BUSTING MYTHS IN AFRICA

Paul McCarroll

By the time you’ve finished reading this article another woman will have received the unwelcome news that she’s HIV positive A new diagnosis is made every two minutes. Usually in parts of the world where there is inadequate medical care to provide the assistance needed and a social stigma that does almost as much damage as the virus.

Often the woman will also be told that she is pregnant. And sometimes that ‘woman’ is in their early teens or younger

Mothers2mothers

For the past twenty years charity Mothers2mothers has reached out to young girls living with HIV and unplanned pregnancy They train Mentor Mothers, who have themselves been infected, to provide primary healthcare and practical guidance to people like themselves. These Mentors are shining examples of why a diagnosis of HIV shouldn’t be considered the end of hope.

As an ad man I became involved with mothers2mothers this year. My task was to help educate adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa about the myths surrounding sexual health and pregnancy Two decades on from Jacob Zuma’s comments in court, it is still believed by many that a shower will wash away any infection. Crossing your fingers will stop you getting pregnant A handsome man cannot possibly have a sexually transmitted disease. Holy wine (Sobolo) will prevent HIV Drinking ice cold water or taking a pee are effective contraceptives.

These were just some of the myths Our job was to dispel them to as many young women as possible.

Don’t buy it

So we went to Ghana’s busiest market, during the busiest week of the year and erected a stall that sold nothing… but the truth.

On our ‘Don’t Buy it’ stall we offered ‘Don’t Buy It’ shampoo. ‘Don’t buy it’ toilet paper. And ‘Don’t buy it’ iced water flasks. We had Mentors on hand to provide advice to everyone who visited the stall And we created a discreet area at the back of the stall where people could be tested for HIV

Needless to say, the stall attracted a lot of interest We soon ran out of HIV tests and had to beg the government for more National TV (the Ghanian equivalent of the BBC) turned up and filmed us. National radio got involved. A celebrity went round the market to spread the message.

A long way to go

The stall in Makola Market was up for a week and, thanks to the media coverage, the message reached girls right across the country. But this is only a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of the problem. The stall will go to other markets in other cities and countries – it’s coming to London in November – but it needs more than PR stunts like this to get the message across to the point where it will make a real difference

Sex education is the key and, talking to a teacher in the Accra suburb of Ashaiman, both boys and girls are receptive to learning. When governments get right behind this, the myths will start to disappear.

In the meantime, mothers2mothers provides the support for those poor victims of unwanted sex leading to unwanted HIV and unplanned pregnancy Often these girls are abandoned by the father and ostracised by their community One woman told us how villagers would no longer buy food from her family’s shop for fear of catching HIV themselves That woman is now a Mentor herself. Her two children both went to university and have successful careers. For her, and for so many others, mothers2mothers has turned things round