Projet “Hêré Bolo”
This summer, the GAIA Vaccine Foundation will pilot its first HIV peer education program, “Le Main de l’Espoir,” at a clinic in Sikoro, Mali. “Le Main de l’Espoir” (which translates to “Hand of Hope” in English and “Here Bolo” in Bambera) will teach Malians about HIV prevention and treatment by using a mnemonic that is easy to remember and easy to teach. The program will be five days long, and each day will correspond to one finger of the hand to emphasize a point about HIV – hope (the thumb), identity (index finger), transmission (middle finger), marriage, fidelity and family (ring finger) and the community (both hands together). At the end of the five day program, all participants will have the necessary knowledge about HIV prevention and treatment to allow them to become peer educators and will receive a tee shirt that identifies them as HIV peer educators in the community. It will then be their responsibility to bring “Le Main de l’Espoir” to other Malians living in Bamako and Sikoro, and teach them the mnemonic so that more people can become peer educators. In this way, GAIA’s program will put HIV prevention and treatment directly in the hands of the Malian people, and give them the power to carry out their own public health intervention.
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Madeline DiLorenzo, a 2006 Richard Smoke Fellow, is a rising junior concentrating in International Relations at Brown University. This summer, she is collaborating with Dr. DeGroot, Dr. Kone, and Ramatoullaye of Point G Hospital in Bamako to pilot GAIA’s first HIV peer education program, Here Bolo (also known as Le Main de L’Espoir or the Hand of Hope), in Sikoro, Mali.
“The need for this program became apparent upon our arrival in Bamako. At a screening of a documentary made by GAIA students last summer about women’s HIV knowledge and attitudes, it became clear to GAIA students that many Malian women still believe that HIV can be transmitted by behaviors such as kissing, touching, and sharing food. Even more unsettling was that many women believed that having HIV was a death sentence – and that there was no hope for a happy, healthy life for an HIV positive individual. However, Ramatoullaye, one of our peer educators, is herself HIV-positive. Yet, in spite of her diagnosis, she is living a happy, healthy life, and furthermore, she is helping conquer HIV by contributing to one of GAIA’s most important missions – education. It is our hope that having Ramatoullaye as part of our team will demonstrate to the Sikoro community that HIV-positive individuals can and do live happy, healthy, productive lives.”