International Rescue Committee (IRC)
News, Photos & Videos › Blog › 'HIV/AIDS does not make you a monster'

VOICES FROM THE FIELDTHE IRC BLOG

'HIV/AIDS does not make you a monster'


May 15, 2008
By The IRC
The IRC A drama group performs a short play in Rupa sub-county entitled "Protect Yourself: Use a Condom." Photo: The IRC 
Uganda's northeastern Karamoja region is set apart from the rest of the country, both by geography and by the traditions of its inhabitants, most of whom are semi-nomadic livestock herders. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, this isolation kept Karamoja safe from the HIV/AIDS epidemic.Because HIV/AIDS is still relatively new to the region, knowledge and attitudes about the disease lag behind the rest of the country. The spread of HIV/AIDS within Karamoja is closely related to the frequency of rape during violent cattle-raiding among the region's different clans, as well as during courtship. Another contributing factor is the still-common practice of bride inheritance, in which newly widowed women are taken as wives by a male member of their deceased husband's family. Where a widow has been infected with HIV by her husband there is a risk that she in turn will unknowingly infect her new husband. To counter these practices, the IRC provides education and counseling to rape survivors and offers community education programs about the effects of rape and violence against women. The IRC also sponsors community gatherings where drama groups perform plays and songs with HIV-related educational themes. "The performances convey to male audiences that rape and abuse of women are flatly unacceptable," says IRC HIV/AIDS program officer Drametu Jimmy. The performers in the dramas act out of their own life experience - many are HIV-infected themselves. "I do this to soften the hearts in the community," said Amuge Patricia, a member of a drama group based in Kotido district. "I want them to know that being infected does not make you cursed or a monster." Read the full story, by IRC's Thomas Bohnett, here.
Posted in , , , | Tags: , , , , ,
1 comment

Comments

Thanks

Submitted by hunny (not verified) on December 19, 2008 - 8:59am.

Thanks

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Type the characters you see in this picture. (verify using audio)
Type the characters you see in the picture above; if you can't read them, submit the form and a new image will be generated. Not case sensitive.

ABOUT THIS BLOG        COMMENT GUIDELINES        DONATE        ARCHIVE