Straight Talk, May 2009

HIV basics: Septrin

Meet our new Lukonzo radio journalist

• The World Health Organization and Ugandan Government want all people living with HIV to take Septrin daily. • They should start as soon as they learn that they have HIV. • Septrin dramatically improves the health of people with HIV, helping to prevent chest and skin infections, diarrhoea, and malaria. • Even people on ARVs need Septrin.

Lukonzo is the main language of Bundibugyo and Kasese and one of the 14 in which STF airs its radio shows for adolescents. Jokas Kabairwe has taken over from Biira Gedi, who is now busy with Parent Talk. He says: "I am enjoying work and making new friends. I am learning the computer. Each day my typing speed increases." Listen to Jokas on Messiah FM Sunday 6:15pm and VOT Friday 7:30pm

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Bundibugyo

Cocoa pods in Bundibugyo: cocoa makes chocolate.

A girl carries a load the traditional Kikonzo way, using her forehead. is a beautiful land. The Rwenzori Mountains tower above the flat and open Rift valley. Meandering the 47 km road from Fort Portal is an experience to write home about. The road is said to have 90 corners, but we counted more. Maybe we considered the minor ones! The road ushers you into the Semliki Game Reserve. Uganda kobs welcome you. Just driving through, you see over 50. Some pose gracefully for pictures, others shy away. Some are inquisitive. Some hold a meeting in the the road. They give you way then resume. You spot an antelope some 150 m away. Waterbucks are also close to the road. A baboon is up a tree, a family of about 20 nearby. As our vehicle approaches, the baboon

You cannot miss the baboons in Semliki Game Reserve

leader emerges from the shrubs and majestically walks away. Buffalos graze in groups of five or six. An elephant has just pushed down a tree and is now walking to the lakeshore to drink. We wish we could see more, but we are now in Ntoroko, a fishing village on Lake Albert. Later, moving to Bundibugyo town is scaring: one slip off the road, you are gone. You hold your breath. Then you spot water spurting from the ground: hot springs! When you reach them, you do not need a sigiri to boil eggs. Just drop them there, and in a few minutes, hunger is history.

Tribes in Bundibugyo Bundibugyo is the land of the Bakonzo, Bamba and Batwa. Bakonzo and Bamba share a similar cultural lineage. Both have the beautiful and healthy culture of circumcising their boys. The Batwa are pygmies, the original inhabitants of the south-west. So Bundibugyo is very beautiful and diverse. But not everything is alright there. Sadly, we found adolescents in Bundibugyo facing many risks. Some had been forced into sex. Others had already acquired HIV. But we are happy to say

Because the terrain (landscape) is steep, people dig from the hilltop to the bottom.

that many have stood their ground and said NO to sexual exploitation. Read more about Straight Talkers in Bundibugyo on p2 & 3.

Fishing villages can be tricky. Fish brings a lot of cash. This can cause easy life, which in turn brings HIV. If you live near a lake, tell us: how you balance fishing and school? What do you do with your money? Have you stayed safe? Write to

PO Box 22366 Kampala and

WIN!

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Straight Talk, May 2009

• I escaped my brother's wife It was a weekend and I was

Rape is not the culture of Bundibugyo or Uganda as a whole. Unfortunately in Bundibugyo rape seems common right now. For example, boys may waylay a girl who has said NO to one of their friends: then one boy rapes her. This is very wrong.

• Bad company

One day a friend conned for me a boy. I refused him and reported her to my mother, who stopped me from moving with her. But our friendship never stopped. One day she asked me to accompany her to her sister’s place. The house was not locked, though it was closed. We entered. My friend went out to look for her sister and left me inside. As I waited, the boy appeared from one of the rooms. He closed the door and started undressing me. I tried to fight him, but failed. He raped me. I later found that I was pregnant. I dropped out of school. An NGO that cares for girls' education paid my fees. I am now in S4. Girl, 18, Karugutu SS Editor: What happened to you is very sad. Be careful of wrong friends. Listening to parents is protective. It is good to hear that you got another chance for school.

• Eats 'choked' ME

At 15, I had a girlfriend who used to buy me eats. One day she invited me to her home. When I reached, I found she had prepared good food. We ate. Afterwards she took me to her bed and we had sex. I never wanted, but she had given me lots of things. I tested later and was negative. Today I say no to sex. Bonnie, S3, Karugutu SS

Trouble with teachers Some learners in Bundibugyo told us that teachers disturb them. I had a boyfriend who was a teacher at my school. When he asked me to have sex with him, I refused. He said he would wait for me in a dark place and rape me. Recently, he found me at a dark spot and wanted to rape me. Fortunately, people came and arrested him. He is now in prison. I am worried he could bribe police officers and come for me. Edith, 19, Karugutu SS

Editor: Edith, that was very bad. But in future, do not make a teacher into a boyfriend. Avoid dark spots and walking at night, especially when alone. The same teacher or another man could lay a trap for you. Please, teachers, remember your Code of Conduct.

