HIV/AIDS education in Botswana is in the workplace

HIV/AIDS education in Botswana is in the workplace
Originally uploaded by natavillage.

All government agencies and nearly all large businesses in Botswana have

HIV/AIDS committees. Many agencies and businesses have trained peer

educators to help employees face the challenges of HIV/AIDS. Moshe

(standing right) is the chairperson of the HIV/AIDS committee for the

Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) in Nata. He invited Melody to the office

to give a presentation about HIV/AIDS in Botswana. The eight employees

learned that Botswana is second only to Swaziland for HIV infection rates. We

talked a lot about how people are still using traditional doctors and paying

them hundreds of dollars to treat HIV/AIDS. With almost 80,000 people in

Botswana taking ARV's and doing well, we discussed why some people are still

in denial. Everyone present (like everyone in Botswana) has lost someone

to AIDS. Vino (the supervisor, standing left) encouraged his staff to

participate in "zero grazing" which means to stick with one partner.

Congratulations

to the employees of BPC Nata for their willingness to participate in the

workshop and their efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Well done!