Straight Talk, February 2006

www.straight-talk.or.ug

His disciples asked Him, "Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind? Jesus answered, neither that the man nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. John 9:1-3

Mega Capital Radio Rhino FM Voice of Toro Voice of Teso Radio Paidha Nile B/casting Radio Rukungiri Open Gate Rock Mambo Radio Hoima Freedom II Apac Messiah Nile FM

ENGLISH

Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Friday Saturday Sunday Saturday Friday Saturday Friday Sunday Sunday Saturday Sunday

3:30 pm 8:00 pm 7:30 pm 11:30am 7:30 pm 7:30 pm 7:30 pm 8:30 pm 8:30 pm 6:30 pm 7:30 pm 6:30 pm 7:30 pm 6:15 pm 6:30 pm

PROGRAMMES

Tune in to

98.6 FM 91.3 FM 96.1 FM 101 FM 88.4 FM 87.8 FM 89.4 FM 96.9 FM 103.2 FM 106.8 FM 88.6 FM 97.4 FM 92.9 FM 97.5 FM 94.1 FM

Straight Talk Radio Show

Words of wisdom He saw a man blind from birth.

06 uar y 20 r b e F 2 . o Vol. 13 N

I was born with HIV

Proscovia is 17 and has just completed 'O' levels. She is beautiful and strong. Can you see with your eyes that she has HIV? She told our student journalists: “I was born with HIV. I tested positive in S2. At first I hated and stigmatized myself. Most of the time I would sit away from my friends and cry. I felt very useless. I was angry and annoyed. But the counseling I got from CDC and TASO changed my life.

adolescents. They also answered Dear Syfa questions.

This Straight Talk was written by students in Tororo. We found them attending activities at the FPAU youth center. Thanks, FPAU, for welcoming us. These students learnt a lot by working as journalists for Straight Talk. They walked around town and interviewed other

Students design page one.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

This year Straight Talk is coming to you in person! In 2006 our editors are putting together every issue of the newspaper with a Straight Talk club upcountry.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Journalists for a day

I am now on ARVs and doing well. My advice to fellow youth is: ‘Avoid self-stigma. Feel free and get counselling from TASO or a nearby health centre.’” Learn more from Proscovia on Page 2.

Headteachers! Renew your PO Box "My opinion is...": Student editors at work.

Do you belong to a Straight Talk club — in or out-of-school? Would you like to be a journalist for a day? Write to Journalist for a Day, Straight Talk,

PO Box 22366, Kampala.

It is a new year. So Post Office needs you to pay for your PO Box. Rush now. A school without a PO Box does not easily get Straight Talk.

2 Straight Talk, February 2006

Proscovia’s story

By Brian Pade and Caro Athieno "My mother died when I was 13. I was the one in the hospital washing her and taking care of her. She didn’t tell me that she had HIV. I found out from my dad. She died when I was doing P7 in 2000. In those days we did not have ARVs.

told them that I am HIV positive and they should pray for me. They said: “Don’t be worried.” I am talking now to Straight Talk to help others in my situation. At TASO we have a club of nine adolescents on ARVs. We bring our experiences and advise each other. Boys come to me. I tell them I am not ready for a relationship. But we still chat. I am not planning to get married. I do not want to infect anyone. If I get a job, I’ll just stay with that."

My brother died when he was 8 in 2001 and my sister died when she was 6 in 2002. I was also born with the virus but I lived without falling sick until I reached S2. I got very sick. I had TB and malaria. I was coughing seriously.

Boys started calling me "sick girl". I took it simple but reported to a teacher. She talked to them, and they stopped. The day I went to test, my CD4 count was just 84. I was very thin, weighing only 32 kgs. They started me on TB treatment. After one month I started on ARVs. That was 2004. I began

Asking questions: journalists for a day Caro and Brian interview Proscovia. Caro is in S6 at Kithende SS, Wakiso. Brian has just completed S6 at Kiira College, Jinja. feeling better right away. I got no bad side effects. I started gaining weight. I am now approaching 60 kgs. I finally got my periods in 2005 when I was over 16.

slowly. It is now 504. I have told five people that I am HIV positive. They are close to me. If I am absent, they copy notes for me.

I take three tablets twice a day. My CD4 count increased slowly by

Before, when I was very sick, they would say: “Prossie, what?!” So I

Talk about it! Proscovia was brave to tell her story. Let us learn from it. Discuss in a Straight Talk or any other club: •Why do people give nicknames to people who they think have HIV? •What can you do to stop it from happening? •How can you help classmates with HIV? •What do you think about Prossie's decision never to marry?

fall. Everyone with HIV needs to talk to their counselor about Septrin.

CD4 count CD4 cells are the white blood cells targeted by the HIV. A healthy person has a CD4 count of 5001000. When the CD4 count falls below 200, a person with HIV needs ARVs. Prossie’s CD4 count rose from just 84 to 504 after 2 years on ARVs.

