{"id":122,"date":"2019-09-27T11:01:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T11:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/kenya2019\/?p=122"},"modified":"2019-09-27T11:09:31","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T11:09:31","slug":"day-5-the-effort-is-worth-every-second","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/kenya2019\/2019\/09\/27\/day-5-the-effort-is-worth-every-second\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 5 – The Effort is Worth Every Second"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today, a group of fifteen year-old girls told us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. If you sleep with a virgin it will cure you of\nHIV<\/li>
  2. Sleeping with an older man can also cure you of\nHIV<\/li>
  3. You can contract HIV by sharing cutting tools<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We\u2019d become used to teaching cricket and HIV at Kenyan\nprimary schools. You get used to being mobbed, doling out high fives and\nmarshalling hundreds of kids into cricket drills and chanting the ABCs:\n\u2018Abstain! Be Faithful! Condom!\u2019 It\u2019s intense, but invariably uplifting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Our first visit to a secondary was a more salutary experience. When the lads strutted onto the field and casually launched into backflips you could practically smell the testosterone, and the girls were young women, a mixture of teenaged coyness and bravado. The abstraction of Kenya\u2019s HIV problem was suddenly very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Despite the incredible advances in treatment \u2013 properly treated, the virus becomes undetectable, untransmittable, and the infected person can live a completely normal life – HIV still inspires terror. Two told us that their parents would beat them if they befriended an HIV+ person. Others spoke of fear of discrimination, loneliness and stigma. Some said they would kill themselves if they caught HIV. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Mental health is as much an issue here as it is back home. The idea of contracting HIV by sharing cutting tools was confusing at first. Did they mean by eating together, sharing a knife, that kind of thing? No, as it turns out, self-harm is prevalent here too. It\u2019s easy to think that whatever we do won\u2019t be enough. When you hear these stories, it\u2019s easy to sink down with them. But you can go the other way too; use what you learn in order to empower these young people and give them the tools they need to get on better.\u00a0 The local coaches keep telling us our work makes a real difference. The limited impact studies CWB have managed to do back that up. Even if it\u2019s only impacting one child a session or a day, it still makes the effort worth every second. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Phil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Today, a group of fifteen year-old girls told us: If you sleep with a virgin…<\/p>\n

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