World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. The DAC office is hosting (maybe sponsoring?) 2 events in the district - one at the prison and one in a town about 25 minutes down the tarmac road. I say that maybe we are funding the events because, as of today we still have not received the money to cover the function from the national office. Each district is doing its own thing to fund (or maybe not fund) WAD events. Here in Thyolo the District Assembly loaned us the money and we will pay them back as soon as we receive the money.

I decided to attend the function at the prison since I didn't think I'd really be any help at all at the other event since there were so many people going already. The event was scheduled to start at 9:30 am with a Solidarity Walk (similar to a 5k or other walk but much shorter - maybe 1/4 mile). But, most events here don't start on time so we eventually began the walk at 10:30 am. It was really good: people held signs up talking about this year's theme: Universal Access and they were singing songs about getting tested and taking ARVs. Then we made our way into the prison.

I feel that I should describe the prison first before I talk about the function. It is a small white building bordered (but only in the front) by a flimsy barbed wire fence. It's near where I work and in fact I walk by it every day. This was my first time to go inside though. I was told by one of the officers that there are currently 172 prisoners - 2 women and the rest men. The 2 women were able to sit on a bench on the porch of the prison because they were only 2 and there isn't a women's ward. The men on the other hand were all crammed into 5 cells - meaning about 35 men lived in each cell. I don't know the area of the rooms, but I'm sure they either slept right next to each other or on top of each other. Not very sanitary or mentally helpful.

I asked the prison HIV/AIDS Coordinator if they were thinking of expanding the prison but she said that due to lack of funds that would probably not happen. I was also told that there are only 2 bathrooms and 2 showers for all 170 men. I asked if they were given food and she said yes, but only once and day and it was probably just nsima (a paste made from corn flour and water) and beans. She said that sometimes the families of the prisoners brought them food, but they'd have to travel to the prison and sometimes they lived very far away or they might not have the money to buy food.

The 5 cells are spread out around a small open air courtyard. Some prisoners spend their whole sentence (months or years) in that small space and are never allowed to leave. Other prisoners who have almost finished their sentences are allowed to leave the prison to do manual labor for other government offices or officials. (For example, a group of prisoners came a month ago and chopped down some trees in the District Commissioner's yard - also my yard.) So they live a very hard and very confined life.

After the Solidarity Walk we went to the prison where the function was to take place. There was a giant tarp spread out on the ground of the court yard for the prisoners to sit on and chairs set up for the invited guests (i.e. the important government officials and village chiefs). Although it is the rainy season, it hasn't rained in a few days so it was HOT. This was especially true in the sun where all of the prisoners were sitting. No one complained though and they really seemed to have a good time despite the sun beating down on them.

There were speeches discussing this year's theme - some people talked about getting tested, others talked about taking ARVs if you are positive, others talked about getting tested with your partner. Very good stuff. There were also several sketches, songs and comedy routines all talking about this year's theme. Two people gave testimonials, but since it was all in Chichewa I don't really know what they talked about, but I'm assuming it had something to do with how HIV affected their lives.

The function was over by 1pm and as the invited guests left, the hired DJ played music for them so they could dance. During the entire function, staff members from the district hospital were providing HIV testing for the prisoners. I asked if they could get tested whenever they wanted and was told that they could, provided there was an officer available to escort them to the hospital to get tested. In her speech, the head officer at the prison asked the hospital to provide them with a trained counselor on a regular basis so that all prisoners who wanted to get tested would be able to.

I'm really glad that I was able to attend this event and that I was able to learn what life was like for prisoners here in Thyolo. The request for HIV counselors and testing got me thinking that maybe the DAC and I could find some way to train counselors for the prison, maybe members of the prison staff. I asked the prison HIV/AIDS Coordinator about the training and she told me it was 3 weeks long - shortened from 6 weeks. Wow, that's a long training and an expensive one, especially if the trainees get per diem. But maybe we could find some money somewhere. I also thought about the fact that so many of the speeches stressed the importance of proper nutrition but most of the prisoners only ate one meal a day. There are some organizations here in Malawi that provide food for school children, maybe they'd be interested in starting a program with the prison.