I’ve been having a good time recently. Just, I don’t know why, but things have been going right. And trust me, this is pretty unusual for Togo. In fact, so many things have been going right that I feel if I put it all in this post, nobody will want to read all of it. So I’ll just write about one for now, and later on post the other stuff.
I’ll start off with some work I’ve done with an association of people living with HIV. So this association is here to help give counseling to those who have HIV. They want to help with other things too, like help pay for medicine for opportunistic infections or help with nutritional needs, but right now they don’t have the capacity for that. So anyways, nobody ever really shows up at this association’s meetings because they don’t view any benefit in being there. I’ve literally shown up to meetings and been the only one there, not even the president or vice president bothered showing up.
Well, since I’ve been at post I’ve been doing surveys with people with HIV to try and figure out what they would want of an association, and also what they already know health wise. Most everyone I surveyed said they wanted help with knowing how they could live healthy, among other things. This got me thinking, how could I give these people what they wanted, but also make it sustainable? I mean I could try to hold a meeting every month, and give a little presentation on some health topic. But who would continue that when I leave, my French isn’t that good and my local language… no way. Plus, I don’t believe people hold me as much of a health expert as much as they do a novelty.
So I went to the local hospital to see if I could talk so someone about this HIV association. There I met a doctor who is in charge of the antiretroviral (ARV) meds for HIV patients. We got talking and came up with this thing we call here ‘Groupe de Parole’. This is where once a month him and a psychosocial counselor will show up at the association for a question and answer session for people with HIV. So we had the first meeting last Saturday… People actually showed up! 19 to be exact. This is a huge improvement from when I’ve tried doing things before with the association and actually zero people show up! I can honestly say that I’ve felt like a complete failure in the past when I try small projects or meetings and nothing comes out of it. But with this, people actually wanted to show up and participate!
The meeting started out with me just introducing everyone and explaining how the doctor and counselor where there to give out info and answer any questions they have. It began a bit slow. Nobody wanted to ask anything, so I just started talking about the ways of how HIV is transmitted to fill time. Then one lady raised her hand and asked something on how a mom can transmit HIV to the baby. It was a question I knew the answer to, but I gave the doctor the floor. He answered it, and then another hand went up. Another question to the doctor. He gave a response then there was another question. This one the counselor gave some advice on. Then the questions just kept coming. I was sitting there trying to keep a calm demeanor, but in my mind I was like, “Holy shit! These people are actually interested and learning! Did I give them what they want?!” I think a smile eventually forced itself out.
They asked all sorts of things, from side effects of certain medication, to how the virus actually works in the body. The best part was it wasn’t me giving out the information. It was a local doctor and counselor; people the community respected, trusted, and truly listened to. Listening to this group of people affected by HIV ask what they really wanted to know and actually get the information is the best thing I’ve experienced here so far (and I’ve experienced some pretty awesome stuff). Plus, this is something very sustainable. I’ll eventually have to leave, but the doctor and counselor will be here to continue this. Hopefully these people affected by HIV now have a source to get the information they need to help them live a healthy life and make the right decisions for themselves.
For the following meetings, I plan on having a theme, like ‘why take meds’, ‘nutritional needs of people with HIV’, or ‘how to deal with discrimination’. We can start out with some small presentation and then open it up to questions. I also want to invite representatives from a big NGO in Sokode, a nearby city, to come check out this groupe de parole at some point. Maybe if they see that there is a group in Sotouboua who is interested in their own well being, they would be willing to help the association in the future to meet their goals of providing medical or nutritional aid.
