AIDS Day
This Saturday is AIDS Day. This day is in memory of those who have died and those who continue to suffer from this awful disease which is destroying millions of lives all over the world but especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malawi is one of the worst affected areas with a prevalence rate of about 15% of adults. This is creating a devastating effect on individual families as well as the country as a whole. For example a huge proportion of the Governments education budget is spent on providing funerals for teachers. HIV/AIDS is still an unspoken disease in Malawi with most people hiding away from it. They say that people are not dying of AIDS but things like TB (TB goes hand in hand with HIV in most cases) as there is still a huge stigma attached to being positive here in Malawi.
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Many people who are positive and open about their status have formed PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) groups in many towns and villages and they form support networks for each other. These are the lucky people who know their status and are getting the correct treatment called ARV drugs (Anti-retroviral). Mind you if you are positive and living in the UK you have access to about 18 types of ARV to suit your body but in Malawi there is only one type and that is the cheapest available on the market. To promote the use of the ARVs the people taking them must also have a balanced nutritionally good diet. Of course the diet of nsima and relish 3 times a day is not nutritional at all! There are many schemes that are being set up by PLWHA groups and other NGOs to create a nutrition garden where they grow their own vegetables, garlic etc. Of course funds are short and this can be quite a challenge from people living positively as they are often sick so need time off work which can equal less money. I was given some money by one of mum’s friends before I left in October and I have decided to put some the cash towards setting up a garden for the local PLWHA group. All I have bought are a few garden tools, watering cans etc and several packets of seeds. I’m going along to one of their meetings to present the equipment and to also see what takes place during their meetings. This is the ideal time to start planting as it’s nearly the rainy season so the water is free at the moment!!
People are beginning to get the correct education about HIV/AIDS but I think a lot depends on the culture and traditional practices of a country. Malawi is no different – there are many weird and wonderful African practices taking place here which often don’t help in the spread of HIV/AIDS. If people are willing then they can go along to a hospital or health centre (in the larger villages) to get tested. Most centres have a separate clinic called a VCT clinic (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) where they can get tested relatively quickly. Firstly they are counselled by volunteer counsellors where they discuss past life experiences and the future if you are positive. They if they still want to go ahead they are tested right then and there. The results only take a few minutes to come through and the counsellor is the one who does the test. All the test involves is taking a prick of blood and dropping a few drops onto 2 different kits (both must be done to ensure that the reading is correct) A single line shows that the person is negative whereas 2 lines shows that they are positive (a bit like waiting for a pregnancy test!). If the person turns out to be positive then they are offered further counselling. Of course the virus can take up to 3 months in the system before any antibodies develop so just because you tested negative your could still be positive depending on your lifestyle. All a bit scary, especially for people who think that they might be at risk.
To show me how simple the whole process is Jonathan (who is a trained counsellor) offered to do a test on me. He regularly gets tested, mainly to show his clients who are apprehensive about the process of the testing. I accepted the invite but because he didn’t want to hurt me with the finger prick he didn’t prick it hard enough and he had to repeat the whole process again with another finger – it actually did hurt as they need to prick it quite deep to get enough blood for both the tests – mother you would have passed out by this stage. I was not worried about the result but I can empathise with people who are unsure about what the result could be – how your life can change in a second. I was negative.
Other news this week is that my poor cat has been ill. He was chased up a very tall Pawpaw tree by 5 vicious dogs who only ran away with me throwing things at them. Then he got stuck up the tree and had to jump into Jonathan’s outstretched arms. After coming down we realised that something was not quite right with him. His paws were looking sore and he was releasing a lot of saliva from his mouth (thank god he had his rabies jag or I’d have been getting seriously worried.) We called the vet (yes there is one in Rumphi and he is friends with Jonathan.) He came and gave him a shot of an antibiotic. They changed us K50 for the service (that’s about 20p) so much cheaper than a trip to a UK vet!! He still was bothered by his paws and they were sticky looking. I thought there might be a link to this bloody pawpaw tree and the sap from the fruit. I called home and asked Cam to do some research. He sent he a text at 11.00 local time, one hour after I was asleep telling me to put butter on his paws as this would remove the sap. I got up from my doze (its too hot to actually sleep properly at the moment) and ploughed butter all over the poor cat. I woke in the morning to see paw prints of butter all over the house. Thankfully after a few more butter treatments the cat is back to normal and catching the mice again!!
