MTA: Beyond Just HIV Testing

This past week, I had the pleasure of meeting with the fieldworkers for CMMB’s Men Taking Action (MTA) Program.  As mentioned in my previous post, MTA aims to increase HIV testing by empowering men with health education to encourage their families to get tested and educate them on how to prevent HIV.  The field workers for this program go door-to-door in the rural areas throughout the Eastern Cape offering HIV testing and counseling along with other general health screenings for tuberculosis, STIs, and diabetes.

MTA Field Workers in fromt of CMMB's KWT Office

Can I just say, our field workers are AMAZING!  The program has been running for 4 years and they still approach each day with such enthusiasm and with a commitment to furthering the project.  They are so organized and methodical about making sure they offer services to all the homes in their respective areas. 

What I really love about this project is all the benefits that come with offering HIV testing services in the home.  For one, clinics in these areas are few and far between making it difficult for families to access care.  Furthermore, the stigma surrounding HIV is high and because of this, many choose to not get tested because they don’t want to be seen going into the clinic for any HIV related service.  By giving them the option to test in the privacy of their home it actually increases their likelihood of getting themselves and their families tested.  

Field Worker's Map of the Houses Covered in his Area

Not only does CMMB provide services directly to the client, but also through the course of the MTA program, our field workers have served as a link between our clients and the services they need.  In our meeting last week, one of the field workers Xoliswa, was telling us about a family the she encountered on her daily rounds in Ndevana.  The head of the household was a young woman who had been left to care for her 1 year-old son, 4 of her brothers and sisters, and her grandmother.  The woman was HIV positive but was unable to get her supply of ARVs, her child was ill, and the whole family was suffering from malnutrition.  Seeing the state of the house and family, Xoliswa made appointment for the woman and her son at the clinic for the following day.  There, she was able to get a supply or ARVs, her son was checked out and treated, and the woman met with a social worker to apply social grants to help take care of her family.  

About a month later Xoliswa stopped in to see how the family was doing and was pleased to find them in a much happier and healthier household.  To me, this is just another great example of how willing the field workers are to go above and beyond to make sure that their clients are linked to services beyond the scope of our programs.    

Bizarre Foods!

Ok so the foods I've had this past week are not really bizarre but they are definitely not what I would consider my "normal" or "everyday" types of food.  So I don't think I have told you much about my host mom but she has a side business as a caterer.  Needless to say, I have yet to have a bad meal.  She has been trying to cook things that she thinks are American or something I will recognize but last week I told her that I would love to try some traditional Xhosa dishes.  Man, I definitely got what I asked for!  So far this week dinner has included cow liver, sheep tripe, tongue, and chicken livers.  Like I said before, my host mom is an amazing cook but man, I don't think I am meant to eat liver, from any animal or in any form. The tripe and the tongue, on the other hand, were pretty good!  In addition to new and interesting meats we also had samp (kind of like corn meal) and peas, Umbhako (steam bread), and dumpling bread.  There are talks of a pickled fish dish for next week, I'll keep you posted...

The Work We Do

The view heading out of town

I realized that I totally forgot to talk about what I doing work wise, you know, the whole reason why I am here...

I am based in a CMMB office in King Williams Town that is running 2 really cool projects.  The first one is called Men Taking Action (MTA) which is in its 5th year!  Basically, CMMB targets men in the rural communities with education surrounding HIV and urges them to discuss HIV with their families and for all of them to know their status.  To accomplish this, field workers go door-to-door in the rural areas and offer free HIV testing and counseling.  This method of HIV screening gives people the privacy to test in their own home (ideally making it more likely for them to find out their status).  Clients receive their results in 15 mins and if they end up testing positive they are referred to treatment centers so that they can have confirmatory tests and if needed, start on meds and receive education on how to properly manage their disease.  As this project has progressed it has also encompassed additional health screenings.  Now, the field workers will screen people for diabetes, STIs, and hypertension all at home to help reduce the burden of getting to and from the local clinics which can be pretty far from where many of these people live.

Buffalo River running through Amatole

The new project that just started a little over a month ago is a Tuberculosis program modeled after MTA.  It follows the same premise, but it focuses on TB screening and sputum testing services.  There have been a few kinks to work out which has made for some hectic days at the office but all in all the program is off to an amazing start and I'm really excited to see how things progress over the next year!

In closing, I FINALLY got to go out to one of the rural areas today, albeit just to quickly drop something off, so the pictures above are of the scenery we passed while driving out to the clinic.  Oh and dont worry, I have been promised many more longer trips out to where all the action happens, so more amazing photos to come! 

Houses on the hills of Ndevana

I made it!

Ok so yes, I have actually been here for 2 weeks now but I kept putting off blogging because I didn't know what all to say.  Alright, lets start with the basics...

I arrived in Joburg on the evening of the Sept 25 and then took a train to Pretoria, and let me tell you, I looked SO ridiculous dragging my 2 giant bags and backpack on and off the train in my post flight zombie-like state.  The next morning I went to CMMB's head office for a quick orientation and overview of all their programs then was whisked back to the airport in Joburg (the second go at the train with all my stuff was much better than the first) were I caught a flight to East London.  When I arrived in East London I was met by my new host mom and my project manager who then drove me to King William's Town.

Let me tell you about my host family.  They are AMAZING. I have a host mom and two sisters and all of them are hilarious and so loving.  They had my room all made up and decorated for me and had a delicious dinner waiting for me when I got there.  So far things are going great at the homefront.  Every day when I come home from work, we start dinner and pretty much just hang out until its time to go to bed.  On the weekends we are always going somewhere or doing something so all in all, life is good!