HIV/AIDS

One of the main things I wanted to do if I ever went to Africa was to do some HIV work. So when I had the opportunity to go to Ethiopia it seemed natural to do HIV education/prevention.

I've been doing HIV work since 1997 when I did my first internship at the Salt Lake City-County Health Department in the HIV prevention group. I have many years of experience doing one-on-one counseling/education, testing/counseling, group presentations, outreach, etc. So I thought I'd use my skills and do some presentations in Ethiopia. I did some for the Women's group, and several for a men only groups.

I had prepared some powerpoint slides in paper form and had Abebe as my translator. That was my first attempt at using a translator...and let's just say...some definitely gets lost in translation! Abebe was a good sport though. He wasn't afraid to talk about HIV, i.e. sex...which was absolutely necessary for my translator to be successful.

This is one of the HRCC kids. The kids were fascinated with looking at my slides. They especially loved looking at the maps I had in there. Unfortunately the presentation for the youth group got cancelled...that's the group that's still very impressionable, but very high risk...so it's a shame we couldn't speak with them too.
Carolyn in the background helping yield questions, etc.




Here are some interesting points I want to remember about the presenations and HIV in general:

-A lot of the group knew they could be at high risk, but were really tired of hearing about it so much over the years. Sometimes I got the feeling they just want a "quick" fix for this disease.
-Pretty much had never used condoms and really don't have access to them.
-Most have never been tested for HIV and don't have access to get tested...even though some said they could easily go get tested {I doubted this though}.
-Since most never know their HIV status, they don't recognize the risk and it seemed to me that if someone they knew had HIV or died as a result of HIV...most didn't even know that's why they were sick/died.
-Many myths and issues. It's "okay" {cultural/religious} to have many wives and to have many partners. Some even said they believed they could "cure" their HIV if they had sex with a virgin. The craziest story was a guy wondered if a chicken ate a used condom and then a person ate the eggs from that chicken...could you get HIV that way! What???
-Most are still hung up on "where" HIV came from and "why" is Africa so highly affected. I kept trying to shift the focus to "prevention" and we know "how" we can prevent HIV and that HIV avoidable and preventable.
-Most were totally embarassed when I pulled out the condom. Most had never seen one before.
-Like most people....you never think HIV will happen to you.


As with most presentations, I wonder if I made a difference, if anything I said or discussed will influence anyone. Overall it was a fascinating experience and definitely made me realize that Ethiopia is a special place. I seriously hope I can return one day...So grateful for the opportunity. I'm sure I learned way more from these people than they did from me.



DeAnna asked me to write up a short summary of what I did regarding the HIV education that I did, so she could have a record of it. Here is what I sent her.
Shelly Huffman has a background in public health and HIV/AIDS education and prevention. She was able to teach HIV/AIDS classes to four different groups. Abebe was the translator. Two of the groups were for the Foresight families (which included men, women, and children), one was for the Women's group, and the last one was an impromptu class for a group of people waiting within the compound to see the doctor. About 50 people were in each group. Classes focused on HIV transmission, myths about HIV, prevention of HIV, vulnerable groups, and the importance of voluntary counseling and testing. A flip chart with pictures was used to help facilitate discussion. The groups were interactive and many people asked important questions. Most of the people appreciated hearing accurate and honest information. The main message was that HIV/AIDS is avoidable and preventable by abstaining or practicing safe sex.

The classes ended with introducing and demonstrating a new water jug with a spigot which is being offered at half price to the villagers.