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Mazabuka Mumblings
by Glenda Thompson
Getting A Handle On The Aids Problem In Mazabuka
2005 has arrived and it would be great to know that this was going
to be a wonderfully positive year for Mazabukans. Let's hope that
the rains continue and crops and livestock thrive. We also hope that
this will be a year of change in the community - change, mainly, in
peoples attitudes towards the HIV/AIDS problem. It won't go away
if we ignore it, it will simply gobble up more and more lives and
leave more and more people totally destitute. Yet, sadly people
ARE ignoring it!
The theme for World Aids Day 2004 was Women Girls And HIV/AIDS. In
the town of Mazabuka and on Zambia Sugar Estate, the day was marked
with speeches, drama and song. Zambia Sugar MD John Moult pointed
out in his address to employees on the occasion of World Aids Day
that our cultures were formed a long time before the HIV AIDS
epidemic came along and because of this we needed to adapt. He
said that women and girls are two and a half times more likely to be
infected by the virus. They are more vulnerable because they are
biologically more susceptible and also because of inadequate
knowledge about AIDS, insufficient access to HIV prevention
services, inability to negotiate safer sex and lack of economic
empowerment.
Backing this statement up, in a survey that was recently carried
out by the Mazabuka based MENDIF (Men Make A difference)
organization, they came up with some interesting and alarming facts
about peoples attitudes to the disease in this area.
MENDIF was formed in 2003 (the year that the World Aids Day theme
was Men Make A Difference). It is a male motivated non-governmental
non-profit making and non- religious community based organization
whose major objective is to lobby for the positive and active
participation of men in the fight against AIDS.
Getting down to the nitty gritty of why the epidemic is getting out
of control, Fred Tito, a Clinical Officer and MENDIF's Programme
Manager and his team of researchers carried out an extensive survey
in the town of Mazabuka on sex worker's (they're no longer called
prostitutes) and their clients. Some of the facts uncovered were:
There is no programme whatsoever that covers the education of sex
workers on the HIV/Aids virus. In other words, the people who are
helping to spread the disease are (mostly) ignorant to the fact.
They found that only 60% of the women interviewed knew something
about the virus.
55% of the people in the sex trade are married women - meaning more
children will be born already infected by their parents. The reason
why married women are taking to the streets is purely economical.
They are doing it to help buy food for their families - and
literally killing people in the process.
One in five sex workers is under the age of fifteen - knocking
children's "rights" right out the window. When interviewed these
girls, most of them orphans who had suffered abuse at the hands of
their own relatives, said that they would do anything to go back to
school or learn a trade that would get them off the streets.
These girls often ply their trade in the local bars and yet Zambia
has a strict licensing code that states that no child under the age
of 18 is allowed in a place where alcohol is served.
Although there are no acknowledged "brothels" or "cool resting
places" (the local word for them) people interviewed in the
survey said that Guest Houses and private residences were often used
for the sex trade. Most often, security guards were paid a small
amount by the sex worker to make sure no one came along while they
plied their trade in side streets and passageways at night.
The customer - The survey found that the majority of men visiting
sex workers were married businessmen. According to the girls, only
50% of their customers used male condoms. The sex worker is paid
more if a condom is not used.
Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Since carrying out the survey, MENDIF has started on a programme to
educate the community with regard to the seriousness of the
problem. They are putting up posters in all the bars stipulating
the age limit. They have held meetings with the Town Council and the
local Chief in the area, Chief Hanjaalika (who is a well known as an
anti AIDS activist) about the sex trade in the town and how best
to curtail it. They are targeting the "customer" - including local
fishermen, taxi drivers, truck drivers and migrant workers - with
information on the virus. Most importantly, they are trying to
find ways to EMPOWER THE WOMEN in the community. Setting up
workshops for women, organising craft groups, and generally finding
more suitable ways for women and girls to make a living. They are
looking for ANY ideas on how to help empower the women in the
community. They don't want to give handouts, they want to help the
girls by giving them training . To this end they are looking for
ideas from the community as a whole. Contact Fred Tito, or Project
Manager John Mapulanga on email
jmapulanga@yahoo.co.uk or phone them on 095 836-170 OR
097 824-632. if you have any inspiring thoughts on the subject.
For news and notices, please
contact Glenda Thompson on 095-704485 or email thomo@zamnet.zm |
January 2005