UNAIDS estimates that 48,000 people in Sierra Leone are living with HIV and AIDS, and 60% of them are women. Youth for Development volunteer Davina Wong spent 15 months at the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa, Sierra Leone (SWAASL). During that time she not only established a support centre for women living with HIV and AIDS, but helped the organisation drive legislation protecting women’s rights through parliament.
The Society for Women and AIDS in Africa, Sierra Leone (SWAASL) is one of 40 branches of SWAA International, a pan-African organisation started in 1990 by a group of women who, thinking that women bear most of the burden of HIV and AIDS, came together to address the problems which women are facing.
Although official estimates suggest that 28,800 women in Sierra Leone are living with HIV and AIDS, SWAASL is one of very few organisations in the country focusing primarily on women and HIV and AIDS. It provides a range of services, such as community based education on prevention, care and treatment and training for vulnerable women to provide them with alternative careers (to date 525 sex workers have been trained to pursue alternative careers). It also undertakes advocacy activities to raise awareness of women’s rights and the issues that affect them.
The area of work that VSO Youth for Development volunteer Davina has been most involved in is the re-development of a multi purpose support centre in SWAASL’s Freetown offices. The centre offers women living with HIV and AIDS a friendly, informal place where they can access advice on testing, counselling and support, literacy courses, learn new skills in tie-dye, bead design or soap making, or simply just relax and chat with each other.
Davina developed the concept for the centre after initial consultation with the executive committee established their broad vision for a welcoming but practical drop in centre. She later helped bring it to life by establishing the counselling service, making good an area in the building that is now used for training and socialising, and by using her networks to gather resources for skills training.
Head of SWAASL, Marie Benjamin, says: “As well being instrumental in setting up the counselling services and support group, she’s also looked into the learning process. Because most of these women are illiterate and we wanted to start a basic literacy course for them as well as skills training that has been going on. Davina actually went out to seek resources for these by forging links with Sierra Leone Book Trust and International Book Aid. Now we have many books here.”
Although only in its first year and on its “baby legs”, as Maria says, it already has 38 members who are registered with the support group, have been tested at an associate health centre and are now receiving skills training. Of the women using the centre Marie says: “SWAASL provides a space for them to actually build their self-esteem.”
These women are people like Binta, a young woman with a small baby who arrived at the drop in centre after being told of its existence by her friend. She’s from a small village in the north of the country, but her family is poor so her mother brought her to Freetown to be looked after by a wealthier family. But the son of the family tried to rape her so she ran away.
It was during that time she met her husband and married in a traditional ceremony. Although her life improved briefly her husband left her once their son was born and shortly after she discovered she was HIV positive. Her husband was the only man she had ever had a relationship with.
As well as offering one to one support to women like Binta, SWAASL is also involved in advocacy activities to improve the rights of all women in Sierra Leone and to lobby for those rights to be recognised by law. This summer Davina and SWAASL fed into the consultation for three new acts that should significantly improve the lives of thousands of women.
The Domestic Violence Act, the Registration of Customary Marriage and Divorce Act and the Devolution of Estates Act attempt to challenge accepted customs, such as the inheritance of a wife by male relatives of a deceased husband, and the lack of legal recognition for traditional marriages.
The Prevention and Control of HIV and AIDS Act was passed in July 2007, a first step towards recognising Human Right of those affected and infected with HIV. However, the Act failed to specifically recognises the rights and needs of women and parent to child transmission, so SWAASL will continue to lobby the government for changes to this Act. In October, just as her placement was coming to an end, Davina helped launch the Voice of Women, a SWAASL supported national network of over 200 HIV+ women who are challenging stigma and speaking up on the rights of positive women.
Talking of Davina’s imminent departure, Marie said: “She’s a very proactive person and has really created a big impact. I always tease her that she’s sometimes impatient but it’s only because she wants to see things done. In terms of sustainability, she’s also been training the staff so although I really don’t want her to go I can see clearly what we’ve learnt from her and my vision is that the structure she has built for us will be sustained and even improved on.”
Asked about the future for HIV+ women in Sierra Leone Binta says: “I want unity among women who are HIV+ and a sisterly environment where we support each other and help care for each other. I want us to be able to speak up about our status.”