Let's get medical!

Proscovia passed her 'O' level exams. Straight Talk Foundation/ Mvule Trust will pay for her 'A' Level education. You do not pick a red bean: no infection.

In some couples one partner has HIV, while the other does not. This is called discordance. How does this happen? Think about a bag of white beans with a few red beans in it, representing HIV.

When you put your hand in, you might pull out just white beans. So on that act of sex, you did not get the virus, but you could have.

You do pick a red bean. Now you are infected. This can happen on your first act of sex.

But the next time you put your hand in the bag, you pick a red bean. So on that act of sex, you got HIV.

Tuberculosis (TB) This is the main infection that attacks the immune system when HIV has weakened you. If you test positive for HIV, get checked right away for TB. You can have it without knowing. Treatment is free, and TB is curable.

HIVis chance

Proscovia shows her medicines. You have to take ARVs exactly as the doctor says. You need to try to never miss a dose.

A CD4 cell with HIVs (seen as small blue dots) attached to it. The HIVs will eventually destroy the cell.

ARVs (Antiretrovirals)

Septrin

ARVs are the only medicines that stop HIV from reproducing. About 9% of people with HIV in Uganda need ARVs.

Taken twice daily, this antibiotic reduces sickness due to HIV. You get less malaria, diarrhoea and skin or chest infections. It helps your CD4 count not to

ARVs are not a cure: you can still infect others. And you need to take ARVs for life. When you stop, the HIV starts to multiply again.

If your partner has a high viral load of HIV or one of you has an STD, there will be more red beans in the bag. You will have more chance of getting infected. You cannot tell someone with a high HIV load or STDs by just looking at them Unless they stop sex or use condoms for every act of sex, sooner or later the negative person in a discordant couple gets infected. Getting HIV is chance. Do not gamble with it.

You are more likely to pick a red bean (get HIV) if one of you has an STD or your partner has a high viral load.

3 Straight Talk, February

2006

Be a highly effective teenager A habit is something that you do automatically. • A good habit is like washing your hands after going to the latrine. • A bad habit is blaming others for everything bad that happens to you.

Make or break

Get good habits! You reap what you sow!

Be pro-active

This year Straight Talk is going to be talking about a set of powerful habits that will give us more control over our lives. Have a look at these drawings and ask yourself.

Your habits can make you into a great person. Or they can break you into pieces.

• How many of those good habits are mine? • And how many of the bad habits are mine?

The good thing is that we can choose our habits, and we can learn new and better ones.

STF credits Sean Covey and his book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers for these ideas.

you reap an d n a t h g u o Sow a th . act. eap a habit r u o y d n a t Sow an ac and you reap a Sow a habit character. acter and you reap a s Sow a char By Samuel Smile . y destin

For a life with fruitful harvests, work on these good habits.

Have a goal Put first things first Think win win Be a good listener Work with others

Constantly renew yourself

For a life of regrets, try these bad habits! (But we do NOT recommend them!)

•Blame others •Do not have a plan •Put off important things to last minute •See life as a competition •Do not listen to other people's ideas •Exhaust yourself with unproductive ventures •Never cooperate

Start your own business Boys, have you thought of selling water? Clean fresh water is needed everywhere. It costs about 50,000/= to start a water business. That money will buy you a wheelbarrow and four jerry cans. Or you can simply use your bicycle and two jerry cans.

Most families find it hard to pay school fees. So almost every teenager needs to think of how to make money during holidays or in the evenings after school.

No sitting idle!

You can start up a business that makes a profit wherever people: 1. need to buy things. 2. need things to be done for them.

"I start working at 6am and press three packets of wheat flour. I prepare 70 chapatis a day, which I sell at the taxi stage for 200 each. I can earn 14,000 shillings a day before I take away costs." Could you do this work during your holidays or after school?

Girls, what about running a tea service? You will need to buy cups, a tray, a sigiri, charcoal and milk and tea or coffee.

How about selling cassettes, shining shoes, washing cars or collecting and selling old newspapers?

Or what about roasting gonja or making chapati?

In 2006 Straight Talk is celebrating working adolescents who are also schooling.

David is a professional chapati maker in Kampala.

Kampala, and tell us how you combine work with school. Win a prize! Describe your business, including the challenges, how much you have to spend to do your business and how much you earn. With thanks to GTZ and its youth business handbook.

