MORE than 50 Female Sex Workers (FSWs) have graduated as peer educators to help halt the spread of HIV/AIDS especially among the key populations of sex workers.
The FSWs who are coming from Chirundu, Livingstone, Sesheke and Kazungula borders were trained by Corridors of Hope in partnership with United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFA) .
They have since changed their behaviors and they would be educating their fellow peers in in busy places at night to practice safer sex.
Livingstone District Commissioner Omar Munsanje said the HIV prevalence among the sex workers population was 10 times higher than the general population and hence it was important to target such people.
Mr Munsaje said most FSWs were engaging in unprotected sex, inability to negotiate for safer sex including non-use of condoms, lack of access to appropriate health services, social stigma, criminalisation, social violence, drug and alcohol abuse which were contributing to the higher HIV prevalence rate.
He said this in Livingstone on Thursday in a speech read for him by Livingstone District Medical community health officer Cliff Hara during the graduation ceremony for 56 FEWs.
One of the FSWs who was also supposed to graduate, Carol Liwema, died two days before the graduation ceremony.
“Sex workers as a sub-population are at a higher risk of contracting and spreading HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
“Therefore, controlling or preventing HIV infections in FSWs is an important strategy of halting the spread of HIV in the general population,” Mr Munsanje said.
He said Zambia’s HIV prevalence projected at 12 per cent in 2003 was
among the highest in the world and it was a major threat to the
nation.
Corridors of Hope Chief of Party Joseph Kamanga expressed concern at the increasing number of both female and male sex workers in the country.
Mr Kamanga said his organisation was not a reformist but that it was merely encouraging sex workers to do their activities in a safe and dignified manner by not spreading HIV/AIDS infections to other people.
“We have so far trained 145 peer educators across the country and they have been engaging their fellow sex workers on matters of practicing safe sex.
“We are using sex workers to engage their fellow sex workers on matters of halting the spreading of HIV/AIDS infections. We believe a person needs to ask crocodiles if he or she want to know how hippos live in water because both live in live,” Mr Kamanga said.
Vanesa Siandula, a graduating peer educator living from Kazungula border, said she was currently encouraging sex workers to practice safer sex to mitigate the spreading of HIV/AIDS infections.
Ms Siandula, who is popularly known as ‘Queen Mother’, said she stopped breastfeeding when her child was two months so that she could engage in sex work to earn an income.
“I had a number of friends in Lusaka, Kitwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe who were linking me to sex work and I could easily move from one place or country to another.
“I also made my house a brothel but I have since changed my life after Corridors of Hope came to train me in peer education as well as on how to use the condoms correctly,” she said.
Pamela Shawa, a graduating peer educator from Chirundu border, said she had changed her phone sim cards so that men should not contact her anymore after her life changed.
Ms Shawa said she was married for two years but she left her marital home to start engaging in prostitution to earn an income.
“I never used to pray to God as all that was in my mind was beer. I remember I could go for five to seven men in one night but thank God I have now changed though my family members have not yet accepted me.
“Life in the night is dangerous and I want to fight this HIV/AIDS so that we can have zero infection rate,” she said.
Some things change, some don’t, but once hole, always one…but all the best!
Like your mother the big whóre!!!
Hello Dr. Ariba is real and he’s powerful, I’m Jack Ponton and in from Atlanta Georgia, i was diagnosed with Genital Herpes And HIV/AIDS, I started taking some vitamins and other prescribed medications but i wasn’t cured, I saw a comment about Dr. Ariba on how he cured someone with herbal medicine, and it takes 21 days for the patient to get cured, I contacted him and he guided me. I asked for solutions he started the remedies for my health, he sent me the medicine VIA EMS SPEED POST. I received the parcel a week later, so I started taking the medicine as prescribed by him, within 21 days i started to see some changes in my body, and before the completion of the 21 days i was cured, so I’m urging you to contact him for help, he’s the only one that help you get cured from the virus…
Only Jesus can change a life of a person. These sex bisness women are just pretending soon they will be back in the streets. Jesus is the answer for this.
According to “this is africa me” an Italian tourist named Antonio Boretti brought business to a halt in Chipata, Zambia because his appearance resembled Western image of Jesus. Dressed in a long white robe and wearing long hair and a long beard, locals began following, worshiping and even giving him gifts.
I will bring my Italian husband for you to worship!
Reading the article above I can deduce that those who were trained as peer educators will just change with the way they conduct their business, safe use of condoms and negotiating skills. It is not about them stopping completely. In addition they will be talking to their friends about how to conduct the sexual business in a safe manner. Who will be paying these peer educators? If you do not pay them they will not change their behaviours, they have to earn a living. Most of them started sex work because they did not have means to survive let alone bring up their children. Usually in such projects it is the educators of the sex workers who pay themselves heft salaries or allowances at the expense of sex workers and everything becomes a flop. Tasintha, is it still viable? Nkandu Luo benefited
Real dirty world we live in. I wouldn’t imagine how life would be without Jesus Christ
Impressive strategy. As the saying goes
“it takes a thief to catch a thief”
Typical Zambian mentality of judging others. How many of you have only had sex with one person? How many of you were virgins when you got married? How many of you have never had recreational sex before? How many of you had never had sex for a favour even simple favours such as a ride in someone’s car (“lift”) to another place? for marks at school/college? for a meal of fried chicken or sausage? for a beer? for a job? Zambians have compromised morals, too much consumption of alcohol, cheating, thieving, to much recreational sex. When even bleach themselves to attract men for a buck.
Corridors of Hope is just doing the right thing. This must even extent to married people men and women.
I Never believed i was ever going to be HIV Negative again,Dr Uroko has given me reasons to be happy, i was HIV positive for 2years and all the means i tried for treatment was not helpful to me, but when i came on the Internet i saw great testimony about Dr on how he was able to cure someone from HIV, this person said great things about this man, and advice we contact him for any Disease problem that Dr Uroko can be of help, well i decided to give him a try, he requested for my information which i sent to him, and he told me he was going to prepare for me a healing portion, which he wanted me to take for days, and after which i should go back to the hospital for check up, well after taking all the treatment sent to me by Dr Uroko, i went back to the Hospital for check up, and now i have b
I Never believed i was ever going to be HIV Negative again,Dr Uroko has given me reasons to be happy, i was HIV positive for 2years and all the means i tried for treatment was not helpful to me, but when i came on the Internet i saw great testimony about Dr on how he was able to cure someone from HIV, this person said great things about this man, and advice we contact him for any Disease problem that Dr Uroko can be of help, well i decided to give him a try, he requested for my information which i sent to him, and he told me he was going to prepare for me a healing portion, which he wanted me to take for days, and after which i should go back to the hospital for check up, well after taking all the treatment sent to me by Dr Uroko, i went back to the Hospital for check up, and now i have
My mouth is short of words, i am so so happy because Dr.oluku
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