« The challenge is to overcome old reflexes »
Younoussa Diarra works for Pivot Group on the program of the Global Fund to fight against HIV and AIDS. He supports Support and Learning Teams to facilitate local responses in all regions of Mali. He is married and has two sons. He is the co-founder of several associations. He enjoys playing soccer, do karate and swimming.
Can you share an example of a local response that has impacted you?
A few years ago, I went to a village for a supervision mission for Plan International in Mali. In this village people still practiced traditional fishery. The 30 children and the instructor from the education center that we came to visit were all down by the river. Before people started to fish, I saw that the holder of the power on the water asked three small boys to enter the water. They caught a few specimens of fish and they put them in a pond that the village had built beside the river. Then the man allowed people to fish.
The instructor told me, "To ensure the reproduction of the species, we must not catch all the fish. During the dry season, although the river is dry, the fish survive in the pond thanks to the water that each inhabitant brings, transported in barrels on carts.” This initiative was not imposed from outside. This community was aware of its problem and it took action. This experience impressed me.
Why was this community conscious and some others are not? What is the difference?
For me, all communities are aware of their challenges. When a house burns, people do not wait for the fireman to come to extinguish the fire. The people themselves bring water. Maybe it is us who have come as so-called ‘saviors’, who come as an expert and who believe they are not aware, that we must raise their awareness, mobilize them. To me, communities are maybe not aware of the important of the project that we are bringing to them.
What do you think of the AIDS Competence Process?
When we were training the facilitators, we went to a village called Doniana, 15km from Sikasso. People were aware that some traditional practices made them vulnerable. For example, when someone dies, the widower or widow marries a brother or sister of the deceased. Traditionally, it is like families or clans get married and not individuals. So it's to perpetuate the ties between families and clans that such practices were imposed despite the intrusion of death. "If we cannot ban these practices, we must be cautious." Gradually people are starting to go through voluntary testing before such “risky” marriages.
All sectors of society are involved in the implementation of the AIDS Competence Process in Mali. For example, in one neighborhood of Bamako, the mayor and city councils have decided to educate future spouses on condom use and voluntary counseling. They decided to do this after doing their self-assessment and action plan.
What is the main lesson you learned with this approach?
In everything we do with the community, the basis is trust. Our role should not be an expert role but a facilitator’s role. If everyone could act like this we would help communities to step out of their passive mode. We who come from outside, we must challenge ourselves. We need to see the communities as responsible subjects. Our role is perhaps to share experiences that are happening elsewhere which communities don’t have access to. These best practices can enhance what they are already doing.
What are the challenges regarding the approach in Mali?
Those who implement the approach should question themselves. There are always old reflexes that challenge us. Do not switch back to the old system.