Life has not been the same since she lost her parents four years ago and the little property they owned grabbed by her immediate relatives. For her, every day has meant living for herself and her two younger sisters.
With no property and or education, Fatima Hassan took her best friend’s advice, Amina Ahmed, and together they begun a journey that has forever transformed her life. Their names have been changed though because if known to the community, their lifestyle could lead to dire consequences, even death.
“I have been a prostitute for four years now and within that time I have been subjected to all manner of abuse, both physical and sexual, but I couldn’t stop, I did it for my sisters, “expounds 22 year old Fatima with a distant look in her face.
“I know they knew what I was doing but I was able to provide for them and constantly warned them of the repercussions of what would befall them if they followed in my footsteps.”
Her body is fully covered in accordance to the Sharia Law and only her face is visible, a face devoid of expression or emotions as she narrates how together with her friend Amina Ahmed, she got deeper and deeper into the world of prostitution, a world she is now fighting to disown, but a world all the same that has given her a child.
Her words are almost spoken in whispers pausing now and then to make sure that there is no chance of someone else overhearing our conversation.
Although the Muslim community is still very much in denial, their young girls continue to taste the dark world of prostitution and this, among other factors has put Mandera, North Eastern province on the dangerous HIV prevalence map.
In 2003, no cases of HIV were recorded in North Eastern province but the same cannot be said now. According to the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey (KAIS) 2007, there is now a 1.3 percent HIV prevalence in North Eastern province.
The figures might seem too small in relation to the current 7.8 national HIV prevalence but in a region with an estimated 312,000 people and with a previous 0.0 prevalence, it is an indication that HIV is slowly creeping into this region.
This rising problem comes in the backdrop of persistent denial that HIV is a problem among the Muslim community.
Mandera is a strong Muslim community that borders Somalia which is also almost a hundred percent Muslim .A country that is also been challenged by the HIVAIDS crisis.
Three years ago, studies reveal that the national HIV prevalence in Somali was a paltry 0.2 percent, according to a recent study, the prevalence has risen to 1.9 percent.
“It is very sad that the Mandera community is still in denial with regard to HIV yet the region is within an environment very conducive to the spread of the virus,” says Amina Ahmed.
“As you can see from my story and my friends here, prostitution is an issue, sex out of marriage is also common although we do it very discreetly.”
Her sentiments are echoed by Hassan Isaack, a community worker;
“Things are slowly changing in Mandera and there’s need for a change in thinking and in the way we approach the HIV issue because people are getting infected,”
“Furthermore, Mandera is a polygamous community, there’s also wife inheritance, young girls getting married to old men, sex out of marriage is no longer unusual, how can HIV not be an issue?”
According to the KAIS study, women aged between 15 and 64 are much more likely to be infected than their male counterparts and are even more at risk if they have less education.
Women with a high level of education and are pursuing a career are among the exception in Mandera. In fact, they have for a long time been regarded as of lesser faith.
“The community frowns at the educated woman, if you put the educated –career women together with the uneducated, the dichotomy is quite clear although we are slowly working against these misconceptions,” says Halima Abdalla, a community worker.
“Education and a source of income enable women to make key choices that they otherwise wouldn’t make.”
Hassan Isaack says that the community needs to face reality because HIV/AIDS cannot be wished away.
Although HIV prevalence is low in Muslim communities because of the strong religious beliefs, it is nonetheless an issue that is now calling for urgent intervention.
“What is now evident among the Muslim community is a very natural evolution of HIV/AIDS, even at the national level that is where we begun, there was a lot of denial around the disease but the situation has since changed,” explains Dr Otieno Nyunya gynecologist in Nairobi.
“It is natural to have these pockets of denial in Mandera but we cannot afford to be complacent.”
In addition, Dr Otieno Nyunya says that the Mandera scenario is also happening in many places across the globe,
“Take Asia for instance, there is a strong wave of denial regarding HIV/AIDS because just like in many Muslim communities, HIV/AIDS has arrived late.”
However, Dr Otieno Nyunya says that Mandera is even at a more precarious position with regard to HIV/AIDS because of its location.
Not only is it rural where the greatest burden of the disease is generally recorded according to the KAIS study, the fact that it borders both Ethiopia and Somali makes it a hub for the burden of infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS.
“Cross border travel and or transition makes the community in question be at a higher risk with regard to HIV than other communities who don’t have these feature,”emphasizes Dr Otieno Nyunya.
“It’s common along Kenya-Uganda border, Kenya-Tanzania border, Mexico-United States border which is the more reason why the Mandera community require interventions that will keep the HIV/AIDS prevalence as low as is possible.”
Although these interventions are key, the icy perception of HIV/AIDS in Mandera and the general belief that it is a non-issue poses a great challenge.
The community strongly believes that HIV/AIDS is a disease for those who are weak in their faith, it also believes that because of the early marriages which are the norm in this part of Kenya, HIV/AIDS has no room for thriving.
In fact, whereas early marriages is a tradition that is frowned upon in many parts of the country and is seen as a harmful cultural practise, the Mandera community embraces it as, among other things, solution to HIV/AIDS.
These are therefore some of the factors that if not addressed and with the urgency that they deserve shall become a catalyst to the rise of HIV/AIDS in a community that in 2003 had a 0.0 percept prevalence of the disease.
The latest edition of the Reject Newspaper is out. The Reject is a bi-monthly online newspaper by the Media Diversity Centre, a project of AWCFS.
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