A section of Makete Town in Njombe Region. The past decade has proved to
be very tough for the residents, particularly, as Aids ravaged lives of
thousands. The scars of the pandemic remain vivid to this day. PHOTO |
ATHUMAN MTULYA
By Athuman Mtulya, The Citizen
Posted Saturday, October 12 2013 at 08:44
Posted Saturday, October 12 2013 at 08:44
In Summary
This, however, is not her only trade, for as little
as Sh5,000 (about $3.00), she would go for unprotected sex with any man
who is not from her immediate environment.
Makete. A girl in her late teens, Irene (not her
real name), works as barmaid at one of the pubs at Mabehewa Square in
Makete Town.
This, however, is not her only trade, for as
little as Sh5,000 (about $3.00), she would go for unprotected sex with
any man who is not from her immediate environment.
“I don’t have any problem with you guys from Dar;
I’m just scared of my fellow residents here. You have to be extra
careful with them… but I’m not infected,” she tells this reporter.
For a number of years, Makete, a town in Njombe
Region in the southern highlands, has become synonymous with Aids. With a
population of just less than 100,000 people, Makete came into the
limelight in the early 2000s following reports of hundreds of orphans
who had lost their parents due to Aids.
It is not surprising, therefore, that a mere post
on a social networking site about being in Makete, draws quite a number
of warnings about HIV.
While some stories about Makete could pass for stereotypes, the town’s record on the pandemic is of great concern.
Statistics from the 2002 National Census showed
that slightly over one per cent of the town’s children below the age of
17 were orphans, with both parents having died due to the scourge.
However, in just two years, the number of orphans
in the district rose to a shocking 35 per cent. Figures released by the
district’s social welfare office revealed that out of 41,413 children in
the district, 13,867 were orphans.
A disaster had descended on Makete. The elderly
were left to take care of the orphans. In some cases children were
forced to drop out of school to become bread-winners -- the
documentation which put Makete on the spotlight in national HIV
campaigns.
Some of these troubles were captured in the 2005
Parapanda Theatre Lab’s heat song ‘Tufungulieni’ (open the door for us),
pleading with the society to wipe away the tears and give the children
of Makete a new start full of hope and development.
Irene was not spared by the pandemic. Both her
parents died between 1999 and 2001, leaving her orphaned at a tender age
of seven. She and her older brother remained in the care of their
grandmother who died last year.
Many years later, those who were in their teens at
the height of the crisis, are now adults, in their early 20s. A big
bunch of the then orphaned and Most Vulnerable Children (MVC) are now in
the sexually-active age bracket.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
This reporter spent over a week mingling with them to observe their lifestyles.
The general picture of the pandemic in the
district is much better today compared to any other time; the prevalence
rate has dropped from 16 per cent in 2008 to nine per cent this year.
The rate is, however, still above the national average of five per cent.
At Mabehewa where Irene works, there are more than
20 pubs surrounding a ground of less than 100 square metres. Here, one
finds that not only alcohol is for sale, but sex too. Young girls here
have been forced into prostitution.
“I don’t know about others but poverty drove me to
do this. I am paid only Sh30,000 a month and I have to support myself
and others back home. If I can add another Sh5,000 for sleeping with a
man, why not?” she said curtly.
Unlike say, in Dar es Salaam or other urban
centre, where prostitutes identify themselves and even have common areas
from where to operate, in Makete a majority of the pub workers double
as sex workers and their employers earn up to Sh10,000 from willing
customers wishing to pay for the women’s off duty.
Edwin Moshi, 28, is a journalist with a local
radio station in Makete, Kitulo FM. For the last three years he has been
hosting a weekly show on the pandemic, particularly targeting the
youth. According to him, the majority, if not all, of the youth are well
informed about the pandemic.
“But the majority do not seem to care. Some will
tell you they have heard enough of it and they are now living their
lives,” he says.
Moshi admits there is a notorious trend in Makete where girls go easy on newly arriving visitors.
“It so happened to me, but I was earlier warned. I
saw it happen to others who came after me. The girls expect to get
money from you and since you are new they know that you are not aware of
their conduct and so you become an easy target,” he says.
Women here don’t have much control over their
bodies, it all depends on what the man wishes -- whether to have a
protected or unprotected sex -- according to Moshi.
Friday and Saturday nights are the most lively as the youth in the town become so wild.
A till dawn disco is held at Mangwangwa Hall at
the main market, where the youth dance to latest local and international
tracks. They also seep beer and abuse drugs, mostly marijuana.
Abel, 26, who describes himself as both a man and an animal
frequents Mangwanga disco nights. He always takes with him a box of
condoms during such occasions.
“You never know what will go down after the music
and alcohol; to tell the truth I have courted different girls after the
dance. Condoms are a must for me if I have to engage in sex,” he says.
Haruna Mwamalwa, 24, echoes his words,but to him condoms are not a preference.
“I am not saying ‘the rubber’ is not important,
but sometimes you get so heavily intoxicated that you can’t remember to
use it. At times girls themselves discourage us from using them,” he
says.
Out of the young men that the The Citizen on Saturday spoke with, only Abel had gone for HIV testing.
“I did it two years ago; it was a hard decision. I
had had an unprotected sex with a woman; thankfully I was found
negative,” he said, adding that he has since been cautious.
Peter Tweve, 40, volunteered as a counsellor for
six years from 2005 to 2011 for a locally-based NGO, Support Makete for
Self Support (Sumasesu). He says working with the youth was the most
arduous part of their campaign in the district.
“Some of them had started hearing about HIV/Aids
from a very young age. They now took it for granted. Sometimes they
would ignore you and show it on their face. However, in spite of all
that I had to soldier on and kept telling myself that what I was doing
was worth it,” he says.
According to him blaming alcohol and poverty for
unprotected sex or having multiple partners is a cheap excuse, and calls
on the youth to stop lying to themselves.
“Take a look at the three most widely championed
interventions: abstaining, being faithful to one partner and using
condoms. They all tackle our behaviour; it’s upon oneself to decide what
is best for his/her life; if you will be careful with your footsteps
the chances of catching HIV are almost nil.”
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
