Africa- Blog VIII

Peer counseling in a unique setting
Written August 15, 2008

While in Bouake, in northern Cote d’Ivoire, I visited Reseau des Ecoles Madrassas, a faith-based, non-governmental organization that promotes abstinence and fidelity to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the community.

I witnessed how they used a dramatization and peer counseling to deal with a very sensitive issue within the Islamic community. There is a practice in the Islamic culture (at least in that part of the world) that the younger brother of a man who dies, is bound to take the wife of the deceased as his wife. (In the Islamic world multiple wives are common.)

After I was greeted by the leaders of the Madrassas, and typical rituals were performed, a group who acts as peer counselors did a short one-act play to set up a conversation with the following scenario:

• After the death of his older brother, a man is informed by his family that he must marry the widow of his brother as dictated by tradition.
• After hearing the news, a friend of the current wife goes to inform her. The current wife is furious that her husband must marry a second wife.
• The man who is obliged to marry his brother’s widow goes with a friend to inform his current wife of the plan. They hesitate, then tell her, and she explodes (because she already knows).
• After discussion, the current wife submits to the wishes of the parents, but asks to put a condition on the marriage: that the widow must get tested for HIV/AIDS beforehand.
• Her husband agrees that the widow must be tested for HIV/AIDS before he will marry her.

Peer counselors using a dramatization to discuss sensitive issues.

The discussion afterward among the crowd that watched was animated and fascinating. In typical style for Islamic communities, the men and women were seated separately and the male moderator moved back and forth between them taking comments. I won’t try to recount the discussion except to say that an underlying theme of the facilitator was that this is not a practice based on the teachings of the Koran, but one of cultural popularity. He said the same is true for the tradition of a woman taking the husband of her deceased sister.

Following the moderated discussion, I was given an opportunity to ask questions of the peer educators. During that session, one of the women boldly challenged the practice of female genital mutilation. She made the point that the practice was not a religious teaching, but a cultural practice. I was surprised, but pleased, she was willing to talk about it.

Every culture around the world has unique challenges and practices. To win the fight against HIV/AIDS, we have to let people mold the education practices to address the issues where they live and to do it in their own unique ways.

Comments

That's nice about Africa and all, but you have obligations to the people of the United States when it comes to addressing comprehensive family planning, instead of brushing off important questions with a "no comment" agenda.

Posted by: Jourdan Foust | September 07, 2008 at 12:10 PM

Very nice article , Mike !

Posted by: Iulian | October 07, 2008 at 01:16 PM