Be careful when older men befriend you!

Smart fishing boys at Ntoroko on Lake Albert know how to manage their money. They do not visit prostitutes or take alcohol. They help their families and save for school fees. Editor: Thank you for learning from that bad experience. Gifts weaken our resistance to sex. Ask WHY when people give you favours. Good enough, some Straight Talkers resisted bad sex.

resting when my brother's wife knocked on my bedroom door. My brother was not at home. When I opened, she came straight to my bed. She asked for sex and began touching my penis. I walked out in protest. She told me not to tell my brother. But when he came back, she told him that I had wanted to rape her. My brother chased me away. I went back to my parents. Now the distance I walk from home to school is very long. Richard, 18, S3, Kakuka Hill SS Editor: Oh Richard! That long distance is better than the danger of sex with your sister-inlaw. Many Straight Talkers have fallen into such traps and, unlike you, did not escape. Thanks for being brave and smart. Straight Talker, if you find yourself in such a situation, walk away like Richard. Leaders in Bundibugyo are doing a lot to protect young people with bye-laws on alcohol. Thank you, leaders! We are happy to work with you.

Straight Talkers at Kukuka Hill SS, Bundibugyo, speak out on dangers young people face • Boys: Getting involved with gangs that rape girls.

can lead to forced and unprotected sex.

• Girls:Some have sex with teachers for good marks. When they dress indecently, men think they want sex. Walking alone in lonely places is very dangerous.

• Both boys and girls: Wanting more than you have or your parents can offer you. • Irresponsible parenting: many students are not loved, cared for or even disciplined at home, even when they go home late. • Culture: many people don’t value education.

• Both boys and girls: Having many sex partners. Alcohol and drugs

Jane, 19, who was born with HIV, shares her life with us.

Dear diary,

It has been a good month, though I have flu and cough. I will go to the doctor tomorrow. I've done a lot of work in the office and have also been very busy with the bead and jewelry project I have with my boyfriend. I encouraged him to start this company. You know, he paints. He's an artist and enterprising. I like him for that. Anyway, we started with very little money. Business is picking. We sell our products to friends abroad. A set of a necklace, earrings and bracelet goes for 40,000/=. You put in about 10,000/=. So it's good profit and keeps us running. There

is less reading this month, so I will do my industrial training. I am going to counsel children who are born with HIV. Letters to Jane "I would like to advise Jane to stop having sex with her boyfriend to avoid re-infection or always use condoms. Nansubuga Olivia, St. Kalemba SS

Dearest Olivia, thank you for the great advice. Me and my boyfriend are currently abstaining until the time we feel that we are financially stable

and physically ready. Besides that, we are both aware that we could re-infect each other during unprotected sex so we are delaying. But Jane, where did your parents go? Did they die or abandon you? I would like to know, please. B Phiona, Dabani Girls SS, Busia Thank you, Phiona, for writing. I lost my dad in 2000. He died of AIDS. I only have a mother who is not strong enough nowadays to work and look after us. So this puts me in charge of looking after her and my siblings. I would like to know the challenges you went through and how you have managed to live a positive life. Please

advise how other youth can live with HIV. I hear people saying that once you get it, it means the end of everything. Nakimuli AB, Dabani Girls Thank you so much for writing to me. One challenge I faced was stigma. At school I was nicknamed because of falling sick all the time. Also, accepting that I was positive was hard. But with peer support at my clinic, I am now able to stand out of the crowd. I changed my attitude. That’s why I am able to reach out to young people like you with an aim of saving lives through the power of my testimony.

Being HIV positive doesn’t mean the end of everything. It simply means the beginning of "a new life with precaution".