However, it is not all doom and gloom. Many people who are positive and open about their status have formed PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) groups in many towns and villages and they form support networks for each other. These are the lucky people who know their status and are getting the correct treatment called ARV drugs (Anti-retroviral). Mind you if you are positive and living in the UK you have access to about 18 types of ARV to suit your body but in Malawi there is only one type and that is the cheapest available on the market. To promote the use of the ARVs the people taking them must also have a balanced nutritionally good diet. Of course the diet of nsima and relish 3 times a day is not nutritional at all! There are many schemes that are being set up by PLWHA groups and other NGOs to create a nutrition garden where they grow their own vegetables, garlic etc. Of course funds are short and this can be quite a challenge from people living positively as they are often sick so need time off work which can equal less money. I was given some money by one of mum’s friends before I left in October and I have decided to put some the cash towards setting up a garden for the local PLWHA group. All I have bought are a few garden tools, watering cans etc and several packets of seeds. I’m going along to one of their meetings to present the equipment and to also see what takes place during their meetings. This is the ideal time to start planting as it’s nearly the rainy season so the water is free at the moment!!
People are beginning to get the correct education about HIV/AIDS but I think a lot depends on the culture and traditional practices of a country. Malawi is no different – there are many weird and wonderful African practices taking place here which often don’t help in the spread of HIV/AIDS. If people are willing then they can go along to a hospital or health centre (in the larger villages) to get tested. Most centres have a separate clinic called a VCT clinic (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) where they can get tested relatively quickly. Firstly they are counselled by volunteer counsellors where they discuss past life experiences and the future if you are positive. They if they still want to go ahead they are tested right then and there. The results only take a few minutes to come through and the counsellor is the one who does the test. All the test involves is taking a prick of blood and dropping a few drops onto 2 different kits (both must be done to ensure that the reading is correct) A single line shows that the person is negative whereas 2 lines shows that they are positive (a bit like waiting for a pregnancy test!). If the person turns out to be positive then they are offered further counselling. Of course the virus can take up to 3 months in the system before any antibodies develop so just because you tested negative your could still be positive depending on your lifestyle. All a bit scary, especially for people who think that they might be at risk.
To show me how simple the whole process is Jonathan (who is a trained counsellor) offered to do a test on me. He regularly gets tested, mainly to show his clients who are apprehensive about the process of the testing. I accepted the invite but because he didn’t want to hurt me with the finger prick he didn’t prick it hard enough and he had to repeat the whole process again with another finger – it actually did hurt as they need to prick it quite deep to get enough blood for both the tests – mother you would have passed out by this stage. I was not worried about the result but I can empathise with people who are unsure about what the result could be – how your life can change in a second. I was negative.
Other news this week is that my poor cat has been ill. He was chased up a very tall Pawpaw tree by 5 vicious dogs who only ran away with me throwing things at them. Then he got stuck up the tree and had to jump into Jonathan’s outstretched arms. After coming down we realised that something was not quite right with him. His paws were looking sore and he was releasing a lot of saliva from his mouth (thank god he had his rabies jag or I’d have been getting seriously worried.) We called the vet (yes there is one in Rumphi and he is friends with Jonathan.) He came and gave him a shot of an antibiotic. They changed us K50 for the service (that’s about 20p) so much cheaper than a trip to a UK vet!! He still was bothered by his paws and they were sticky looking. I thought there might be a link to this bloody pawpaw tree and the sap from the fruit. I called home and asked Cam to do some research. He sent he a text at 11.00 local time, one hour after I was asleep telling me to put butter on his paws as this would remove the sap. I got up from my doze (its too hot to actually sleep properly at the moment) and ploughed butter all over the poor cat. I woke in the morning to see paw prints of butter all over the house. Thankfully after a few more butter treatments the cat is back to normal and catching the mice again!!
posted by Caroline Pitcairn at
5:14 pm
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