Spreading the word
Abbes is 35 years old and lives and studies in Oran, Algeria. He is a peer educator at Association de Protection Contre le Sida (APCS) the Alliance’s partner organisation, working for a project addressing the sexual health needs of men who have sex with men.
“I heard about HIV and AIDS a long time ago, but the information at the time wasn’t very clear. I didn’t feel concerned despite having sex with men.
I started having sexual relationships with men when I was 15. At first, I was having sex with friends in my neighbourhood but I quickly started to have sex with older men for money as well.
This period was very difficult for me. I didn’t like having sex for money; I felt I had lost my freedom. I was also concerned by my sexuality. Was I normal? Was it possible to live happily as a gay man? I was also starting to feel seriously concerned about what I was hearing about HIV. As a gay man, what were my risks of being infected with HIV? I felt really lonely and lost.
This troubled period lasted more than four years, then one day I decided that if I wanted something to change I would have to do it myself. I had also started to think differently about my sexuality: some said it wasn’t natural, but I was part of nature and nature is diverse.
I got a job that gave me enough money to stop selling sex. I then met a man at college who I started to see seriously. Obviously nobody has ever known about him as my family and many of my friends still don’t know about my sexuality: it would be “haram” (a sin). I would surely be kicked out of my family home if they knew. They would force me to stop seeing him and get married.
In July 2006, I heard about the project being run by APCS and the Alliance through a friend. At the time, they were looking for men who would be interested in becoming peer educators for HIV prevention with men who have sex with men. A training workshop was organised and I decided to attend out of curiosity.
This workshop was a real eye opener, a real turning point in my life – like when I stopped selling sex!
I learnt so much about HIV and the risks that are involved in same sex intercourse. I also learnt invaluable techniques to be a good peer-educator: how to listen, how to start discussions on very difficult subjects like sexuality, sexually transmitted infections and HIV. At that point, I became a peer educator for APCS and have continued doing this work for almost a year now. As a peer educator, my role is to learn essential information about HIV and AIDS and share it with our community. We also refer those who want to find out their HIV status to the voluntary counselling and testing centre at APCS.
I work with an ideal team, which is important as being a peer educator can be very challenging. Communicating on anything around sexuality is very difficult because it’s a taboo in our society. Also as peer educators for men who have sex with men, we can feel quite exposed – there is always the fear that somebody will denounce us to our family. Homophobia and discrimination is really prevalent in Algeria and working as a peer educator can be really difficult, even with the professional organisations and doctors we work with.
In the future, I would like to get more training, to learn how to communicate better with our peers and keep up-to-date with information on HIV, gain more support from APCS, and maybe to start a project tackling homophobia. I think that doctors, organisations and my community all need to make more efforts to increase HIV education and make health services accessible to all parts of the community, even the most stigmatised like the gay community.
Despite these difficulties, being a peer educator has been a fantastic and invaluable experience. Since I started, I have been able to meet and sensitise more than 80 gay men. It’s great to think that this information can help them throw away their fears and discover that safer sex is more pleasurable sex, just as I did!
I now feel in a much better place. I have realised that many types of people exist in the world and many have learnt to live well with their homosexuality. I am still with my boyfriend and we always practice safer sex. It is the best way to protect ourselves and each other! I accept myself for who I am, I take care of myself and my friend. I didn’t really pay any attention to safer sex before, but for me now it’s essential to protect myself and my community.
I feel I have found a goal in my life: to build myself, to protect myself, my friend and others; and to continue contributing to the fantastic work APCS and the Alliance are doing to face up to the HIV epidemic.
I want to continue spreading the word: HIV is serious but we can still have pleasurable and safe sex, and life!”
Background
The Alliance’s North Africa Regional Programme set up a regional pilot project to respond to the sexual health needs of men who have sex with men in North Africa and Lebanon. After two years of implementation, the programme is now in its closing-out phase. This is an important moment to evaluate the work undertaken in the region, its impact and draw lessons for future HIV interventions focusing on vulnerable groups such as men who have sex with men in the Arab world.
In Algeria, the project was led by the Association de Protection Contre le Sida based in Oran. The project consisted of peer education activities for men who have sex with men, outreach work, group discussions, condom and lubricant distribution, sensitisation and training of health providers in sexual health and voluntary HIV counselling and testing, information, education and communication activities (material development) and advocacy activities. Men who have sex with men were fully engaged in the design, the coordination and the implementation of the project.
