Training on sexual minorities by Humsafar trust

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends ,

The follwing is a report on Training Seminar conducted by Humsafar Trust for a

delegation from State Management Agency (SMA) Kerala.

Humsafar Centre conducted a two day training programme at the Centre on 25th and

26th February, 2003, for a delegation from Kerela, comprised by Project Managers

of different NGO's and CBO's working under the umbrella of the Kerela State Aids

Control Society.

The organizations are working with all categories of sexual minorities and sex

workers in Kerela, but none among them is exclusively working with the MSM

community or is run by the community. It was thus a good opportunity for both

parties that the delegation could benefit from the experience and insights

available with HST.

The seminar commenced with a session by Mr. Ashok Row Kavi, Chairperson, on

'Homosexuality and History, MSM components and Helpline facility to MSM' and

MSMs and risk behaviour in MSM community - baseline feedback'. He gave an

introduction to the genesis of the Centre, its mission statement and long term

objectives. Then he detailed the structure of the AIDS programme - HST's

pioneering work in creating the first sex map of Mumbai, the concept of the beat

and the identification of the star beat, development, testing and funding of IC

material, rapport development etc. Outlining the structure of the AIDS testing

programme and HST's status as the only VCTC programme in an NGO, he gave details

of tools and programmes such as sensitization of doctors and counseling.

The section on the historical aspects of homosexuality gave various insights

into perceptions about alternative sexuality in society and governance

structures and the metamorphosis of attitudes to homosexuality in the current

date internationally and within India. This was critical in making the

delegation sensitized to the tricky issue of the self identification of a person

in terms of sex, sexuality and gender, and the implications of lack of clarity

and acceptance by individuals themselves. The Kinsey report was touched upon in

this part.

Speaking on the pioneering baseline research on the MSM community and the HIV

positive groups sexual practices, he summarized the findings on the progress

made over a three year period - condom distribution, safe sex practices, opting

for the test.

Mr. Abhijit Aher then gave a talk on 'Sex mapping and Outreach approach towards

the MSM community'. The fact that HST out reach workers are from within the MSM

community was different from the practice prevalent in the visitors' projects.

He dwelt on the aspects of recruitment, training, assessment and reporting. The

aspect of trust building was discussed in detail, with a focus on the ability of

a member of the community to establish a superior rapport. The success of the

team in promoting health seeking behaviour was substantiated with statistics. A

feature which the visitors found educative was the technique of group formation

which is effective in generating and sustaining qualitative results.

The programme on 26th commenced with a talk on 'Nutrition and AIDS' by Mr.

A.Vaidyanathan who focused on the issue of the nature of health and disease, and

the power of correct nutrition in unlocking the self healing capacities of the

body to their fullest potential. He explained the base indicator or toxicity as

acidiosis in the human body which has an alkaline nature and traced disease to

acid toxicity. He defined nutrition as a tool to energise and alkalise the body

towards long term health. The structure of genetically appropriate nutrition

being fruits, vegetables, nuts and sprouts in raw form was outlined, and a meal

incorporating the essential principles was prepared and offered as a

demonstration.

Mr. Murugesan gave a talk on 'Issues related to MSM counseling'. The talk opened

up new insights on homosexuality for the visitors. The speaker outlined the

basic rationale behind the structure of counseling adopted at HST - specifically

pre test counseling. The talk revealed the lack of appreciation of basic

homosexual issues among the mainstream AIDS personnel. He candidly shared his

own personal journey as a homosexual. It was a revelation to the team that

supporting a client to identify his sexuality is of value to the work of

prevention of the disease. The acceptance of oneself as a homosexual, or as a

receptive homosexual is necessary to let the mind start focusing on issues other

than random gratification which is the base of increase in average number of

partners. This aspect of counseling is invaluable in setting the grounds for

further meaningful communications on safer sex practices. The speaker's talk was

supplemented by profuse inputs from Ms.Seema Shroff who explained the finer

aspects of the subject and demonstrated the sensitivities involved in the entire

macro process of testing. Examples like negative attitudes of medical staff at

testing centers were given to establish the value of the structure of

counseling.

Mr. Shashikant Shetye spoke on 'HIV positive MSM and PLWHA support, and support

group formation'. The speaker shared his own HIV status which added a unique and

valuable dimension to the interaction. Issues of the multiple stigma faced by a

commercially active homosexual positive person were outlined. The value of

counseling in providing the person moral support, a hope beyond the fear of

death, and a structure for rehabilitation at the physical, psychological,

familial, social and even economic levels was outlined. The personal status of

the speaker allowed the visitors a rare insight into the inner environment of

the AIDS patient and the factors which determined his choice of sexual

practices. The issue of group formation as the basis for sexual isolation of

positive people was dwelt upon.

Mr. Girish Kumar gave a talk on 'Setting up Community based organization and

Drop in protocol'. He outlined the cycle of stages of the build up of an

organization germinating from the embryo of individual sexual desire, which is

perceived as deviant in a mainstream environment, culminating in a grant-aided

organization planning and achieving long term financial sustainability. The

latter was of great interest to the visitors who themselves were grappling with

the issue at their local organizational levels. The value of leadership

developing within a community to enable handing over of structures to

communities was discussed.

The final talk was on 'Outreach experiences in dealing with CSW's and

transgenders' by Mr. Harish Kambli and Tr. Manisha Singh. Insights into

techniques of rapport building were offered along with methods of ensuring

personal safety on the field. The tools used to demonstrate use of condoms,

choice of condoms for anal, oral and vaginal sex were demonstrated. The specific

issues faced by the transgender sex worker were outlined.

Overall, the visiting group got an insight into several nuances relating to

working with MSM. The mainstream has a broad view of the community where a lot

of valuable categorizations and deconstructions are absent in common knowledge.

These nuances are of high value in understanding the behavioural aspects of the

different sub communities and empowering oneself in effectively achieving

objectives.

Prepared By,

Humsafar Trust

E-mail: humsafar@...