Straight Talk, May 2009

Inside Kichwamba: Technical studies for girls Young people who go to technical institutes are like hot cakes. They easily get jobs. Read about Kichwamba Technical Institute in Kabarole on the road to Bundibugyo. Engineer Jorem Adutu, the Principal of the Institute, says technical skills help fresh graduates to get jobs immediately. “We give skills that employers want. The job market is about what you can do,” says Adutu. Vocational courses are for girls too, he says. Currently Kichwamba has 53 female students against 488 males. They expect 100 females and 600 males in the next academic year. “Things have changed," Adutu says. "Women need these skills too. We are committed to see that they get them." Right! Days when girls were excluded from some academic programmes are long gone. Women can drive taxis, build houses, fly planes and fight on front lines. "I joined Kichwamba because I had the passion to do engineering," says Ann Mary Nalusiba, 21, who is doing Electrical Engineering.

Ruth Mulongo is a first year student of Mechanical Engineering. She Ruthworker, expected to be a medical Mulongo but did not get a place. "At first I did not like this course. But my relatives encouraged me and I joined Kichwamba Technical Institute. I like mechanical engineering. Fixing cars is fun. In town people respect us for doing a 'man's job'." BUT at tertiary, there are HIV risks, just like at secondary. At Kichwamba there are ten boys for every one girl. "So boys who do not get girlfriends at the school sometimes end up in trading centres with older women," explains Emaru Adam, 21, who is the Guild President.

"The women often have other partners, and there is partying. Students can get drunk and expose themselves to HIV." But most students know how to handle themselves. "Some students are misled by freedom, but I am focussed," says Galabuzi Jimmy, a 2nd year in Mechanical Engineering. "I have what it takes to make girls run around. I am from Kampala. I have the clothes and money. But I have no time for girls. I want to concentrate on my studies. I would not want to have a retake." "It is normal for boys to approach

you especially when you are in first year," says Twinomujuno Naome, 23, a 2nd year in Water Engineering. "But most of the ladies here are born-again. If you are not, you share a room with a born again, and sex may not be easy. I have a boyfriend who is not here. I call him everyday before I go to sleep. Even my parents know him. We are waiting to have sex. There is no need to rush to heaven when you are gong to spend there so long."

Kichwamba history

Tragically, 30 Kichwamba students died on 8 June 1998 when Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked. STF paid its respects at the grave.

Get PEP within 72 hours after rape In Bundibugyo we visited Nyahuka Health Centre to check on the availability of PEP, the medicine you take after rape to reduce the chance of HIV infection. There the in-charge, Godfrey Biguyi, said that rape survivors don’t go for PEP because they fear the stigma of rape. That is sad and wrong! Girls -- and boys too -- if you are exposed to the body fluids of a person whose HIV status you do not know, rush for PEP. All health centres that give ARVs also offer PEP. It is free. Do not delay. You must get PEP within 72 hours. The sooner you get it, the better it works. When you go to the health centre, you will be tested for HIV. If you are HIV negative, the health worker will give you PEP (ARV drugs) to take for the next 30 days.

Do not fear stigma. Go for PEP. Your shyness will last for a day. HIV is for life.

Critical thinking is identifying a problem and finding a solution to it. The problem here is HIV. Think critically about how you can avoid it. If a man asks you for sex, it might be that he has been giving you gifts. Giving your body is not a good solution. Instead, you could return the gifts if you still have them. You can also stop receiving them. Critical thinking gives a permanent solution to the root problem. If you fail to think critically, you can get into very big problems. • Be alert to your environment and the people around you • Weigh all the options that come in your mind • Listen to your sixth sense: if you sense danger, run away. By Beatrice Bainomugisha, counselor, Straight Talk

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Think critically about your surroundings. What are these boys planning?

"We all make mistakes, but if we repeat a mistake, it means we are not learning." Ochole Milton, AIDS Information Centre, Soroti

Circumcision is the removal (the cutting off) of the foreskin of the penis. This can be done for religious, cultural or medical reasons. Everyone knows that the Bagisu circumcise their boys. But it is also the culture of the Bakonzo and the Bamba. If circumcision is done in the traditional way, each boy should have his own knife to avoid transmitting HIV. Never share the same knife. Now doctors have discovered that males who are circumcised are about 60% less likely to get HIV -- although they can still get infected (they are not immune). So health workers are now circumcising males to reduce the spread of HIV. Circumcision is helpful because HIV likes to enter the body through the delicate cells on the foreskin. When the foreskin is removed, the skin of the tip of penis becomes drier and tougher. This makes it harder for HIV to enter the body. Circumcision also improves personal hygiene. Circumcision is best done in a hospital to reduce risks of infection, over-bleeding and injury. Remember, Straight Talkers, even if you are circumcised, you can still get infected with HIV. Continue to say NO to sex. Once sexually active, you will need to test with your partner, use condoms and be faithful. By Dr. Christine Nalwadda, Makerere University School of Public Health

4 Straight Talk, May 2009

Dear

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Periods and sex desires

My cousin told me that during her periods, she feels like having sex. But she fears. She wants to keep her virginity. What can I tell her? Munduni F, Vvura Secondary School, Arua You have a very open cousin, who can share with you. That is good. Encourage her to continue abstaining from sex. The desire to have sex is normal. All people get sex desires. Many young people (and old people too!) just follow their desires. But the mark of a wise and mature-thinking person is the ability to delay fulfillment of their desire. Time will come when she can have sex anytime she wants: when she has a good education, a job, and someone who loves her and who has tested with her for HIV.

