First, I would like to thank everyone who has sent donations and messages of encouragement. I greatly appreciate it. I’m overwhelmed by the reaction and will do my best to keep you informed about everything.
I would like to talk you more about my project/research. The Ghanaian project requires me to establish a report paper, so this will allow me to ask questions and observe the work people do there.
Community-driven approaches
As I told you at the very beginning, I’m interested in looking how African civil societies and community-based organizations, (meaning local communities, groups and individuals) deal with problems such as HIV/AIDS or gender-based violence. Given the inadequate health infrastructure of many Sub-Saharan countries and the overall scarcity of resources to combat the epidemic, I think the adoption of creative strategies involving communities in the prevention and control of the disease is one of the most important issues and should be brought to the attention of policymakers and health workers.
Every year, the US and European Union spend millions of dollars on AIDS prevention programmes. While I obviously support this and am delighted that policymakers want to solve the problem, I also think that we do not pay enough attention to more local solutions and communities. AIDS prevention has become a multi-billion dollar industry. The problem is that relief funds is that those who provide them have a certain number of rules and ideas about how prevention programmes should be run. But sometimes the problem is that these rules do not sit well with certain African communities. Community approach can be a great opportunity to find the best solution possible and engage individuals and community outreach services. Moreover, community-driven initiatives and activism provide a great springboard for democratization and development.
Uganda is often used as a story of success as well that civil societies and African governments are very much capable of establishing programmes adapted to their needs and culture. And not necessarily with a lot of resources.
In the 1980s, Uganda’s infection rate was of 20% (30% among pregnant women in cities!). But in the early 1990s, the infection began to drop and today stands at 7%. While this is still high, the drop is remarkable. Although Uganda is poor, strong government leadership (despite not being democratic), broad-based partnerships and education programmes contributed to this major decline. Since most infections are spread by sex outside the marriage, he programme was named ABC: Abstain, Be faithful, use Condoms. Although the method has drawn criticism from donors (particularly due to the emphasis on abstinence), the solution fit into Ugandan culture and beliefs. The Ugandan government put funding and efforts into the programmes by establishing HIV/AIDS committees and by engaging all sectors of society. Local communities are involved in community-outreach programmes such as training leaders and community workers to educate people about the risk of the disease.
Therefore, while funding and support are of course needed, there should be an actual dialogue between those who provide funding and those who receive it. The people who are responsible on a daily basis for providing services as well as those who receive them are in the best position to analyze the needs and challenges and therefore to tailor solutions specific to local conditions. Moreover, the more individuals and local communities are empowered, the greater the likelihood that we will be able to gather a set of lessons that can be built upon. Lessons are derived from community-based organizations who work together to solve their own problems while being provided the necessary tools and support.
Involved women, targeting women
Now, considering women are particularly affected by both HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence, my goal is particularly focus on the way women are involved in community-driven programmes. Often women are overlooked yet considering they bear the brunt of the problems, it should be crucial to establish programmes targeted specifically to women or started by women themselves.
If we take the case of Rwanda, women are rarely allowed to inherit or own property. So if, let’s say, their husbands died during the genocide they are not allowed to inherit property left behind and are therefore rendered destitute. Care programmes should acknowledge this problem by being gender-sensitive. My aim is to look at what civil society has done to provide care, education, counseling, political power, access to food, water and health care. I know that such women's groups have emerged in Rwanda and I plan to look at what they do and how and if it works. Their goal is to strengthen medical and psychological assistance for gender-based violence victims, provide vocational training and encourage legal protection of women and men. Here international agencies can help in professionalizing and providing long-term support.
On the subject of community-based approaches and individuals trying to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, I would recommend a book by Stephanie Bolen, 28 Stories of Aids in Africa. She relates the story of 28 individuals she met during her various trips to Sub-Saharan Africa. All of them have HIV/AIDS but are now trying to make a change in their society. They do so by providing home-care, travelling around the country in pick-up to raise awareness about the epidemic, provide agricultural support and food for the sick, set up counselling groups and orphan care, and even organize “Miss HIV/AIDS Beauty contest” in an effort to eliminate the stigma of Aids. This with or without much support or resources. A former soldier (a high-risk group since they travel a lot and often practice high-risk sexual behaviour) who caught HIV in his twenties now travels around his country of Ethiopia in order to educate soldiers about the disease. The initial response was rejection, but the problem is so great that soldiers are lacking and military readiness in danger. Out of necessity and concern, the militaries have had to take major steps and emerged as leaders in the response to the disease in terms of prevention, care, treatment even research. The former soldier says: “The soldiers listen. They believe me because I was one of them. I talk like they do. With me, they say, ‘This guy is one of us’.”
