Activity Days

The last two Saturdays have been filled with activities at Mount Sinai Centre for the formula milk babies and the food hamper kids. These are the days when Christa and other volunteers distribute the formula milk or food hampers, weigh the babies and kids, and take general health notes. The babies in the formula milk program are all under one year of age and 74 of the 77 babies are HIV-negative. The story is a little different with the food hamper program. Christa serves kids from one year of age all the way up to 13 in this program. More than half of the 107 kids in this program are HIV-positive. Christa provides food to them because the antiretroviral therapy is hard on their stomach and has certain nutritional requirements. Unfortunately, due to a hiccup (which may actually be a larger hiccup) there was no money to purchase food hampers for the kids last weekend. They are coming back to the centre tomorrow in hopes that the hiccup has smoothed out and their ration of food for the next month has arrived.

Christa and the other volunteers also address any problems that the women are having at this time and provide counseling and referrals as necessary. There was a pretty serious case two Saturdays ago when Christa overheard one of the women telling the other women that she doesn't want her baby anymore. The other women laughed, thinking she was joking, but Christa could tell that the woman was serious.She pulled her aside to a private room to talk and the young woman confided that the father is not doing anything, she doesn't have any money, and she doesn't trust her family with whom she lives. Christa makes a plan to bring her a grill and some money. The young woman will use the grill to prepare some food to sell. They will see how she fares and if it is a viable option for her to make some money. With a plan in place the young woman leaves. Christa asks me to stay another minute and says that the mother has previously been checked into the hospital for psychiatric problems. She wanted to talk to the young woman privately because such desperation and depression, along with an outright confession - "I don't want my baby anymore" - strike fear in Christa. Young women in these situations have been known to kill their babies and leave them in a dumpster. Christa is trying to show this young woman that she can do things to care for herself and her baby. I guess this scenario is not that uncommon among the poor women in this region. I was dumbfounded the rest of the day. But I was incredibly relieved that these women have someone like Christa to talk to. Christa takes a no-nonsense approach with these women, encouraging them to be honest and open. But her no-nonsense approach comes off in a manner that is warm and reliable. It is encouraging to see.

We also finished a three-day training with the Ministry of Health and Social Services on Tuesday. The training provided a 101 crash course on HIV/AIDS, co-occuring infections like tuberculosis, condom usage, family planning, and a discussion on adherence to their antiretroviral therapy. Some of the clients of Mount Sinai Centre participated in the training as well as church leaders and community members. The Ministry of Health and Social Services showed up anywhere between 1-2 hours late each day but the participants waited patiently. I would have been gone by then as I'm sure most Americans would have. It really is "Africa time" here -- meaning things happen when they happen. Overall the training seemed to be a success. There were approximately 30 participants each day and I was amazed at their level of participation and their openness. Sometimes their questions were a little too open and gave the rest of the room reason to laugh. But everyone seemed to respect one another. A lot of their questions disturbed me because they seemed to be expressing a lack of understanding about the basics of HIV and its transmission. I guess meanings get lost in translation though. When I talked to one of the Ministry presenters she said that it is actually denial--they are trying to get around using condoms. It's a good thing I wasn't leading the training in any sort of capacity. I don't think I could have identified their needs as the community leaders could.

I will share one more surreal experience here before I wrap up this entry. There was a big political event last week as the Russian president (prime minister?) made a state visit. This state visit was concerning none other than a favorite worldwide topic--OIL! With this state visit came lots of security. And not security measures like you see in the United States where secret service men and women would be covertly dressed in suits. It was a bit like a military state around here that day. There were helicopters flying all over the city with 8-10 armed men sitting in the doorways. Men in military gear with huge guns stood on many of the corners of the city centre directing people which way to go. Despite the fact that this may have been a signifcant state visit I found it quite alarming to see their security measures. It was almost as if they were prepared for civilians breaking out into riots. It seemed as though the men would not have thought twice about shooting anyone. I have heard that police and military members here don't care about the results of their shooting relative to the severity of the crime. A few months ago two men were caught stealing a woman's purse and were shot. One died immediately and the other was in critical condition. I am glad I don't live somewhere where armed men stand on the corners with huge guns. Speaking of politics and presidents, check out Obama's newest and youngest fan!