Gender Relations

I had an interesting work day today. A woman arrived from Washington DC to have a focus group about gender relations and the best way for the program to address the challenges. I got to see some of the men and women we serve in a whole new light. It's amazing the deep conversations that can be had with a translator.

The first group was our best cooperative, as I like to call it Rose's group because Rose is the president. This is the group I sat and learned basket weaving from my first week at site. The group is made up almost entirely of HIV positive females. From what I learned today the majority are widows. They generally take care of their own two to three kids and then have one or two orphans that they also care for - even though some of them don't even have their own shelter.

As I watched these women name securing their children's' health insurance, food and land in the future, especially once they meet their early deaths, as their biggest priorities, I was so proud of their determination. They haven't surrendered yet. They talked about the challenges of being targeted by thieves since the community knows they don't have a man in the house to protect them. Some of them get badgered by men with gifts in exchange for sex. They have to do the work of two people and have the patience and compassion to raise children.

These women have gone through the hair splitting anxiety of being tested for their HIV status. Once they found out they were positive, they didn't dig a hole and crawl in. They banded together and are trying to make a living, even through all their health battles. They can be directly compared to the majority of men in this society who refuse to be tested. Even once they are tested, most men are ashamed of their results and hide it for the rest of their lives.

*time has passed and it is now the end of the next day*

I was boosting yesterday of being a witness to such wonderful female resilience. Today I was hanging out with the same group of women. They are being trained to dye fabric and make soap in order to generate more revenue. They had a lesson today. The amount of laughter and playfulness made me think I was watching a gaggle of girls. These women are mainly 40 years old and up. They are proving that you can never lose the thirst to learn and the desire to make a positive change in your life. I'm privileged to be able to know these women.