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Condom
on a Tree
Sydney, Australia
In the remote Western Australian town of
Fitzroy Crossing, an innovative scheme has helped in promoting safe sex
amongst the Aboriginal community - hanging condoms on trees.
Working on the 'community knows best'
principle, Nindilingarri Cultural Health Service (NCHS), a grassroots
organization, began placing condoms in 300 cm-long PVC pipes and hanging
them with wire hooks on river gum and eucalyptus trees - unique condom
dispensers. The local people congregate for their evening drink and
socializing under these trees. Eight containers were hung at Crossing Inn
and another eight a few kilometres away - the two traditional meeting
grounds for the community.
Initially, people took offence and even
smashed some of the containers. "But three years since the project took
off, women who would turn their faces away from us are now pointing at the
empty containers to be refilled," says Patrick Davies, the project
coordinator at NCHS.
Before the start of this scheme, the only
places where condoms were available were the supermarket and the district
hospital and virtually none of the Aborigines were accessing condoms from
these two outlets. Since the start of the 'condoms on trees' project, the
3,500 people living in Fitzroy Crossing are using up to 3,000 condoms a
month.
And the positive effects of this innovative
scheme are already visible. For instance, cases of Sexually Transmitted
Diseases (STDs) such as gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia, which were
rated the highest in the Kimberley region, are now showing a steady
decline in Fitzroy Crossing. Says Davies,
"It is the first time that the community has been involved in public
health. The Government Public Health had been doing screenings for STDs,
which the people resented, as it was not done in any other part of the
country. Also, they never found the contacts so incidence of the disease
didn't come down." Davies, along with colleagues Tom Lawford and Ronnie
Jimbidee, has been instrumental in implementing this novel concept under
which they have been able to target all the four language groups - Bunuba,
Gooniyandi, Walmatjarri and Wangkatjungka - in the area.
"We had to approach sexual health issues with sensitivity, tact, timing
and appropriate use of language when explaining disease, in particular
sexual health matters. Some people come in for a drink and take the
condoms back home with them. That's a good thing because it's creating
awareness. At the gatherings, there are about 80 per cent men and 20 per
cent women," adds
Davies. Posters around Fitzroy Crossing advertise 'Free Condoms in a Tree
Near You'. The containers, painted with pictures of different football
teams and messages on sexual health, hang like weaverbird nests with a
bird hole cap at the bottom. Each container with a capacity of 30 to 40
condoms needs to be filled every two days.
This is a much-needed scheme, since the primary health of indigenous
people in Australia is worse than in many developing countries. NCHS was
set up in recognition of the fact that indigenous people suffer cultural,
social, physical and economic disadvantages, which cause health problems
beyond those of the general community. NCHS works in partnership with
government health services in providing culturally appropriate health
services to the Aboriginal people and encourages the maintenance and
renewal of traditional Aboriginal medicine, bush foods and culture.
In the words of the residents of Fitzroy Crossing, "We want to be
responsible for our own health and we want to work on health issues in our
own way. We want the government to work with our new way."
The indigenous people of this town, situated approximately half way
between Perth and Darwin on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert with a
mostly hot and dry climate, are fast learning to dress their own wounds.
NCHS is also developing special health groups using its own Primary Health
Care Unit
team of senior Aboriginal women from each language group to develop a
number of young women's groups.
In the long term, the NCHS aims at training Aboriginal health workers who
will take responsibility for all Aboriginal primary health care services
in the town. This will allow culturally appropriate services to be
delivered while overcoming the problem of recruiting and keeping nurses in
remote areas such as Fitzroy Crossing. The nearest large town with
banking, shops and entertainment is 400 km away. It will also provide
employment to the Aboriginal people, thereby raising their economic and
living standards, including their health and diet.
Blending local knowledge with mainstream medicine has borne fruit. People
are now willing to discuss sexual health and related diseases. Davies
feels, "This can be a universal concept. Condoms should be made accessible
in traditional public meeting places. It can work in every town and city.
We all have our winos who sit in parks and they are a high risk group -
that's where the action happens."
This innovative concept can go a long way in helping prevent the spread of
HIV infections and AIDS in the Asia Pacific countries, where people are
still too shy to talk about sexual health issues.
– Neena Bhandari
June 2, 2002
Top
By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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