5 THE EVALUATION OF THE TRAINING OF TRAINERS (TOT) ON HIV/AIDS
5.3 A NALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF INTERVIEWS WITH VILLAGERS
5.3.1 Interpretation of the interviews
This chapter explains and compares the findings and conclusions resulting from the interviews with villagers who attended a village event on HIV/AIDS and with those who did not.
The results show that most interviewees know at least one way of HIV/AIDS transmission. But the majority does not know the difference between HIV and AIDS. By asking more detailed questions concerning the knowledge, it turned out that the knowledge of many of the interviewees is not sufficient and that there are several misconceptions. People do not consider a healthy-looking person as a potential carrier who could spread the virus before showing any signs and symp-toms of AIDS.
Comparing the villagers who had attended an event and those without any con-tact with HIV/AIDS awareness activities, the two groups show significant differ-ences in their knowledge. Asking the question “What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?” about 66% of the villagers who had attended an event gave a correct answer, while only 33% of the villagers without event could give a clearly right answer to this question (see Annex III, Villager interview: Question No.15).
The following comparison between the two different groups indicates that the events encourage villagers to be more open on the topic of HIV/AIDS.
The answers given to following questions show a significant difference between those two groups:
“What is your opinion on condoms?”
The villagers in the project area do not have a negative opinion on condoms, al-though there is some fear that condoms are not reliable because they could break or be porous, transmit cancer, or expire quickly. After a series of village events (awareness, prevention, and control) this fear is mostly alleviated. This is probably due to the fact that one of the most in-depth parts of the events ad-dresses the importance of condoms as a means of preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, accompanied by detailed demonstrations on use and disposal.
THE EVALUATION OF THE TRAINING OF TRAINERS (TOT) ON HIV/AIDS ISSUES 55 One of the major problems regarding the introduction of condoms in rural areas is the great demand, especially after the conduction of village events, and the insufficient availability. Condoms are available in very few of the villages the study team visited. Therefore, it is no surprise that only approximately 15% of the villagers interviewed had ever used a condom. Condoms are available free of charge in hospitals, health centres, and clinics but only for the purpose of family planning. Often these places, as well as trading centres, are up to 5-10 km away.
In trading centres condoms are available at a price of 5 Malawian Kwacha (MK) for three. This is expensive for an average villager if one considers that the monthly income of many farm families in the project area is often not more than 200 MK.
The feelings on condom use changed after a village event. In particular, the fol-lowing groups express a more positive opinion: men, young age group (between 21-39 years) and older people (see Tab. 5.4). The village events seem to have a
??? negative influence on the youth group (up to 20 years). Their answers are most of the time less positive after having attended an event. This might be due to the fact that it was difficult to find interviewees of this age group. They were often shy to talk about such sensitive issues. Sometimes adults influenced the answers of the youth by sitting beside them.
Tab. 5.4: Positive answers of different age groups to the question about their opinion on condoms
“What is your opinion on HIV testing?”
Testing is another issue discussed during the village events and villagers are in general very open and positive about testing (83%). After such an event, they saw the advantage of testing even more clearly as 97% give a positive answer about testing. The question still is how to access a testing facility as there are no possibilities for the villagers to do so without significant expenditure of time and money. It should be discussed if a system needs to be established, before the villagers are encouraged to go for testing, so that they are able to travel immedi-ately. In one of the events, the villagers were asking for transport to Lilongwe to be tested. This illustrates that the villagers are motivated to know their HIV status. On the other hand they fear that they could be stigmatised within the community and that they would not have the means to receive treatment or to change their diet because of their financial situation. “Antiretroviral drugs have prolonged the life for many people with AIDS in richer countries, but they are too expensive for the vast majority of people in Malawi.” (FOREMAN & SCALWAY, 2000:4)
“What is your opinion on Fisi?”
In some of the villages the team realised that the villagers were already in the process of changing their cultural practices. It is an issue that is openly discussed during the village events and it seems that the villagers understand very well that such practices as kutchosa pfumbi, fisi, and chokolo spread the virus. Therefore the villagers would like to stop these practices. 100% of the villagers who never attended a village event, but knew about fisi, answered that fisi is a bad practice and that it should be stopped where it is still practised. One reason for this clear statement could be that the villagers thought that the study team would find this practice bad and therefore answered in the way they thought it was expected.
The other possibility is that they in fact think that fisi is a bad practice and that it should be stopped. The whole team’s impression was that the communities were very open to honestly discussing these subjects (after the team was given per-mission from the chief to interview the villagers). This impression was confirmed
THE EVALUATION OF THE TRAINING OF TRAINERS (TOT) ON HIV/AIDS ISSUES 57 by the MoAI staff present.
There seems to be a difference in talking frankly about fisi before and after a vil-lage event. It is especially the women and the young age group (between 21-39 years) who change their views significantly (see
Tab. 5.5).
Tab. 5.5: Negative answers of the villagers to the question “What is your opinion on Fisi?”
Tab. 5.6: Positive answers concerning the question (1) “Do you discuss HIV/AIDS related matters within your family?” and (2) “Do you discuss HIV/AIDS related matters within your community?”
Concerning the questions whether the villagers discuss HIV/AIDS related matters within their family or community, the results show that after a village event, vil-lagers are more open to discuss this sensitive issue in either the family or the community. After an event, older people in particular appear to have embraced the importance of honesty and have resolved to speak openly with family and community alike (see Tab. 5.6). This is very encouraging as this age group is of-ten the one counselling the youth.