Sex and Aids are taboo subjects

If sexuality among the Somalis is a taboo topic, then the discussion of HIV and Aids is even more forbidden and if spoken of at all, is done so only in hushed tones.

There VCT centres attract minimal visitors, except for pregnant mothers who get tested when they attend prenatal clinics.

Public health officials concede that the use of protection is still worryingly low as locals shy away from collecting condoms from any of the six dispensers in Mandera Town.

“We can only put the dispensers close to security installations, the locals would never allow them to be displayed in public,” said Mr Hassan Mohamed Adow, coordinator of the District Aids Survey for Mandera East.

The entire county, he said used fewer than 10,000 condoms a year.

But beneath the shroud of secrecy and stigma, HIV and Aids is slowly creeping into the county. According to Mr Adow, prevalence has gone up from 0.8 per cent to one per cent.

Yet even with the rise in prevalence, there are only 120 clients receiving HIV care, and only 60 being given ARV treatment.

Now women are slowly emerging from their culture of silence to lead the battle against the scourge.

And one woman has earned the respect of the men of Mandera, most of who would ordinarily castigate any woman who speaks out about sexuality.

Ms Rukia Diath Elmi and her organisation Opahaids are household names in Mandera Town. She has been living with the HIV virus for the past four years and declared her status publicly.

In an area where people living with the virus are highly stigmatised, Ms Elmi’s courage has endeared her to many.

“Youths should test their potential partners before marriage since HIV cannot be detected like a scar,” advised Ms Elmi.

She was married at the age of 22 as a third wife to an elderly man but when she fell sick and became bedridden he divorced her. At about the same time she lost her four-month-old baby.

Her sister took her to a hospital in Pumwani, Nairobi, where she was diagnosed with HIV.

“At first I intended to commit suicide but encouragement from my sister that Aids is not a death sentence helped me to live positively,” Ms Elmi said.

The stigma associated with HIV and Aids was preventing many people from seeking treatment, she said, and blamed the culture of wife inheritance for the spread of the virus.

Her organisation, Opahaids, which stands for Organisation of People Affected by HIV and Aids, has 56 members, the majority of them being women, although 15 men joined after realising that ARVs can bring back life.

Ms Elmi has since remarried to a HIV positive man, and they plan to raise a family.