On Monday the activities of the day started late which led to the pitching of only two tents due to other workload in the office. But the day went on smoothly and we managed to do both testing and counseling for 62 clients.
Tuesday and Wednesday
We recently again took the VCT (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) services nearer to the community with a target of meeting testing and giving information to the most vulnerable groups of young men and women.
The whole exercise was expected to take one day for every village but due to a massive turn up at a densely populated area from the people from within "Shauri yako", which is derived from a Swahili word meaning ‘its up to you’, we were required to go back to the same place the following day.
We tested 140 clients and the HIV prevalence rate was very high compared to the most of the villages in the district. It was for this reason that some of IYAP counselors decided to take a walk in the interior parts of the village and came out with the following findings:
Around 75% of households are brewing "chan’gaa" (an illicit brew)
There is a high incidence of poverty and sex exchange for money
There are also other influencing factors such as a high number divorcees who just reside at home.
Challenges
Some of the clients comes while they are drunk and hence make communication difficult during counselling. At some times, others just go straight into the testing room while other client are being attended and thereby interrupt the session.
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