HIV Week

Wednesday, July 6^th

Gosh how the time flies in Namaacha! Last week was HIV week and I loved (almost) every minute of it. We had a lot of guest speakers- a man from Moz’s Ministry of Health, a man from the CDC in Moz, and a panel of PVHS (pessoas vivendo com HIV/SIDA). It was amazing to see things that I’ve been reading about actually playing out in real life!

The HIV epidemic is bad here. It’s mainly passed heterosexually, among couples who don’t use protection. Among all “HIV couples,” 2/3 are serodiscordant, meaning 1 person tested positive for HIV and their partner tested negative. So, its just a matter of time before all those people in the 2/3 join their partner with a positive HIV status. Condoms are widely available and studies have shown that Mozambicans know that condoms help prevent HIV infection. But knowledge and availability just aren’t translating into correct and consistent condom use. Either partners are putting too much trust in their partners, or people feel unable to use condoms. Like the US, intimate partner violence is very prevalent here, preventing women from demanding that their sexual partners use condoms.

Most of the “science” of HIV that we learned was covered at GSPH but I really loved learning ways to dumb it down. Our teachers gave us a lot of analysis, metaphors, and stories that are helpful to use when explaining the biology of HIV to children or more un-educated audiences.

On Firday, my language group went to visit an orphanage-which is our organization for our PST practicum. The orphanage is run by the Congregacao de Precioso Sangue, and its not exactly an orphanage. Geared toward the needs of OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), the kids don’t actually sleep at the orphanage (at least not yet). So its really more of an after-school program. It’s open to all who want to come before or after school, so they can get help with their studies. Most of the kids have lost at least one parent to HIV. Many are “street kids” or live with a “tia” or “avo” (aunt or grandmother). The center also provides breakfast and lunch since many of the children don’t eat dinner regularly, if at all.

After our visit, we went to Namaacha’s Center de Saude. We got to see the pregnancy ward, GATV (where HIV testing and counseling is done), consultation rooms, and plumpy nut! Wow, it was so cool seeing it in person!

Saturday morning I cleaned my room , tomar’d banho (took a bath), tomar’d cha (drank tea), then went to the Health Hub to work on my community mapping assignment. Then, we headed to Abby and Caitlin’s house for the 4^th of July party! Jack made a grill on the ground for our burgers, sausages, chicken, and tofu. We also had fruit salad, potato salad, regular salad, guacamole, sangria, and beer. It almost felt like a normal party in the States. Almost. Because it’s impossible to make fruit salad in the States as delicious as the fruit salad here. Also, all of our food was served in basias. Like the one I bathe in. We drank out of “gato preto” (the brand of peanut butter) glass jars and ate on fine china (each of us had to bring a plate and fork from home!) But all in all, it was an amazing way to spend the 4^th of July. We even played King’s Cup in between dance party sessions. I’m so grateful Castro came after church to walk me home, since I stayed at the party WAY past curfew, which is supposed to be 7pm!

Sunday was a good family day. Right after waking up, I washed my clothes (which took about 2 hours) then tomar’d banho. Then I made banana pancakes with Castro while Aninya got her hair braided. Unfortunately, only my pai and Pedro liked them. My mae ate them but didn’t have seconds. Castro and Aninya ate them but without the sugary banana topping. Oh well, more for me! Later I helped Aninya make feijao (a bean dish), which really means I sat in the cozinha with Castro while Aninya talked on her cell phone. I told him all about my life at home before leaving for Moz. I told him about 3 of my besties getting married in 2012. He loved hearing about them since he has seen all of their pictures!

Now, we are in week 5 and there are 2 things everyone is thinking about: LPI/Round Robbins and SITE VISITS! It’s been pretty hard to concentrate in class. I went to casa dos dois after sessions and the internet was working so well! I got to post pictures and chat with Dan.

When I got home I found Pedro with a HUGE wound on the bottom of his foot. Apparently he hurt it on a rock. It looks terrible, all black and blue. I wish I could help him L Then my pae wanted to show me all of his future plans for the house and surrounding property. Like my dad, he is constantly renovating the house, casa de banho, and cozinha. We were alking up past the casa de banho when I saw the largest spider I’ve ever seen alive. Literally looked like a tarantula. I was screaming and all of my brothers and sisters ran out of the cozinha to see what happened. When they understood my reason for screaming, they all laughed. My pai stepped on the spider, killing it, then continued with his descriptive plans as if nothing happened. Ugh. Definitely tucking my mosquito net in all the way around me tonight! It’s now 8:05pm and I’m dying to eat dinner. We ate lunch at 12:30 and I don’t think Castro even ate lunch. How are these people not hungry?!