Any move to highlight the plight of communities shouldering the burden of HIV/AIDS and/or any other challenge is highly appreciated and encouraged. This, in my view, informs the role of the media in informing and educating the people on matters of public interest and/or anything that has monumental impact - negative or otherwise - on the lives of the people.
Notwithstanding the underlying benefits, such reporting must always be guided by fidelity to facts and the need to prevail upon - and vanquish - any sensationalist motive.
The question thus shoots up: For what benefit will a sensational, off-the-mark, non-factual reporting be to the suffering masses if not to inflict more pain and condemnation on them?
I write this to set the record straight. Culture (polygamy or "wife/husband-swapping"), as the media has put it, is not wholly to blame for HIV/AIDS prevalence in Turkana. The real big drivers of this virus are poverty and ignorance.
For the record, this is not to negate the contribution of culture in propagation of the disease. Instead, it is to enrich our discourse with a view to discovering other "buried" factors that do not pass the test of "catchy news".
To do this, in my opinion, is the way to go if our driving force is to shine light into the lives and minds of our rural, remote, information-thirsty communities.
According to a 2014 publication titled "Pulling Apart: Facts and Figures On Inequality In Kenya", by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in collaboration with Society for International Development (SID)- East Africa, poverty among other factors has contributed heavily to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Turkana.
Let’s explain. Development is concentrated around urban centers along the Kitale-Lodwar-Juba highway. This, as a result, has pulled many hitherto nomadic communities to towns. Faced with economic uncertainties, many of them, majority being women resort to prostitution and illicit brewing to earn a living. It is here that HIV strikes.
Closely linked to this urban migration is the rise of sex-opportunists. These are people whose major objective is to profit from the naivety and desperation of the poor, illiterate, rural women trooping to urban centers to earn a living. They hoodwink them with a promise of marriage and/or financial support only to escape the moment their sexual-thirst is quenched.
This, as we speak, is fueled by the discovery of mineral resources (oil economy in Lokichar and neighbouring areas) and the movement of people along these highway towns. You see, there is a booming sex-business around these oil wells!
The report points out that more than 80% of folks in this part are either illiterate or partially literate. Again, women are the majority. This has negatively impacted on public health awareness hence the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates.
Due to the insecurity in the region, women-headed households are on the rise. To cushion themselves from economic shocks most of these women resort to desperate measures such as prostitution. This, again, renders them easy prey to sex-opportunists.
There is a total disconnect between people in urban, easily accessible areas in Turkana and those in the remote outposts. Guys in towns have at least some knowledge on the existence and dangers of sexually transmitted infections as opposed to their colleagues in rural areas. Health facilities are hardly found in rural areas.
This draws one to this solid assumption: That health awareness is skewed in favour of people in urban centers. Medical care is also linked to distance viz-a-viz health facilities.
Due to stigma, many rural folk deny their HIV status to "save face and win acceptance in the society". A condition that offers a fertile ground for the silent spread of the virus.
Many families hide their own to "protect the family's respect" in the community. This, the report says, is as a result of lack of robust and steady awareness campaigns targeting our remote brothers and sisters. The ripple effect of this? More infections. More deaths.
So what is the way forward? Some points come to mind. Economic empowerment of our rural women must be our number one priority. We need to offload the burden these people carry by reaching out to women groups and training them.
The Informal Sector Business Institutes/Schools (ISBIs) targeting our illiterate jobless women and youth come in handy. These people can make good house cleaners, gardeners, artisans, foresters...etc. They are capable of fending for themselves if trained. Let's teach them.
An economically-strong rural population is the joy of everybody - especially the "urbanites" who may think rural problems end just there!
It is time we dropped our skewed urban-centric interventions concerning public awareness. Failure to take health care campaigns to these rural Kenyans is danger to all of us. And we can't leave the situation to get out of hand for us to intervene. We must pull the stinger now and get these people on board.
Finally, our media chaps must learn the act. To commodify a people is nothing else other than the escapism espoused in the many half-baked exposés about the plight of Kenyans. They must dig deep and get their facts right.
To sensationalise a story for the sake of making it “catchy and news-worthy” is to miss the point. It is no different from spitting on the face of the suffering information-thirsty rural population of this great nation.
Yes, HIV/AIDS prevalence is high in Turkana County; but culture isn't wholly the culprit. There is more to this.
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