1. Title: Integrating HIV and AIDS
Initiatives to overcome Cultural
Barriers
Presented By: Daniel Ole Naikuni
TOUCH OF LOVE INT.DEV.PROG
NAROK

2. TOLIDP at a glance
TOLIDP is a Christian non-for-profit
community-based organization for
human rights, community health and
development, registered in 2001.

3. Vision
TOLIDP envisages a healthy, just
and prosperous society

4. Mission Statement
To Promote a Maasai Pastoralist
community whose livelihoods
are secured through faith in
God, improved human rights &
governance, healthy lifestyles
and sustainable community
based development

5. Goals and Objective
• To share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• To empower the Maasai pastoralist community on
their fundamental human rights and governance for
effective participation in social action
• To promote a healthy community through improved
and enhanced knowledge on health and nutrition
with implementation of an integrated health
intervention program
• To promote sustainable livelihoods through
resource mobilization, economic empowerment,
education, environmental conservation and
community development.

6. Core strategic issues
• Health and Nutrition – HIV and AIDS, TB,
Malaria, FP, RH…. In partnership with
APHIA II Rift Valley project.
• Livelihoods :
- Water provision for domestic and
livestock consumption
- Girl child education
• Human Rights and Governance
- Land rights and natural resource access
& management
- Environmental concerns
- Tolidp Institutional Capacity building
- Human and resource development

7. Area of operation
TOLIDP operates in the larger Narok district (North and
South)
Demographic profile
Population 403,000 (M:203,000;F:200,000)
Culture
Nomadic pastoralists
Economy
64% live below poverty line (70 women)
Major cash crop is wheat
Main business is livestock trade
Others: charcoal burning,
Information
Limited connectivity
HIV and AIDS prevalence
7%

8. TOLIDP’s integrated Health
intervention:
TOLDP has been implementing a
prevention program targeting Most
At Risk Population (MARPS) among
the Maasai pastoralist of Narok
district. The specific groups targeted
include;
- Livestock traders and livestock
drivers
- Women Support Services providers
- Cultural Manyatta Morans
- Commercial Sex Workers

9. Cultural Barriers
The Maasai society, like any
other traditional African
community has its own
traditional customs and
practices that may enhance the
infection rate.

10. 1. Polygamy
• This is still highly practiced and
stands out as one of the leading
predisposing factors to the spread of
HIV/AIDS. The rural women feel that
they have no control over their
sexual lives, as there are too many
stakeholders within their lives.

11. 2. Sharing of cutting objects
• - FGM and Circumcision
-Home deliveries (85% approx)

12. 3. Culturally sanctioned
immorality
The non-sexually aggressive
morans are given insulting
name i.e. 'Osinoni' and are
looked down upon and ridiculed
by peers and society.

13. 4. Women fertility ceremonies
While in pursuit of "children" the
women are granted liberty to
search from whoever within the
"ritualistic-month(s)". The
young adults are fully aware of
this 'opportunity' and do utilize
it. The repercussions for this
are rather obvious.

14. 5. The young adults' graduation.
• ceremonies are held annually to
upgrade them to higher cadres
of junior elderhood. As they
recruit others they more often
than not indulge in irresponsible
sexual behaviors which catapult
the rate of spread of HIV/AIDS.

15. 6. Age set wives
• Wives sharing among age mates
though reduced but still exist
and this propel the spread of
HIV/AIDS.

16. 7.The abhorrent use of family
control methods
• The community due to a lack of
exposure and awareness
employs negligible methods if
any of the "safe' sex e.g.
condoms which would have
otherwise reduced the risks.

17. 8.Traditional medicine
men/women
• The medicine person
(enkayukoni) at times treats the
patient by way of making
incisions through the skin, an
exercise that might prove to be
very dangerous in this age of
HIV/AIDS.

18. 8. Gender based violence
• Women in many communities
have no say of when to have
sex.

19. Approaches employed:
This is unique and original intervention
isolating certain traditional hidden
institutions /populations hitherto
unreached with the HIV and AIDS
prevention message(s). The groups were
previously unreached due to a combination
of many factors ranging from, geographical
remoteness of their habitat, illiteracy,
traditional and cultural orientations, lack
of local grass roots based organization
with the capacity and commitment to
address their concerns,
absence/inaccessibility of Health services,
among other constraints.

20. 1. Traveling Theatre
Groups are empowered to carry out
community outreaches through training
on Magnet theatre and Puppetry in the
eleven livestock Markets.
The message and means of
communication is thus localized and
made culturally sensitive and easily
acceptable. The MT performances
during market outreaches have always
elicited lively discussion among
community participants with enormous
potential for behavior change.

21. 2. Mobile VCT services
• undertaken in collaboration
with either the Ministry of
Health or Pillar of Hope. This
has been another appropriate
approach to this mobile pastoral
community.

22. 3. Peer Education and buddy grouping.
• The PE were empowered with
the expanded health
information and the idea of
being My Brother’s Keeper’
through buddy group formation
was utilized.

23. 4.The Women support service
providers.
• They are trained in PE and are
busy reaching out to their
colleagues in the market place
and at the homesteads.

24. Synergetic benefits from
other partners:
• The other APHIA II projects in
the district provide a
complimentary role in the
intervention strategy thus
enhancing maximum project
impacts.

25. 1.Narok District Network Forum
• reaches to the traditional Age-
set leaders who are the
custodian of cultural and
traditional practices.

26. 2. Enaitoti Biashara
• reaches out the traditional low
income rural Maasai women,
including the wives of the
livestock traders.

27. 3.Wolrd Vision Channels of Hope
• reaching out to church
congregations

28. Program impact:
• There is a reported concern by CSWs of reduced business
a trend partly attributable to change in behavior among
livestock traders.
• There is high increase of condoms demand by Peer
Educators due to high consumption. an indication of
changed attitude towards condom use.
• The trained Morans in cultural Manyattas in Maasai Mara
have also become distribution outlets for condoms and
some have actually integrated the HIV/AIDS Health
information in on-going ‘Adult Literacy’ classes at the
Manyatta and into their traditional songs and dance.
• Some Women service support providers have embarked
on Wheat farming to address the underlying causes of
vulnerability.

29. Challenges and
limitations
• Geographical inaccessibility of
the Area.
• Illiteracy.
• Traditions and cultural customs
• Inaccessibility of Health
services.
• Large scope of operation.

30. Conclusion and
Recommendations
• Build the capacity of our target audience-
training livestock traders as peer
educators, market based MT groups…
• Develop murals that portray health
messages - Illiteracy.
• Involving Cultural leaders as advocates-
Traditions and cultural customs
• Enforce Linkages between the community
and Health services.
• Sensitizing both men and women in the
community on gender rights-GBV

31. Morans Peer Educators
at Maasai Mara.

32. Moonlight Vct services

33. Csw’s peer educators in
a weekly session.

34. Livestock traders in the
market