Sange, 2 May 2015 - The Association for Women’s Promotion and Endogenous Development (AFPDE), a local NGO operating in Uvira, South Kivu, held in Sange, from Monday 27 April to Friday 1st May, a training seminar for peer educators on HIV/AIDS.

The seminar was organized in collaboration with the central office of the health zone of Ruzizi and the National Multi-Sector Program to Fight HIV/AIDS (PNML), with the financial support of the HIV section of MONUSCO.

Thirty people from different sections of the community attend this training. Among them were soldiers, policemen, women, youths, security agents and representatives of religious groups, to name a few.

The aim was to respond to the community’s need for people capable of conducting awareness campaigns in the context of preventing HIV/AIDS, fighting stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV.

Over those five days, the participants received courses on the history of HIV, the modes of HIV transmission, the different sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and on getting a prevention message across to communities, etc.

The participants were very appreciative of the training courses. Rev. Kimizo Shebadage of the 8th Community of Pentecostal Churches in central Africa (CEPAC) said « this seminar has been very useful, especially because there have been some innovations compared to other training sessions we have received so far. Take for example the modes of HIV transmission: we used to think wrongly that one could get infected with HIV only through sexual contact. Another innovation: how to approach peers, our interlocutors. We didn’t know how to approach them and the right moment to do so…”

Gilbert Kwangaba Djugu, another participant, had this to say: « this has been a very important training session because HIV and STDs are common in the community, but people are ignorant of this reality. Having received this training, we will now go out to share what we have learned with the populations and make them aware of the dangers and so help to change behaviors and save lives…”

It should be noted that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 3.38% in the Ruzizi Plain, compared to the national average of 1.1 %. !

The training was followed by a voluntary HIV testing session for all seminar participants as well as members of the community in Sange. All participants received HIV education, prevention and awareness packages to allow them to use the concepts learned for the benefit of all communities in Sange in general and people living with HIV/AIDS in particular. .

Jean-Tobie Okala/MONUSCO

Photos: ONG AFPDE