HIV

Today I was only able to conduct one interview you have to remember the saying TIA (this is Africa) things happen. For example today we drove past the main “highway” at noon and there was a huge traffic jam, there are no traffic light so everyone was in a gridlock because everyone kept pushing to get through. Usually there is a policeman in this intersection helping people pass, but we drove by just as all the police were loading up on a bus to go have lunch leaving the rest of the people to fend for themselves in a traffic collision, TIA.

I showed Mirabelle photos of Lulu that my mom sent to me and she replied I used to have four cats but now I only have one. I said “oh my so sorry they died?” and she said “no my neighbors ate them.” I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. cats here are very bad luck so people prefer to kill them and eat them then let them walk around. I remember my Swahili teacher at Mount Holyoke cried when a cat got too close to her. Very superstitious! I got a little tour of AEM today, its not very big but the woman I was supposed to interview “lost her child” at least that’s how I translated it so we took a walk around to look at where the women make the soap that they sell. AEM makes two different kinds of soap, one for the body and one for the clothes. They hope to make some cute little packages so that they might be able to sell them to hotels. Afterwards Mirablle and I headed back to IRD to write up some notes and while she was driving she said “I need to make a stop to go pick up some condoms.” And I thought, wow she is being very open all of a sudden about her private life. She drove me down a long dirt road past about a hundred clinics, and by this time I’m thinking “special condoms?” we arrive in front of a store called la Mieu (honey) in French, still confused, I realized she had said candles but with an O sound making it sound like condoms. We were going to buy candles since the electricity goes out all the time. Major confusion.

After lunch, I did a bit of studying about Burkina, and realized that I didn’t know FGM was such a huge problem here as well around 70% of women are circumcised. Which is a huge number since it has been illegal since 1995. I also read that 80% of women are illiterate so there is a statistic for the illiterate entry. There are tons of programs going on here however, all the time the more I read the more NGO information is sent my way!

I did get to conduct one interview today. She was very short in her answers and at first I thought she didn’t want to be there. My questions usually take about 1.5 hours to answer. There are around 35 questions on the sheet, some simple as what is your age to others as difficult as what keeps women form seeking health care in terms of HIV in Burkina Faso. This woman finished the interview 30 minutes faster than the others, so I felt as if she didn’t really want to be there so as we were leaving I looked at her and said thank you for teaching me and helping me talk about this with other people. She burst in into tears and said “thank you for not being afraid of me, these are happy tears.” She quickly left the room and left Mirabelle and I standing there in tears….i had never thought about being afraid of someone with HIV. Only in the sense that I am afraid I might have a partner who has HIV and to get them tested. While I know it is a common fear in Burkina that if you touch someone with HIV you will get it, or share the same glass, I had never thought about it. In fact Mirabelle and I had just talked about gay rights, and while she said she didn’t mind gay people it was still a difficult thing for her to accept. It is illegal in Burkina by the way. Thinking about this, I don’t know if it was the way my parents raised me to think or how I developed, or both. I don’t think I have ever heard my parents judge someone based on their skin, sexuality, or HIV status but I also don’t think we’ve had open discussions about it. It never felt like something to discuss, I just always felt that if they were friends they were welcome. Also with ballet and Mount Holyoke, I think being homophobic would have been difficult! A few people before my trip here said “you are so brave to spend time with people who have HIV” and all I could think of was “I don’t plan on having sex with the women in my study so I think we are going to be okay.” I don’t know how I developed my lack of fear in people, but it must be due to not just myself and my experiences, but also the knowledge of my family and friends. Having a large variety of different people in my life with all different types of preferences and lifestyles. I am not afraid because there is nothing to be afraid of. Knowledge is power, and since I am able to understand HIV and how to pass it, being friends with someone who is HIV positive is no fear of mine. Just be aware and cautious.