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Conor O'Loughlin, Irish Examiner, 3rd March 2006
A town known for its sex trade uses community networks to help the
victims and combat the spread of HIV/Aids, writes Conor O'Loughlin
Bugiri is a busy little town in Uganda's south-east corner,
the commercial and administrative centre for the district that bears
its name. Here red dust settles on every surface and goat kids graze
amongst the litter. It is a bumpy three hour drive from Kampala;
past mud hut villages, tethered livestock grazing on surprisingly
lush vegetation, and Christian churches of most sizes and creeds.
Like a lot of district towns in Uganda, Bugiri is low-rise and litter-strewn;
its perpendicular streets given a haphazard appearance by the empty
lots and waste ground that peppers them. Music blares from everywhere
here – a local brand of Lugandan reggae – and the market
seems paradoxically busy but calm.
Nestled between Lake Victoria and the Kenyan border Bugiri suffers
more than most from the blight of HIV/AIDS. Official figures of
infection for the district are not released by the government who
prefer the safer numbers found in national averages. The latest
survey put the figure at 14% but some villages, like the ones on
the Lake Victoria fishing islands of Sigulu, are thought to have
infection rates much higher.
The fishermen of Sigulu and the Victoria coast form a challenge
to HIV activists for a host of reasons. They live day to day on
the money they earn from their daily catch and drink heavily when
they are not working. Often they have left wives and children in
other parts of Uganda and in a country where a woman's sexuality
is rarely her own they have little difficulty filling the time.
One fisherman named Benefasio Melamere told me, "We go drinking
for leisure everyday. We don't worry about HIV. Some people
have it but without the machine for testing it is impossible to
know who".
Not far from where the fishermen cast their nets, the East-African
highway runs. Kenyan truck drivers often stop by the road at night
on their way to Burundi, Rwanda or any number of destinations to
the west. They bring with them money, solitude and free evenings.
The result is Uganda's most infamous commercial sex area,
just 1km from the town, at Naluwerere. At night, the trucks line
the street here, back-to-back for over a kilometre.
The local government was late in recognising the extent of the
HIV/AIDS problem in Bugiri and as recently as 2003 preferred to
blame suspicious deaths solely on the virus' secondary diseases
– malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. If you had HIV or AIDS
in Bugiri until just two years ago the only hope of treatment involved
a 100 kilometre round trip every week to the treatment centre in
Turoro. The people are poor here. One option was to pay the ticket
twice so that a family member or friend could accompany them in
their weakened state. Another, more common option, was to remain
at home. Even if they could make the trip, and arrived after 7am,
there was no guarantee they would even be seen.
BUNASO – Bugiri Network of AIDS Service Organisations –
was formed by a group of local women in 2002 to co-ordinate the
activities of local organisations in the district. With financial
and technical support from GOAL they set about gathering and disseminating
information and advocating for recognition of the problem from the
government. GOAL runs most of its projects in Uganda on a partnership
basis to build the capacities of local people and groups, to work
towards that day when the community can stand on their own feet.
And with local knowledge they can ensure as much donor money as
is possible gets to the people who need it most.
On March 3, 2004 an outreach extension in Bugiri town was finally
opened and a huge victory was celebrated in BUNASO. Local people
had, for the first time, proper access to medication and counselling.
But BUNASO haven't stopped.
Run by one of its founders, Constance Langoye, from a small rustic
office on a side street in Bugiri, BUNASO have taken it as their
mission to help get vital information to the people of the district.
They give talks at schools and run an annual essay competition on
HIV/AIDS knowledge. They are honest to the children about the challenges
they will face and subscribe to the government's 'ABC' mantra
– Abstain, Be faithful, or use a Condom. They also work on
reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS. Constance is especially proud of
a sexual health radio programme they put out once a week in the
local Lusoga language run by volunteers and with great on-air participation
by the local communities.
The victories, small and large, are all equally important. But
the road is long and new challenges arise all the time. The commercial
sex trade will not go away. Those suffering from HIV/AIDS will suffer
stigma for a long time to come and thus be afraid of disclosure.
Whilst children can be educated, the dual powers of peer pressure
and simple lust can never be discounted.
Many other groups operate in Bugiri district and throughout Uganda
to help those stricken with HIV and AIDS and their families. But
in a town where it is a common sight to see men cycle with coffins
strapped to their bicycles, no-one can doubt the hardship ahead.
The activists are hopeful. Today in Bugiri a candlelight vigil will
be held to celebrate the lives of the ones already gone and to affirm
their hope in a better future. Always helping, teaching and supporting
but retaining their Ugandan pride and composure these activists
– often unpaid – are like the very market around which
they live: busy but calm.
Conor O'Loughlin is a volunteer media officer with GOAL
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