Finally, after a year of service SMC (safe male circumcision) has been offered in Salajwe! It has been a long journey to provide this HIV prevention service to my community. The Docs came November and will leave on December 14. For those back home not well versed in the HIV and public health fields; male circumcision reduces a mans chances of conteacting HIV by 60%. This is a huge number and has the potential to have large impacts on the number of new infections in Botswana. Circumcision also has many other benefits including better hygiene, and reduced chances of STIs.
My contributions to this effort have been many. I helped the DHMT (district health management team) create and draft the project outline. But most importantly I have been mobilizing the community. This mostly involves giving health talks to educate people about the benefits of SMC and making them aware of the opportunity. I love gathering groups and teaching about health. I talk about SMC to men, mothers, school boys, government employees and anyone who will listen.
I’ll be continuing to push SMC in my community for the rest of my service. This is such an important element in the fight against HIV/AIDS and one of the most effective prevention tools we have.