Accra, Nov. 5, GNA - The education on the prevention of HIV and AIDS seems to be going down with Ghanaians and people are now being more careful of their lifestyles.

Basic information about the A, B and C (Abstinence, Be faithful and use a Condom) has become a household word and Kayayee (women porters) who have been described as vulnerable, are using these three alphabets as their guiding principles.

A Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) exercise conducted for 150 kayayei from Agbobloshie and Mallam Atta markets had all of them testing negative.

The test, which was conducted three consecutive times just to be sure of the results, was done by Society for Women against AIDS in Africa (SWAA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and supported by the UNFPA. The VCT was a follow-up of training of 50 Kayayei selected from the two markets in Accra early this year where they were trained as peer educators on HIV and AIDS and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) issues among their peers.

The training formed part of UN reform focusing on division of labour in relation to HIV and AIDS, which focused more on prevention intervention, targeting young people, women and vulnerable groups. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview Mrs Cecelia Lodonu-Sam, Executive Director of SWAA, said her outfit would engage the kayayei in intensive education that will let them remain HIV negative. She explained that the aim of the collaboration was to build the capacity of the kayayei in reproductive rights to enable them to make health decisions and have negotiation skills.

"People have always underestimated these kayayei and we consider them as very vulnerable and they have proved us wrong. With a little push in education and support, they could also make it in life and rub shoulders with their colleagues in the formal sector." She said kayayei, though vulnerable, were able to control themselves because of their cultural belief about incriminate sex, fear of unfortunate things happening to them or incurring the wrath of their ancestors and gods. They would therefore rather keep to themselves and have their blessings. As part of the efforts to improve their economic status, 20 condom outlets have been opened in the two market centres and are being operated by the kayayei.

Mrs Loddonu-Sam said the project of the training and equipping the kayayei with economic skills would be extended to the men porters who had complained that they had been left out of the training which they had seen to be very useful. She appealed to other stakeholders to help assist in training and equipping the women and men porters with requisite skills that would improve their economic status and social lifestyles. Ms Esi Awotwi, HIV and AIDS Programme Officer of UNFPA, expressed UNFPA's excitement about the negative reports of the VCT conducted on the kayayei and pledged continuous support in intensifying the peer-to-peer education to further reduce the spread of the virus. She supported the idea of bringing on board the men porters saying this "will enable them to appreciate gender role, sexual reproductive health rights and HIV and AIDS and also empowerment of women". Ms Awotwi bemoaned the notion that kayayei had been neglected and were not being involved in any activity that would bring them development and improve their lives.

She said the training was also aimed at strengthening the legal literacy campaign, counselling and testing on the pandemic as well as human rights violations and how to deal with such situations. The kayayei were taken through the concept of peer education, human anatomy and physiology, pregnancy and child bearing, abortion, sexually transmitted infections, SRH rights, basic facts about HIV and AIDS, stigma and discrimination, condom use and demonstration, facilitation skills, care and support prevention, gender based violence and sex. They were also taught personal hygiene, communication skills, record keeping and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and AIDS. Ms Mariama Sulley, a leader of the kayayei at the Mallam Atta market, commended UNFPA and SWAA for empowering them with knowledge and information on HIV and AIDS as well as other reproductive health issues. "We now feel part and parcel of society and we are contributing our quota to the development of the nation by serving as agents of change," she said.

She added that as peer educator, she had been able to influence the lives of many of her colleagues and expressed her happiness that the HIV testing conducted on them proved negative. "Empowering us with this useful information and skills would help us to manage our lives well and lead meaningful lives so that we can also in a way contribute our quota to national development." Mr Mohammed Salifu a youth leader pleaded with government to reconsider the plans of evacuating them from their present place of abode.