Desert Soul Cross Border HIV Prevention Programme

The project seeks to:

• create awareness on multiple concurrent partnerships (MCP) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) linked to risk of HIV infection;
• promote dialogue and debates within mobile communities about MCP, SRHR and safer sexual practices;
• promote consistent condom use within MCP relationships and link mobile population to available services along the transport corridors; and
• distribute condoms to truckers and at borders to other mobile populations.

At the heart of programme are five Community Health Facilitators (CHF) who are using different approaches to reach the target audiences. They have employed strategies such as house to house visits, truck port awareness meetings, community dialogues, discussion at video viewings, and community events at identified spots such as service stations where trucks park. One of the popular strategies is the evening camp fire where community members gather around the fire and are entertained by community theatre performance followed by storytelling and discussions. The evening camp fire is where both elders and young people can gather and discuss issues affecting their communities. During the camp fire the CHF liaise with the existing community structures including the Village Development Committees (VDC) and Constituency AIDS Coordinating Committees (CACOC) to help mobilise the community in a particular target area.

As part of the community interventions, different communication materials on HIV prevention have been distributed to members of the community. Condom distribution is an integral part of the programme and these are distributed at borders and hot spots.

The CHFs were trained on the use of the Community Conversation toolkit, which was developed with support from C-Change and is aimed to facilitate dialogue on sensitive issues, increasing the community’s ability to seek more information and health services. The interactive tool is well suited for low literacy groups. The toolkit includes the following themes: Alcohol and risky sex; multiple and concurrent partnerships; inter-generational and transactional sex; and consistent and correct use of condoms.

The following are summaries of some the discussion during community conversations and community outreach events:
Community alcohol and risky sex discussions- Namibia has a high rate of alcohol consumption across the regions and age groups. As part of HIV prevention amongst mobile populations, the programme addresses the impact of alcohol on one's judgment for safer sex. Most participants admitted to the excessive use of alcohol and said they use alcohol to avoid pressure from families and their inability to meet financial needs.

Youth on alcohol and drug abuse discussions - Some youths said alcohol and drugs help them to overcome fear and encourages them to do what they think is right. Others feel left out if they are the only ones not using alcohol amongst their peers. Some youth believe that alcohol and drugs makes them more intelligent at school and feel that they can perform better academically than their non-drinking peers. When asked about condom use, most said that they know the risks involved in unsafe sex and use protection. They however feel the pressure from their sexual partners as most demand for material things. Young men also said that they feel as if they are competing with older men since more young women prefer elderly 'rich men'.

Teenage pregnancy and intergenerational sex dialogue - Young girls mostly have relationships for entertainment and as a result they fall pregnant unplanned. Young girls also opt to have relationships with older 'rich men' to benefit materially. They are given 'things' by these men that their parents are unable to provide. A key contributing factor as identified by the communities is the parent's inability to discuss sex and sexuality openly with their children. This leaves the girls vulnerable to older men who entice them with material goods. Some of the elderly people in the communities expressed a sense of hopelessness, saying that only God can help in this regard.

Multiple and concurrent partnerships (MCP) - The communities acknowledged that many people are involved in multiple and concurrent relationships. Most said that it is very difficult to find a faithful partner. Unemployment and economic hardship is said to contribute greatly to women getting involved in MCP.

Transaction sex discussion - Communities expressed concern with what they referred to as 'why children are involving themselves in love affairs'. Most felt that children or youth are influenced by their peers and are pressured into early sexual debut without having full knowledge of the risks involved. Communities also said that mobile populations, especially truck drivers, construction workers, police, army as well as rural community government workers who normally camp around communities are to be blamed for the sexual behaviour of young women.

Gender-based Violence in multiple and concurrent partnerships - According to Desert Soul, one of the themes that was not part of the programme design was gender-based violence. But this came up in so many discussions that the community facilitators had to give it special attention in the dialogues. During these dialogues it was clear that most acts of violence against women relate to their partners threatening women when they insist on safe sex practices. Apart from sexual violence, it came to the fore during community events that other types of violence are being committed against women more frequently. These include physical, emotional, verbal, and economic violence. The communities also blamed traditional practices that make women more vulnerable to abuse leaving them hopeless and limited to report abuse to the police or social workers.

HIV, SRHR, Mobile Populations, Sex workers.

The Winela and Ngoma borders, borders to Zambia and Botswana, are being used as the trans Caprivi and trans Kalahari corridors for transporting goods to and from other African Countries. Research conducted by the project, indicates that young women aged 18 to 35 years old are involved in relationships with migrant populations for economic reasons. Another reason given for engaging in transactional sex and/or sex work especially for younger women was the lack of educational and recreational activities in their communities.