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US Embassy takes AIDS Road Show to Danane and Man
To mark World AIDS Day, the US Embassy in Abidjan took its "HIV/AIDS Road Show" to Danane and Man, two major cities controlled by the New Forces (former Ivorian rebels) in Western Cote d’Ivoire. For some years now, outreach programming in this region was not possible due to the volatile situation on the ground. However, there have been some signs of normalization recently and the embassy used this opportunity to reach out to audiences that were cut off during the civil war. The aim of these outreach programs was to sensitize people, especially youth, living in the remotest parts of the country about how to prevent HIV/AIDS. The films also emphasized acceptance of people living with the disease.
The program in Man started with a short remark by Ambassador Wanda Nesbitt, who encouraged the population, particularly youth, to adopt positive behavior in order to avoid infection by the HIV virus. Earlier in Danane, the Director of the American Cultural Center, Sharon White, stressed the importance of everyone's involvement in the fight against AIDS. She also reaffirmed the commitment of the US government to support efforts to fight the disease. The Mayor of Danane, Jacques Dely, urged the population to use this program as an opportunity to learn more about the virus and how to avoid it.
Danane’s half-day show on November 29 was co-hosted by Le Soutien, an NGO that is waging the war against HIV/AIDS in this region with the full support of PEPFAR. The program drew about one thousand participants –from Danane and villages around the city who proved an enthusiastic and attentive audience. The November 30 evening open-air session in Man was co-organized by Care International, another NGO active in the region that is supported by PEPFAR. It brought together about four hundred students and adults to learn more about HIV/AIDS.
Both sessions drew on a series of short films made by young Africans that address sensitive aspects related to HIV/AIDS by drawing on realistic situations presented in entertaining ways. An extremely animated Q&A session followed. In Danane, while students tried to test their knowledge on the various topics featured in the films, adults emphasized the importance of abstinence. Addressing a scenario in one film, the participants debated the pros and cons of women giving their husbands condoms when they must travel away from home. Overall, while the audiences demonstrated they had heard a lot of general information about AIDS, there is clearly still more education that is needed.
The climax of the program in Man was when Anatole, a 48-year HIV positive man, spoke about his own experience. Anatole, who said he has been living with the disease for some years now, told the students to refrain from sexual activities and rather devote their time to their studies. He said: "though the latest research in AIDS provides HIV-infected people with antiretroviral medicines, prevention remains the only solution because people living in rural communities cannot afford to buy them." He also encouraged the audience to avoid stigmatization against people who are living with the disease.
Experts from PEPFAR, the Center for Diseases Control (CDC), Le Soutien and Care International led the discussions, each exhorting the audience to heed the program’s message. The HIV/AIDS Road Show also offered the experts an opportunity to address other sensitive issues raised by the audience, including violence against women and the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which they said has become rampant in the region, and constitutes another ways of spreading HIV/AIDS.
