Let's give friends an identity card!
29 September 2006
There was a lot of discussion, and some disagreement, at the first annual peer educators’ forum, Friends to Friends, held from 5-7 June in Mongolia by the National AIDS Foundation (NAF), the Alliance linking organisation in Mongolia.
“Let’s give friends an identity card” was one of the strongest pleas made by 50% of peer educators gathered at the forum. The suggestion for peer educators or ‘friends’ to be given identity cards for their own protection was echoed by one peer educator who runs workshops for sex workers. She told the following story:
“When I was training, the police came and detained me along with the others. Did you not manage to explain to them about your purpose of work?, I was asked by my colleagues. Sure, I tried to tell them. But they hit me even though I told them that I am an educator.”
But Ms. Erdenetuya, manager of the Faith and Hope project in Darkhan, countered: “We do not have misunderstandings with the police any more. Consequently, our work is going well.” Darkhan’s governing body, police department, judiciary and health clinics are all collaborating closely with each other, she said.
According to data from Darkhan’s health centre, 70.4% of sex workers had one or more sexually transmitted infection in 1999, but this percentage had declined to 48.6 by 2000 and then to 14% in 2004. Another peer educator from Darkhan explained, “Darkhan’s governing body and judiciary are very helpful. The police also know the peer educators and assist them in their work.” Thanks to such joint efforts, 96.3% of sex workers in Darkhan reported using condoms, according to a 2004 survey.
Training peer educators from among colleagues, community and friends is proving one of the most effective ways to carry out HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection prevention work in Mongolia. Since 2002, NAF has trained more than 5,000 peer educators from among factory workers, working children, women sex workers, gay men, mobile traders, military men and prisoners.
Ms. Nyam-Ulzii, executive director of the non-governmental organisation Itgel Shuteen said, “To find and meet sex workers is complicated. They do not accept ‘outsiders’ easily. That’s why we need to meet sex workers who wish to change their way of life and train as peer educators. They understand their community very well. They also can be a good role model to their peers. But the police often don’t take them seriously and then they lose their enthusiasm.”
Ch. Batnairamdal, a monk from Dashchoilin Monastery (Zuun Khuree) who trains other monks to become peer educators, said, “The first time monks heard my talk on HIV/AIDS awareness they were astonished. Many of them doubted whether monks who abstain from sex were best placed to carry out successful HIV/AIDS work. This is why training was important to give them a better understanding and encourage them to work on prevention.”
Peer educator Uurtsaikh from the non-governmental organisation Tegsh Mur explained that some parents accuse peer educators of promoting sex by distributing condoms. She reported that alcoholism and casual sex are commonplace among children who drop out from school. These children face abuse daily.
“One 12-year-old girl working in the market was persuaded by an elderly woman to help her carry things home, only to find people there who abused her and forced her to sell sex. Children like her often have little idea how to protect themselves. They are mostly from vulnerable families or have dropped out of school and have been forced to do casual or difficult jobs. This underlies the importance of not only offering them sexual health education, but also showing them how to protect themselves from abuse”, she said.
Despite of all these challenges, peer educators are working hard to contribute – often invisibly – to the community and its health and well-being.
