Fatima's Diary: 'Save My Mother' in Niger (Part 2)

 Continuing on from Part 1..

 Sunday 12 June 2011
Spent the afternoon at Bafouneye where women living with HIV were being trained on how to approach sex workers and sensitise them on talking about HIV and the risks involved in unprotected sex. A key learning point from the session was that women should not be approached as a sex worker, rather, they should be approached as one woman approaching another. This is an effective way to start dialogue, and just as importantly, share information with those at risk of contracting HIV. Several women were chosen as representatives for making visits to various areas in the coming weeks (awareness sessions were also held with youths on HIV and AIDS).

At Bafouneye, women being trained on how to sensitise sex workers

Monday 13 June 2011
Started the new week with a visit to the office. Today the interim country director for IR Niger is planning her trip to Ghana for a visa application to the UK – there is no UK embassy in Niger so it’s a bit of a long trip! Had a brief meeting with her to discuss the progress of the Save My Mother project and later went to see the ladies at Bafouneye. Today the ladies were dyeing clothes – producing dresses is another income-generation activity for them and by the looks of it the whole process is very impressive.
Have been taking a lot of photos today. Living with HIV is not the same as living with most other illnesses; it has a stigma attached to it which can be debilitating for the sufferer on a social level as well as health wise. Many HIV sufferers have in the past committed suicide due to the fear of discrimination they face, so I can only imagine how courageous these women are to make public their HIV status so that the world can see and understand more about their lives.

Tuesday 14 June 2011
I made a visit to Tillerberri today to visit the Regional Direction. This is a representation of the Health Ministry in Niger for the area. The purpose of the trip was to get sign-off by the direction to start the process of the next phase of the project - to train health care agents on HIV in health-care settings. Approximately100km away, the journey there provided an opportunity to see another part of Niger. Though it’s not very far from Niamey, Tillerberri is still very different to the main city. For starters it is more rural and the whispers of the desert plains are more evident here. Although we managed to get the sign-off on the programme, a setback has occurred. The area in Tillerberri, Kollo, where we are planning to have the training has in the last day experienced a cholera outbreak involving fatalities. Will update on this.

Regional Direction, Tillerberri

Wednesday 15 June 2011
The morning was spent at the United Nations where I met with staff at the UNDP to learn more about what they are doing in the response to HIV and AIDS in Niger and the work being done through two implementers on the field, the Global Fund and UNAIDS. The UNDP connected me with the national commission on HIV and AIDS in Niger, the CISLS, with whom I met later in the afternoon.  The commission is the focal point for all HIV and AIDS-related activities at the local and national level in the country, and provides a resource-base for NGOs ranging from assistance on information to programmatic guidance. 
It was an interesting day. What is apparent is that these bodies cannot work effectively without the active engagement and participation of the grassroots organisations working at the community level. Both are vital for each other in the response to HIV and AIDS and both provide each other with support in their own ways, from funding and information, to general assistance.

On a separate note, I cannot not make a comment about the moon tonight! It looks beautiful from the UK but here it is breath taking! It looks so much bigger here for some reason! (any astronomers reading this, do feel free to drop a note and explain this..!!!)

Outside UN complex

Thursday 16 June 2011
Baby day! I went to visit a maternity clinic where pregnant women were being given education on HIV testing during their pregnancies. A HIV test is very important since steps can be taken to ensure a mother does not transmit the virus to her unborn baby. The afternoon was spent at Solthis, a network which works on HIV projects in four different countries including in Niger. The doctor I met there told me one harrowing story I cannot forget about the nature of stigmatisation across the health sector which affects access to health care services for women living with HIV. In one locality, a lady due to give birth was denied midwifery assistance as health care staff were scared they may become infected also. As a result, the woman had to go back home and give birth alone. However, there were serious complications in which the child actually fell onto the floor during the birth and unable to sustain the injuries, died. This is one of many tragic incidences affecting women living with HIV. She also told me of how a lot of the women with whom she was regularly in touch with and helping had actually been infected by their husbands who had had extra-marital affairs. Some very sad stories.

One of several health sessions for pregnant women and the importance of HIV testing

Friday 17 June 2011
A day of ongoing electricity issues so telephone and internet use are very limited. This past week there has been ongoing electricity problems, both during day and night. It’s strange actually, I remember early this week I was in the office around 8pm and having a discussion with one of the field officers when, out of the blue, the lights went out, the fans turned off, and save for the limited light coming from his laptop, we were sitting virtually in the dark continuing our meeting like the lights never went out..! But regular electricity issues is a reality for Niger as it is for many other developing nations, and it’s more a case of accommodating yourself as best you can with what resources you currently have. In the afternoon I met up with Oxfam who coincidentally are only a few minutes away from the office..! Niger has a very high concentration of NGOs working on the ground. Given that it is one of the poorest countries in the world (it ranks very low on the global Human Development Index (HDI)) it is understandable to see why this is the case.  


In the following days I met up with the United Nations Population Fund and Medicines Sans Frontiers. I was also invited to attend a meeting at the National Hospital held with some of the country’s most prolific doctors working in the areas of HIV, Malaria and TB. Perhaps the most memorable aspect of the week was case study interviews with people living with HIV. My last week in Niger, though not any less busy, proved to be the most memorable for several reasons (which I shall explain in the next blog).

Till next time.

