A few weeks ago I went to Bushenyi (southwest Uganda) to see our health fairs in action. Cotton candy and tilt-a-whirls and pick-a-duck, you say? Ahhhh, no. But condom skits and insecticide treated bednet demonstrations and free HIV counseling and testing, which is just as exciting. And considerably better for your health.
The skinny on the health fairs: The night before the fair, a team drives around the town/village, bull horns in hand, and announces the time, the venue, and what a blast it’s going to be in order to mobilize the community. (Note: Torrential downpours the night before the health fair renders this critical step impossible, as was the case in Bushenyi.)
The day of the health fair, there’s a big stage set up, where various forms of entertainment take
place throughout the day, including a night film once it gets dark, which is usually an episode of our (ahem) award-winning Good Life Show (reference: June’s “Good Life Campaign Wins AfriComNet Award!” entry). Over the course of four hours (give or take), the audience rotates through small tents, each dedicated to a different health topic (HIV prevention, HIV palliative care, malaria, family planning). Each tent session has a skit, a demonstration on correct use of relevant health products, and a Q&A session. It provides a good opportunity to correct a lot of myths and misconceptions. No, it is not true that condoms have microscopic holes that HIV can pass through. No, it is not true that taking ARVs makes you die faster. And no, you can not get malaria from eating too many mangoes or walking in the rain.Another team conducts free HIV counseling and testing throughout the day. Clients go through a group pre-test counseling session to learn about HIV transmission and the testing process in general, then individual pre-test counseling sessions in order to assess their own personal HIV risk. Lab techs do the blood draws and test the samples, at which point the clients return
to the health tent sessions. One to two hours later, their results are ready. Names are called, and they go for individual post-test counseling to receive their results. At the Bushenyi health fair, the team tested 311 people, 20 of whom were HIV positive – interestingly, a 6.4% HIV prevalence, which matches the national prevalence exactly. Note: Doing HIV prevention, treatment, care and support programming for a living does not make it any easier to watch test results come out positive, and realize the implications for the happy, laughing people around you.On the lighter side, there were a ton of really cute little kids that made you want to scoop them up and take them home. I kept my kidnapping urges at bay by taking lots of pictures. Their fascination with my feet was unending. My feet are really white. And the exposed body part closest to their eye level.
I also liked the part where we picked up a hitch-hiking police officer on the drive to Bushenyi and dropped him off several kilometers down the road.
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