Symposium on

"Preventing and Coping with HlV/AlDS in Post Conflict

Societies: Gender Based Lessons from SubSaharan Africa"

Prepared by

Guilhermina L. Milice

INTRODUCTION

MULEME was created in 1991 by a group of women active in issues relating to women and development, which is a non‑governmental organization dedicated to educating women about their rights and to implement affirmative action programs and campaigns for legal reform constitute an important part of its program MULEIDE is also aware of the defense of women's rights also requires the promotion of their economic, social and psychological well being.

MULEIDE has a inter disciplinary group of members, including lawyers, psychologists, educationalists, doctors, economists, teachers and social Workers, as will as people with practical experience of work with women in development.

MULEIDE is active in the following areas­:

This last activity is to inform and educate women who had been displaced by the civil war, it was found that there was another serious problem that these women had to be aware of this problem was related to sexual transmitted diseases that affected most of them

MULEIDE had to teach them that these diseases could be associated with HIV/AIDS, and for the first time it was discovered in our country in 1996 in a northern province called Cabo Delgado, By the time the association was created there was AIDS already in the country,

The Project on prevention of STD/HIV/AIDS started in 1993 and it is funded by SAT (Southern African ADDS Training Program), A "School Without Walls" for Community AIDS initiative.

A research connected to the project was carried out and through this it involved the community leaders who helped in the selection of people to be trained to become peer educators in the IEC activities.

The matters discussed during the training were Sexuality and Sexuality in Adolescence, Sex and Gender, Gender and AIDS, Violence, STD/HIV/AIDS, Family Planning, Negotiation for Safer Sex Practice, Basic Knowledge of Counseling, Next Step.

The objective is to supply knowledge that motivate and encourage men and women to discuss openly their matters related to Sex and Sexuality, Gender, STD/HIV/AIDS and Unwanted Pregnancy, so that they can develop life liabilities that promote their Sexual and Reproductive Health, for their spouses, family and friends.

The methods used were Dialogue, Group work, debates, Exercises, Questions and answers, games, Drama and theatre and Music and dancing.

At the beginning this activities done by the peer educators which was not an easy task because of cultural practices the community did not want to hear about STDs for they said that we thought prostitution to the community.

The work continued without any interruption and we started expanding in 1996, when the peer educators started working in the neighbouring quarters 'Until 1998 the all worked in 10 suburbs in one of the districts called no. 5 and then we also worked in district no. 2 in one of the suburbs.

At the moment we have about 109 peer educators in 10 suburbs.

Our target group is women in difficult situation, along the years the community work was not easy to maintain the target group. The orientations on the Cairo conference in 1994 it took us to include the girl child and through the girl child and women we work with the community, because we fight for equality and equity we have worked without discrimination.

With this project MULEIDE pretends to contribute for the upbringing of womens' status through the reduction of the vulnerability for the HIV infection and unwanted pregnancy using the IEC techniques for the community sensitization.

It could be because of our intervention in 1993 the Day Hospital in Maputo Central Hospital only started registering AIDS cases in 1998 and at the same year the peer educators also found their first cases of people with long time illness with signs and simptoms that call the attention to be AIDS at the suburb when they were going from home to home.

Strategies to Reach our Goal

Because it is important that the communities accept our work we bet on elevating the community health through their own community.

The involvement of community leaders and other key people, for that we work with the knowledge of the District administrators with the suburb secretaries and leaders of the quarters as well as other people that are key people at the community in the sense to cooperate in the realization of the KAP study (Knowledge, attitudes and practices), as well as in the selection of people being trained as peer educators

How the work is done at the Grass root Level

HOW WE DEVELOP THE WORK

At the beginning the activities and the peer educators were not so many but as the years went by the activities were doubled and the work was made better.

We work with local coordinators in every quarter so that they follow their work at the grass root level because it is difficult to follow the work when we are at the office, but even then it does not mean that we don't supervise for we do and have meetings with the activists so that we are able to see their needs difficulties and gaps, during the meetings the peer educators also provide us with the report of the work they did and the Plan for the following month with date, time and place of the work at the grass root level.

Their main job is to:

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

We as MULEIDE are always working for equal rights and opportunities in a gender perspective, It is  difficult task because the time of men and women is different that is why we have more peer educators women than men because the men are working formally, like in the factories they are more men working there while at churches there are more women than men, actually this was not studied but it is the numbers brought out by our activities.

We are members of MONASO Mozambican Network AIDS Service Organization and Womens Forum this facilitates the sharing and changing of experience and cooperation in the following areas: Training, Elaborating and Project Management, Advocacy, Conflict Resolution, Acting at the Flood Emergency helping affected people by the floods in the years 2000 and 2001.

The Ministry of Health on the NACP (National STD/HIV/AIDS Control Program) we have been receiving encouragement and cooperation.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

MULEIDE is not a self sustainable NGO and is dependent on the outside donors that is International Donor agencies.

Our potential donor in this area since the start of the project in 1993 is the SAT Program ‑ Southern African AIDS Training Program.

ActionAid is also another donor that helped us start with project of Women to Women that started in 1998 and in 2001 men to men groups that were trained on Conflict Resolution, Negotiating for a safer Sex, communication STD/HIIV/AIDS and Family Planning, so that they can exchange and share experiences in their groups on how one member can be successful

We receive encouragement from many international organizations such as UNAIDS, UNICEF and many others.

At the end of the year project we  have an Annual Participatory Review to listen to the community leaders and other partners to talk about our work and to give us recommendations and ideas to improve our work.

DIFFICULTIES

The peer educators are volunteers they are not staff they are willing to serve the community so the as a way of survival many of the get jobs and are not activists any more, but as soon as we can we are able to replace them.

The condom stock is not stable for most of the times there is shortage of condoms so that we are unable to distribute condoms as we would like to.

Our districts are very big to be working by walking by feet it is difficult without transport.

We would very much liked our peer educators to have uniforms and educational material but unfortunately it is no possible

The Alcohol abuse makes more difficult for behaviour change.

RECOMMENDATIONS

DURBAN, MARCH 2001

PRESENTED BY: GUILHERMINA LANGA MILICE