Fatima's Diary: 'Save My Mother' in Niger (Part 1)

I have set off to visit one of our programmes at the International HIV Fund which we are running in partnership with Islamic Relief. The aim of this programme is to strengthen local community structures and capacities in responding to HIV in communities in Niger. The programme also aims to empower and educate women living with HIV and those at risk of getting infected, through education and development of income-generation skills.  A key focus lies in the empowerment of individuals so that they can help in the response to HIV.

Saturday 4 June 2011
I landed in Niamey in Niger with the heat hitting me as soon as I left the plane. It must be at least 38 degrees (feels like it anyway..!) and its 3am in the morning! Upon exiting the airport, I was surrounded by a group of young male adults trying to sell me mobile SIM cards. This is one of the ways in which the youth try and earn a living here. I am told it is a system that has been set up by some community services here to allow for people to make a living.  It was a stark insight into the extent of poverty in Niger that these young adults would be out so late in the night trying to earn a living in this way.  

Later that morning I attended the opening launch of our programme which was being held at Bafouneye, an association for women living with HIV based in the area of Kirkissoy, one of the more deprived areas in Niamey. I was greeted by a very welcoming Kaltoum Amadou, the Vice President of the association and Adama Mali, 2^nd General Secretary. Bafouneye members were joined also by partner Islamic Relief and members of the local press and TV channels. Guests were invited to watch performances including a role play on how stigma is a very big problem in some health care settings. The women I met that day were very inspiring I found. Many were trying to move on with their lives and not let this virus overtake them. 

Programme launch at Bafouneye, Saturday 4th June 2011

Monday 6 June 2011
I visited our partner organisation Islamic Relief Niger which would be my office for the duration of the next three weeks.  I was shown around the building (cats and lizards roaming around the gardens..!) and was introduced to the staff of the various departments, from the orphans department to water and sanitation. I think I ate something bad today as I am going to sleep with a very bad stomach ache!

Tuesday 7 June 2011
Today I met Aboubacar Sidikou Alhousseini, president of the National Network of People Living with HIV in Niger. The network has 25 member organisations in Niger (Bafouneye is one of these members), and Aboubacar is also a member of the West Africa Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS. As a controller he oversees several HIV projects in Western Africa. Aboubacar is a consultant to our programme and I will be working closely with him during my stay in Niamey for the monitoring of the project.  We sat down to discuss the schedule of our work and afterwards made a field visit to Bafouneye. Today, the women have gone to buy products, funded by the programme, for their income-generation project. Aissa, a trainer, will teach the ladies how to make cosmetics and help develop their skills.

(On a personal note, it’s ironic that by now the two people I am in contact with the most here are Aboubacar and Mohammad - in the UK office I also work with an Abubaker and Mohammad...(same names, different faces! :D)


Wednesday 8 June 2011
I made a visit to Bafouneye to see the range of products the ladies had made earlier in the morning. It was wonderful to see the work on display. Some ladies had also been making bags to sell and the skilled craftsmanship involved was evident to see. What struck me today were some of the infant children who had been brought along for the day by their mothers. Looking at them, it reminded me of the millions of orphans who have lost a parent (some, both) to AIDS. These infants I was seeing today still had their mothers to look after them, but for how long I wondered. Treatment for HIV (in terms of maintaining the virus, not curing it – there is still no cure) is very expensive for people in the developing world, and many still do not have access to medication. 

It served as a reminder also of another important date today in the HIV and AIDS calendar; today is the first day of the United Nations 2011 High-Level Meeting on AIDS which will last until the 10^th of June. The meeting is being held at the UN headquarters, and will be attended by HIV advocates and heads of state to review the progress made in addressing HIV globally and assessing what needs to be done next. There is still a long way to go especially as discrimination and stigma affects the access people have to HIV prevention, support and treatment services. :0(

One of the infants I met on my visit on Wednesday, he was so adorable

Thursday 9 June 2011
Today I woke up at 5am and thought the rain had arrived. I could hear the windiness outside and the trumpeting sound of the rain. However when I got up and looked out the window I could see there was no rain – it was the air-conditioner! The rain is expected in the next few weeks I am told. Niger is prone to a lot of draughts and so it is hard for many people living here, particularly the elderly and very young. Around this time of the year a lot of elderly people in Niger die from problems brought on by the heat.
That morning I went to see the ladies at Bafouneye. Today they would be trained on how to make soap and I was invited to watch the process. It was a very interesting process to say the least and it was fantastic to see the commitment and dedication of the women to learn and develop their skills. It is easy to forget sometimes that people just want an opportunity for an education to help themselves in the long term and not rely on others. The training these women were getting was not only improving their self esteem but also helping to equip them with skills so that they could have an avenue by which to feel empowered and help provide for their families. 

Handcream, one of the products the women have been trained to make

Friday 10 June 2011
Friday marks another stage in our programmes activities.  Pregnant women at the integrated health centre underwent education on the importance of HIV testing. This is very important as mother-to-child transmission of HIV can be prevented if detected early in the pregnancy and steps taken throughout the duration of the pregnancy can mean that babies are not born with HIV. In the coming days health-care workers will also be trained on HIV and AIDS prevention. I’ll report back on this in the coming days! I shall also be meeting with representatives of the Health Ministry in Niger when I make a journey to Tillerberi, a region separate to Niamey, and plan to meet with agencies who are working at the community level to combat HIV. Interviews with Muslim women living with HIV are also to come.


Till next time.