Aids focus summer 2004

Youth move borders

Salvadoran and Honduran adolescents join the struggle against HIV, AIDS and adult prejudice.

Text and photo: Eva Rasmussen

10. August 2004

Sexuality is not a subject up for discussion in Central America. At least not in those areas where the catholic and evangelical churches hold sway over people’s daily lives. This is a hindrance for the effort to stop the growing threat posed by HIV/AIDS. Nonetheless, recently Salvadoran and Honduran youths have joined the struggle against HIV, AIDS and adult prejudice. 

In late July, eighty youths from both countries came together in the Salvadoran municipality of Santa Marta, which shares a border with Honduras, to exchange experiences and try to establish permanent links between the youth work being done in the southwest of the Honduran province of Lempira and Santa Marta, on the Salvadoran side. Kirsten Madsen, an MS advisor on AIDS shared three days of training, fun and games with them. The youth meeting was organised by two Central American NGOs, ASONOG of Honduras and ADES, the Association for Development in El Salvador. 

Honduras is the Central American countries most affected by HIV/AIDS. Of a population of 6,781,000 some 19,254 are HIV positive, while in El Salvador there are 10,114 cases in a population of 6,396,000. These are UN statistics, which usually reflect underreporting in the range of 40% to 50%. 

Condom distributors

“At the beginning they looked at us like we were monsters out there distributing condoms, but little by little the situation has improved”, says Jaime Sánchez, an eighteen-year-old activist of the Anti-AIDS Committee in Santa Marta, CoCosi. 

“In Honduras it’s best not to even mention sexuality”, remarks Angela Ramos, 22, and an activist with the ASONOG youth group in Lempira. Both she and Jaime Sánchez work on information regarding AIDS, and both have come up against a wall of prejudices. 

“We are accused of exhorting the young to engage in sexual relations, which of course is not true”, says Angela. The critical point at the workshops, in El Salvador as well as in Honduras, is the moment at which the promoter starts to inform people on the use of condoms. “Once, while I was teaching a group ranging from 12 to 25 years of age, one of the participants tried to stop me when I got to the condom part. ‘You can’t do this!’, he shouted. ‘There are minors present!’ Now, this is a very dangerous attitude. Of course, the 12-year olds are still children in many ways, but very frequently they are children who have a sex life. This is why they need to know how to protect themselves from AIDS.” According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) at least 20% of those between the ages of 13 and 20 are sexually active. 

Jaime had set up a series of workshops in one community. However, after the first one they asked him not to come back. “Since then we’ve been more careful. Now we thoroughly research the main characteristics of the community with which we intend to share information, and we plan the teaching sessions based on that reality. If we don’t take people’s religious and political convictions into account, we risk that they clam up entirely and continue without knowing anything about AIDS”, says Jaime. 

Participants at the youth meeting are community leaders, each with some experience informing people on HIV / AIDS. However, 33% of them are of the opinion that condoms should not be distributed to youths under the age of 18, as Kirsten Madsen discovered through a survey she conducted during the meeting. The survey describes a number of problem areas, specified by gender and nationality. The differences are significant, not so much among genders but among nationalities. Kirsten Madsen emphasises that the research done will serve as an instrument to identify in what way the two groups can reinforce each other in the future. For instance, CoCosi has considerable experience working with gender and sexuality, issues which are relatively new to the youth in ASONOG, who for their part have more organisational experience. 

 

Beyond AIDS

Several of the Salvadoran participants were actually born in Honduras. During the war in the Eighties many Salvadorans fled across the border to Lempira, where the poor population opened their doors to them. Amidst the horror of war strong friendships were forged, and these continue among the boys and girls whose parents were adults at the time. This aspect, as well as common cultural ties, contributed to the success of the meeting in Santa Marta. 

On the last day, participants prepared a list of issues on which they wish to work together. Among new issues the Central America – USA Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has the highest priority. 

“The work to prevent the spread of HIV / AIDS will continue, but the most important objective of these youth meetings is to train them to become good leaders”, comments Gilma Melare, an ADES promoter.