RWEYOWA

What can I say about RWEYOWA. They are an all-volunteer organization that does some amazing work. The three guys who started this organization are young Ugandan men who are so compassionate and really want to make a difference in the AIDS epidemic here. They do so much for the people of this community with the small amounts of money and resources that they have.


The three guys are:

- Ssekibuule Wilson (23 yrs)

- Ronald Kassamba (27 yrs)

- Tony (32 yrs?)

It seems amazing that these young guys are doing so much, and have gained so much respect in their community to be doing all of this. Their stories are amazing, and have made them into wonderful men who really care about the people they serve, and their volunteers. There are more people that work with the organization, but these three are the main organizers.

In the short three days that I have been here, we have helped to bring a client to the hospital, helped another to attain medicine and food after we checked her health status, did an HIV sensitization (education and awareness) at a local primary school, and also performed a VCT (voluntary counseling and testing for HIV) outreach.

I think the one that amazed me the most was the VCT. It was a small VCT, as we only had 45 people come to get tested – usually there are 70-200 people. However, it amazed me as to the different people who came. There were 60 year old men, 18 year old girls and everywhere in between. They all had different reasons for coming, but they were all so brave. I can’t imagine getting tested and getting my results in that setting. A small NGO (non-governmental organization) held the VCT in their center, where the counseling was held in not-so-private areas. Everyone had their blood drawn in the open, and we did all the tests right there. The results were all private, and it was wonderful that only 1 person was positive. That is amazing, as normally the rate here is 6-7%, while today we were closer to 2%. However, when you are in a situation where there are not a lot of resources, and there is still a lot of stigma, how do you not react so that everyone knows that you are HIV+. I can’t imagine.

I got to actually work in the ‘lab’ today… filling out forms, helping read the test results and such. It is really quite amazing to watch.

It is so good to see these guys at work.