Learning from peer educators

It has been some time since I have updated this blog – sorry, team.

Lots has happened. Most of it great. And I’ve been seeing and doing some pretty amazing things around Ghana.

One professional highlight was the opportunity to accompany Pro-Link HIV Counselling & Testing staff to an area of Accra called Agbogbloshie, known as one of the world’s largest E-waste dump sites. Pro-Link staff administered HIV tests to between 70-80 sex workers and their paying and non-paying partners (clients and boyfriends) as well as general community members.

We walked past the Onion Market (yes, an entire market dedicated to onions) and stopped by the local Police Station to let them know we would be interacting with community members and ask for permission to administer tests. The local police were friendly, although it was a small shock to see shirtless men locked up behind bars just past the counter ala John Wayne movie.

From there, we ventured off with Pro-Link Peer Educators – an incredible team of volunteers who outreach into communities to share messages of health promotion and encourage safer sex practices in a philosophy of harm reduction.

We stopped in people’s small courtyards, smiled at the curious kids who either pointed and yelled “Obroni” or who cried at the sight of me. The Peer Educators chatted up women and men of all ages, letting them know Pro-Link was offering free HIV testing in their community.

Just getting to the community wasn’t easy. We walked through mostly mud roads having luckily been warned to wear close-toed shoes.

I can’t imagine what rainy season will do to the alleyways that thousands of people walk everyday between tin-roofed houses and shipping container stores. Rains bring increased rates of illness – such as cholera, malaria, typhoid – creates massive traffic gridlock and floods entire communities.

Our team set up a small wooden table and began testing. While it wasn’t the textbook type of testing I’ve heard about in school… I was impressed with Pro-Link’s efforts to reach the people in greatest need and how accessible the testing was. Peers helping peers get tested. Not clinical or scary. In a language people understood.

Of course, there was an informative condom demonstration that showed the growing crowd how to protect themselves from STIs.

While most of the tests were negative – 3 people tested HIV+. One man and two women. Of the two women – one was 22 and the other was 15.

This is something I am still processing and I am not comfortable blogging about yet.

While I know HIV is not a death sentence – with minimal education, limited access to required medication, associated stigma, and the chance that others will also become infected… the outlook isn’t good. Our team provided follow-up contact information for post-testing counseling and referred people to the hospital.

This was not the type of environment to take pictures. But you can check out the  Facebook page I have created to highlight our work to see pictures, as well as follow Pro-Link on Twitter.