Saturday, May 23

This morning we went to Mchenga, a community based organization that helps families and orphans, especially through home visiting and assistance with food security. We conducted two interviews that morning. One was with Fani, age 19, who lost her mother to “sudden illness” in 2005. She began to cry as she remembered her mother and I struggled with whether or not to take a photo. The social worker in me won, but when I later asked Mara what she thought, she said that these emotions are very real and important to capture, and that she’ll mention this to future interviewees so that next time this happens I can more comfortably take the picture. Fani has a disposable camera, which we’ll pick up on Saturday.

In the afternoon, I interviewed the Youth Club at Paradiso House Home Based Care. What a cool ending to the day! They greeted us with a traditional dance and continued to sing and dance as children and orphans gathered around them. This is one way that they educate their community on HIV and other health-related issues. The interview went well, and I can’t wait to bring their message back to the US. They’re so bright and full of energy, utterly inspiring. Also young and insecure. Some of the girls are on scholarship so that they can attend secondary school, but more money is needed to assist the other girls and any of the boys who can’t afford to pay school fees. Most have lost at least one parent to HIV, but some haven’t and are in the club because of what it teaches them about themselves and their lives, and because of the opportunity to bring about positive change in their communities. I gave them a disposable camera to use as a group and they discussed possible themes, deciding to focus on their outreach work. Along with taking pictures, their homework is to think of questions they would like to ask members of their community, as next time we’re going out as a group with the microphone and recorder so that they can take turns interviewing people and learning how to use the equipment.