Food types and HIV

Is it true that some food hides the HIV virus in your blood if eaten before going for an HIV test? Babuthirwaki G, Kasese High School There are no food types that hide the presence of HIV in the body, leading to a negative test. But I know that people can lie that they went for a test and they were

"The mark of a wise and mature-thinking person is the ability to delay fulfillment of their desire."

Dr P Semugoma

negative when they are not. So it is important to test together with your partner. It is also best to go to a center which is authorised: a government clinic, TASO or AIDS Information Center. Also, when a person goes for a test with a partner, they can go to two places, one of the partner’s choice and one of your own choice. Some people forge results.

Forced love

There is a woman who wants to fall in love with me by force. She threatens to go to a witchdoctor to bewitch me if I refuse. What can I do? S Alema, Vvura Secondary School, Arua Do not be scared by this woman. She cannot harm you. She is just scaring you. Love cannot be forced. Pray to God for protection and continue your good efforts at school. Tell your teacher, parents or trusted adult about it. Do not worry. You will be OK.

Painful periods

Whenever I am in my periods, I feel a lot of pain around my private parts. I also change pads all the time. What can I do? Ninsiima J, S2, Rukungiri SS Sometimes when the body is

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“Abstinence from sex is our key factor for education success.” Albert Valley College School, Straight Talk Club, Karugutu love'. It is not love but a desire to get things. Relationships with older men or women put young people at high risk of getting HIV/ STDs. This is because they are mixing with people outside their age group. Boys, do not run after girls. Concentrate on your studies. Make friends with girls of good character, who concentrate on their work. Girls, do not demand for gifts or run after big men. Relationships in Answers by You will end up in trouble. schools Dr. Paul Semugoma, Why is it that when Sex for fees IHK, Kampala girls join secondary I have a sugar mummy schools they love men who is paying my fees. She outside their school instead is forcing me into having sex of boys in their schools? with her. I am totally disturbed. I Magezi, Sserwanga Lwanga S Amanyire, King Jesus College, Memorial SS, Kalangala Kasese Many young girls are attracted to I understand. You are totally older men because they think love disturbed because you know this is is shown by the gifts and money wrong and you deserve better. You they receive from them. This is are at very high risk of getting HIV/ called ‘something for something STDs, if you have sex with her. There must be a way you can get money for fees without selling patient and Be your body. Look for a job or a g. un yo ll sti e ar You get pregnant scholarship. You have a future, and give birth. But don’t nts. re pa ur yo it will be good depending on the to e gis again. Apolo ll forgive wi ey choices you make now. Get more Th d. ve ha be Be well to school. ck counseling from your nearest youth ba u yo e tak d an you Girls SS or health center. G Eunice, Dabani still developing, many things can happen: painful periods, heavy bleeding, too little bleeding, and pain in the back. However, periods are not supposed to be very painful. If the pain continues, tell your mother or a trusted aunt and go see a doctor. You can be given medicine to reduce the pain.

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Alice Abiko is now in S6

QUIZ! WIN!

Readers: advise Diana’s friend

My friend stays with both her parents. When her mother is away, her father brings another woman in the house. My friend is paid by her father not to tell her mother. Her father has promised her hell on earth if she ever tells her mother. What can my friend do to save her mother without her father knowing? Diana, 14, S2, Tororo Girls

Straight Talk FOUNDATION Plot 4 Acacia Avenue, Kololo, P. O. Box 22366, Tel: 0312-262030/1, 0414530088 Kampala (U) E-mail: [email protected], Web: www.straight-talk.or.ug; Executive Director: C Watson, Director Print: T Agutu, Editorial Manager: E Kimuli, Editors: G Awekofua, M Akello, J Abongowath, F Ouma, Chief Designer: M eB. Kalanzi, Designers: G Mukasa, AB Dentine, Funded by DANIDA, DFiD, SIDA, DCI