HIV/AIDS Behavior Change Communication Workshop . . .Let's Talk About It!

 

This past May I had the pleasure of attending a Peace Corps initiated HIV/AIDS Behavior Communication Change Workshop in our central office of Manila.  To describe this event as amazing is simply an understatement and I am glad that I along with my counterparts were chosen to attend this event. 

At an early age, I was exposed to information regarding healthy sexual behaviors vs. risky sexual behaviors/sexually transmitted infections (STI's) and HIV from teachers, family members, and community members.  It has definitely been a topic of discussion for young black women ages 18-25years old.  I remember clearly hearing that African American women were more at risk than any other age range and ethnic group.  I remember the abstinence talks, be faithful to one partner, always use condoms and dental dam, make sure to take your birth control timely etc, as ways to mitigate the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancy.  We were told that unprotected oral sex could also lead to sexually transmitted infections (STI's). I saw graphic videos about how infections look once they take over the body and was told to never share needles.  In other words, it has been drilled into my head that HIV is real and we need to protect ourselves from it.  A night of lust or bliss is not worth years of regret and unwanted/expensive health conditions.  

Through my service work with my professional organization, it has been a priority to do outreach work and prevention activities such as; encourage young men and women to be tested for the disease at least twice a year and to use contraceptives correctly and consistently.  Our target population was college students of the University.  Along with that we would hand out literature about sex safe and offer resources for on-going support services at the local clinic.  Stigma is huge regarding STI's and HIV/AIDS and awareness was the first step in protecting ourselves and each other.  I remember attending a viewing of  The Other City (a documentary depicting the lives of those individuals living with HIV in Washington D.C.) on campus and how grueling of a discussion took place in regards to access to services post diagnosis and the effects the diagnosis has on family and friends. So for me this topic was close to home and something I felt I should be part of. 

The Philippines is considered a low-risk country because of the low percentage of people in a country infected, however, this country's known positive cases have increased significantly over the past years and continues to increase on a monthly basis while other countries have reported stabilizing or even reporting decreased cases, which tells us a few things. People were not tested, and/or can be ailing from co-existing diseases such as Tuberculosis (but are not tested for HIV without the consent of the individual), and people are not disclosing their sexual behaviors with their partners. (For more information about the current climate of HIV/AIDS here in the Philippines visit http://www.nassa.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/HIV/PhilippineSpread&ImpactDOH.pdf). 

The three-day workshop had two main foci.  The first was to orient the participants on the current HIV/AIDS situation here in the Philippines as well as the Filipino government/NGO efforts to combat new cases and treat current cases of those living with HIV.  The second was to teach participants about behavior change communication, how it relates to our topic of HIV/AIDS and how to write behavioral change objectives for our grant projects. This initiative is being funded by USAID and this will be the last year of the program.  Most update information about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Philippines as of April 2013.

On the first day, we had the pleasure of  a panel discussion composed of men who are living with HIV, which included a well-known Filipino who is an advocate, Wanggo Gallaga.  He was very charismatic and spoke openly about his status and his past lifestyle.  Some of the panels stated that they were out with their positive status while others said they were not ready to disclose to family and friends.  Many of the panelists were gay men engaging in sex with other men.  There weren't any female panelists to give a perspective from that point of view. In general, the panelists spoke about their previous relationships and their feelings regarding their status.  Common themes mentioned were feelings of anger towards their past partners who infected them, blame, guilt, denial that this was happening to them, depression at times and pain both physically and emotionally.  But many of them are a place of acceptance and even advocating on behalf of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  Their message to us was to maintain our negative status because that in itself helps the fight against HIV with fewer cases being reported.  Comparable with the grief and loss process they were respectfully grieving the loss of their old lifestyles and familiarity, freedom and now dealing with having to adjust to this new life . . .definitely not an easy task.

The second day we worked on some behavioral change objectives with our counterparts.  I was very familiar with the behavioral change aspect of the workshop and was happy that it resembled Cognitive Behavior Theory.  Our approach is basically restructuring the thinking and in doing so we change the way an individual thinks, therefore changing one’s behavior, therefore changing one’s actions.  It makes sense and seems attainable from a western perspective with the exception that here in the Philippines there are a few factors that affect behavior change such as being a religious, conservative, patriarchal and traditional society.  But I am hopeful that the talk regarding the disease will be met with more tolerance since the passing of the Reproductive Health Bill (RH) recently this past year.  The country stands a fighting chance to improve the current statistics of decreasing the number of individuals contracting the disease if we talk about it openly and honestly.  The identified high-risk groups are men having sex with men (MSM) and sex workers(women working in prostitution) with a small subset being intravenous needle users.

 It was clear to us that since our girls don’t leave the center we should focus more on prevention work and activities. We also recognized a need to separate our girls into two groups based on developmental levels and maturity.  It was decided that the more mature/older group will talk about all aspects of safe sex and healthy behaviors in general and the younger we will start with introducing sex education then healthy relationships then sex and all that comes along with it.  I’m hopeful that our agency will incorporate this information into our family planning sessions but I can tell it will be a gradual process. For that reason, I am glad that Peace Corps has provided plenty of resources for the center to use and has armed a houseparent as well as a resident with the tools needed to start the discussion and healthy behaviors.

As aforementioned I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop for many reasons; the diverse and knowledgeable visitors who came and shared their stories with us, the many team-building exercises, building agency profiles, and the delivery of technical material. 

I'm sure my work on HIV/AIDS will not stop here.  Upon completion of service, it is my hope to return to the states and continue prevention/intervention volunteer work/efforts in Washington D.C., where there is huge HIV/AIDS epidemic among African-American who engage in drug use as well as risky sexual behavior.

Wanggo captured this picture and posted it on his Instagram and twitter page of the group.

Our group picture at the end of the three-day workshop.

My houseparent counterpart and youth preparing our signs and project proposal.