Meetings like this can be difficult for me because of the translation. It seems that the majority of people who speak english well are around my age or younger. So needless to say in a teaching such as this it is best to make it available to all and speak the local language. In almost all meetings they will have a translator. It actually is good for so many people because of the difference in language between the regions of even Uganda you find that english is really a common tongue for so many people.
For the AIDS meeting I had my own personal translator, my friend Henry. It is always good to have someone you know translate for you because you are more familiar with their accent, and much easier to offer a mint.
The premise of the conference was to offer education on AIDS awareness, testing availabilities, and training for counseling. It is so necessary here and good to see how they teach things. Many at the meeting were still unaware of the causes and preventions. Now this was a little sad to think about because Uganda was the first to embrace AIDS education and has been remained the leader in education and numbers reflect that since the start of such programming numbers have decreased. With training for counseling available in a program like this people are taught the importance of counseling people through the needs of testing. They also covered how to counsel someone through the process of accepting they are HIV positive. Going through this they are hoping to see less orphans having no were to go and losing the things left to them from their parents. The only support available really is the community. The people here need to be built up to know the steps of the process especially for those infected by the virus. With a community changed it is likely that infected people can still live a long healthy life. Meds were covered, diet, cleansing, emotional counsel, and how to prepare for the future.
The man who lead the conference was a man named Gavan, he has been infected since 1992 and completely volunteers his time to this organization. Here in Africa when some one is infected it seems that they give up on life. Gavan was able to speak from experience that you need to find purpose and that life is full of meaning regardless of this disease. This man really does practice this. Besides this program he is a teacher and has started an orphanage were he cares for children that are sick with AIDS. There the children are given a home, loved cared for, and given an education. It challenged me, this man who was delivered such a blow moving forward in life with such conviction. If we all carried that sense of purpose I wonder what the world would look like.
Education for AIDS is different here. I think this is the first meeting that I have sat in for instance that they didn't go over all the different means of prevention. When asking Henry about it he stated that those things were not practiced or were so rare that they are not covered. All I can say is that it was an awakening to what a sexual society we live in. It seems like a whole new world in all its differences.
My only hope is that people here will begin to not fear so much. Those who are infected would not hide themselves away to avoid rejection and shame from the community, family, and friends. People are scared, with education I hope that fear will be reduced and that they can find support from the community around them, they so desperately need it.
That's all from the home front. Keep me posted on the happenings of life in Madison.
This past week I sat in a three day seminar concerning AIDS counseling for the people of the Lingira Island were I was staying. I hadn't been planning on going until the last minute but was glad to have the opportunity to sit in on the meetings.
Meetings like this can be difficult for me because of the translation. It seems that the majority of people who speak english well are around my age or younger. So needless to say in a teaching such as this it is best to make it available to all and speak the local language. In almost all meetings they will have a translator. It actually is good for so many people because of the difference in language between the regions of even Uganda you find that english is really a common tongue for so many people.
For the AIDS meeting I had my own personal translator, my friend Henry. It is always good to have someone you know translate for you because you are more familiar with their accent, and much easier to offer a mint.
The premise of the conference was to offer education on AIDS awareness, testing availabilities, and training for counseling. It is so necessary here and good to see how they teach things. Many at the meeting were still unaware of the causes and preventions. Now this was a little sad to think about because Uganda was the first to embrace AIDS education and has been remained the leader in education and numbers reflect that since the start of such programming numbers have decreased. With training for counseling available in a program like this people are taught the importance of counseling people through the needs of testing. They also covered how to counsel someone through the process of accepting they are HIV positive. Going through this they are hoping to see less orphans having no were to go and losing the things left to them from their parents. The only support available really is the community. The people here need to be built up to know the steps of the process especially for those infected by the virus. With a community changed it is likely that infected people can still live a long healthy life. Meds were covered, diet, cleansing, emotional counsel, and how to prepare for the future.
The man who lead the conference was a man named Gavan, he has been infected since 1992 and completely volunteers his time to this organization. Here in Africa when some one is infected it seems that they give up on life. Gavan was able to speak from experience that you need to find purpose and that life is full of meaning regardless of this disease. This man really does practice this. Besides this program he is a teacher and has started an orphanage were he cares for children that are sick with AIDS. There the children are given a home, loved cared for, and given an education. It challenged me, this man who was delivered such a blow moving forward in life with such conviction. If we all carried that sense of purpose I wonder what the world would look like.
Education for AIDS is different here. I think this is the first meeting that I have sat in for instance that they didn't go over all the different means of prevention. When asking Henry about it he stated that those things were not practiced or were so rare that they are not covered. All I can say is that it was an awakening to what a sexual society we live in. It seems like a whole new world in all its differences.
My only hope is that people here will begin to not fear so much. Those who are infected would not hide themselves away to avoid rejection and shame from the community, family, and friends. People are scared, with education I hope that fear will be reduced and that they can find support from the community around them, they so desperately need it.
That's all from the home front. Keep me posted on the happenings of life in Madison.
posted by Jessica at 3:37 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Jess. Reading what you wrote about AIDS in Africa makes responding seem kinda "unworthy" as the guys from Wayne's World would say. Yesterday, I went to McFarland and Erin did my hair while I jabbered away with Erin's Dad (and Erin, of course) about the sorry state of politics and social malaise, while you were discussing life and death issues in Africa. I think one of the reasons why people are so turned off and turned inward is because there just seems to be SO MUCH that needs fixing. If you are older, it's a little depressing to still see many of the issues plaguing us that we assumed would be NON-issues by now. But, it seems to me that the adage, "the more Life changes, the more it stays the same." Oh well . . . enough pontificating.
All's well enough here. It's finally turning a little colder, leaves are multi-colored in much of the state. Your Dad and I are heading up to Door Co. for a mini-trip to see friends who built a house up there earlier this year. Nick is gearing up for another "Kegger4Kevin" on October 20th. Katie's still "waiting, waiting, waiting . . . ." Gramma Cox still can't see, can't hear, can't drive (even though she does), and can't understand anything you tell her. The usual! And, finally, my Dad is doing his version of deer hunting and only finding bears so far because the bears have discovered their "baiting stations." Dopes. So. That's the news. Hope you are well and happy where you are.
Louann
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