Time to talk about work for a bit…

We come up with all sorts of programs in our district that help to fight against HIV/AIDS. I often find myself facilitating a workshop or going to speak at a school…I am in endless meetings with health teams to talk about programs we have in the district and I am also in a multitude of planning meetings to plan programs for the upcoming year.

One of the coolest things we did this year was to hold day long workshops for all of the government drivers in the district. I have a group of men that have been trained to speak on all sorts of issues and especially to talk to other men about "Men and Sexuality." Sometimes I am in awe at a workshop because I listen to one of the men in my trained group speaking to a group of government drivers about how men need to be involved in the fight against AIDS. They talk about how sexuality has to change in Botswana and how men have to learn to communicate with their partners and how Botswana need to "start having sex with the lights on" (they love to talk about this…the implication being that it's not something that you should only partake in when the lights are off and there's little communication about protection).

At the end of our workshops the drivers are each given a little cloth bag to keep in their vehicles. These bags were made by a People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) group that we have in the district. The bags contain male condoms, a female condom, latex gloves, and all sorts of educational pamphlets concerning HIV programs. These bags have become quite popular in the district, and I am incredibly proud of our PLWHA group for their work in making them!

The best part of these workshops is seeing actual change take place…the change is slow, but when you see men start to talk about issues of sex and family and faithfulness…you can't help but notice the beginning of change.

Here's what the bag looks like (the bag says "Stop AIDS" in both English and Setswana):