HUMAN INTEREST STORY

COMMUNITY CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM YIELDS RESULTS

Yaa and Akosua  were childhood friends. They attended the same school up to Senior High School Level. They became so intimate that they were more than biological sisters. Both of them grew up, got married and started having children.

Later, Akosua’s husband, Ofori travelled out of the country to seek greener pastures. He only came home on vacations to spend some time with his family. After some time, Ofori fell very ill and returned home for good. The sickness protracted. As a loving and caring wife, Akosua did her best to get her husband healed. So she took him from one hospital to another to seek treatment. Several diagnoses for the cause of the sickness proved negative until the doctor requested for an HIV diagnostic test. Ofori tested positive, and died later. Akosua in her devastated state sought counselling and decided to test for HIV and was also diagnosed positive.

Seeking consolation, she courageously disclosed her condition to her bosom friend, Yaa. As expected, Yaa received the message with mixed feelings about her friend. Even though Yaa received her friend into her home, she treated her with great caution as she was genuinely scared that Akosua would infect her family with HIV. 

Applying the Community Capacity Enhancement (CCE) methodology    a trained facilitator told a story about HIV stigma and discrimination in a church where Yaa worships. The discussions that followed the story shed light on HIV including modes of transmissions and the need to provide support to Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV).  The dialogue between the audience and the facilitators further clarified fears and concerns related to HIV and AIDS.

Yaa upon sober reflections was deeply touched by the program as she came to understand the issues better. At the end of the program,   without hesitation, Yaa anxiously approached the lead facilitator and confessed how she had treated her very good friend Akosua who is HIV positive. Amidst tears of regret, she explained how each time Akosua visited her, she was sure to destroy all the plates and cups that were used to serve her for fear that it will be a source of HIV infection to her family. She concluded that “eventually I just kept a separate set of utensils for her use only”. 

Having confessed how she had wrongly handled her friend in most time of need, she was thankful for learning more about HIV and AIDS, and pledged to show love and compassion to her friend and other PLHIV.

This is a true story, but the names of the persons used are not their real names.
CCE (also known as Community Conversation) is a participatory approach used to engage communities in discussing HIV and other related issues.