Write to PO Box 22366,

Rock Point 256 is a radio drama: enjoy and learn

Munankone Jafali, ST club member, Kangulumo SS, Busembatia

Iwumbwe Joel, Headboy, Lwamata Central Academy, Kiboga

Mubiru Isa, Chairman ST Club, Buzibwera SS, Luweero

Kachaina Anita, Rwentobo HS, Ntungamo

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

3666 2236 Boxx22 O.Bo P.P.O. A L A P M KK AA M P A L A

He is actually not your boyfriend because he does not respect the completion of your studies. Insist on your decision to wait. Patience pays to those who wait. Anita, remember. Good men love ladies who stick to wise decisions. So do not be afraid of being dumped. He may not keep his promise to marry you if you give into sex. Answer by M Malengerera, S Osere

My boyfriend and I agreed to delay sex but recently he tried to rape me. I fought him and he ran away in shame. Later he wrote to apologise. He said he had been overcome by emotions. We have been apart for four months. I still have feelings for him. But I feel he could be violent again. Dorcus, 14, Nyakyera SS, Ntungamo Please Dorcus, at 14 you are still too young to have a boyfriend. Look ahead of you. There is a bright future after your education. He is not the right person for you since he cannot respect your feelings and ambitions and also cannot control his sexual desire. Answer by F Armani I have a girlfriend. We usually have protected sex. The last time we met she told me that she is pregnant yet she is in S6. What can I do because I don’t want my parents to know about it. Charles, Kawempe Muslim Now Charles, accept the fact that this happened and, like you said, you actually seem to be responsible for it. We advise you to involve your parents since you feel you cannot handle this matter alone. Or you can involve your closest relatives. If this does not work, consult a counselor or health worker for help. Answer by

Straight Talk adds: Charles, this is what happens if you use a condom only “usually ” (most times). Condom give little or no protection unless you use it “always” (all the time) not “usually”. I love my boy like nothing on earth. We used to stay together in the same district but now we stay very far and meet only once in a while. When we meet, he demands for sex. When I refuse, he tells me that I’ve lost respect for him. He never used to tell me such. Please advise because I am worried of loosing him. Agnes, Zika Foundation School, Kibaale Agnes, first understand what true love is. True love means waiting, patience and being genuine. If this is lacking in your relationship, it is not good enough. Please talk to your boyfriend when he is in a good mood. Ask him if the relationship

Education and saying No to sex is our priority, ST club members, Lwangosia SS, Bugiri

All these Dear SYFA questions were answered by the Tororo FPAU youth group (in picture), who were Straight Talk ìJournalists for a Dayî for this issue of Straight Talk. You can also be a ìJournalist for a Dayî. Write to P.O. Box 22366, Kampala. is for sex or for marriage. If it is for marriage, then he waits. If it is for sex, then you put an end to it. Answer by Vincent, Mark, Roney and Banda.

I am an S6 vacist and a virgin. Friends say that at the university I must get a girl to fit in. They say campus girls are so sharp and put on outfits that even the impotent can hardly resist. Advise me in time. Tom, Soroti Thanks, Tom. Despite the pressure, fitting in on campus does not mean you should have a girl. Have educational friends who can help you to stay safe by delaying sex or always using a condom. The outfits girls put on should not scare you. Have self-control and

Z Q UIIZ QU

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

SYFA

Vincent, Mark, Roney and Banda.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Dear

My boyfriend promised to marry me. He has finished his studies but I am still studying. He always asks me for sex which I do not want at this time. Will this boy continue to be my lover? A Nabakooza, 17, S3, Kagadi Academy, Kibaale

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

4 Straight Talk, February 2006

healthy decisions in your mind. Answer by Vincent, Mark, Roney and Banda.

When a girl starts menstruating and misses a month does it mean that she is pregnant? If not, what is the cause? R Nakasanye, 14, Nakaseke 2000 Academy It is normal to have periods then stop, especially for a beginner. However, if you miss your periods and had earlier had unprotected sex, then it is possible that one is pregnant. Visit a health centre for peace of mind. Answer by B Pade, Ramazan N, C Kutosi, C Athieno, Peter M, all S6 vacists.

Straight Talk Foundation thanks the “Journalists for a Day” in Tororo for these great answers.

activity. If ? If yes, do the following as a club Are you in a Straight Talk or any club . not, take it as your own assignment ney and things in your life. Is it right to have a mo of Talk with a friend about the role in a When are money and things good gs? relationship for money and thin problems? relationship? When do they cause ly write to us Based on those questions, private you ever had a answering these questions: Have What relationship for money and things? happened? What did you get? or money to get OR : Have you ever offered things Did you get ? give you a relationship? What did your of y stor the us what you wanted? Tell raffle for a into go will rs relationship. Your lette Money Quiz, prizes. Wait and see! Write to ST

PO Box 22366, Kampala

STRAIGHT TALK FOUNDATION

Publisher: 45 Bukoto St., Kamwokya, P. O. Box 22366, Tel: 0312-262030, 0312-262031 041530088 Kampala (U), Fax: 041-534858, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], Web: www.straight-talk.or.ug Communications Director: Cathy Watson,, Programme Director: Anne Akia Fiedler, Editors: Teopista Agutu, Betty Kagoro, Edith Kimuli, Gilbert Awekofua. Designers: MeBK, G.bM, Funded by DANIDA, DFID, Ireland Aid, and SIDA Printer: Vision Printing