It has been a long time since I last posted something on my blog, how do we re-ride again from the heart? I must admit I am so damn excited to be back again. It has been a hectic and beautiful year, I started on a new profession and had to learn and adjust to the new environment that I am now exposed to. I am now in the HIV sector, which is why I had a very keen interest when I saw an article on our government initiating to pay E200, 00 incentives to young girls as means for promoting abstinence. I asked myself a lot of questions about this initiative and I read quite a number of interesting articles in our local newspapers as well as online. I noted that even bloggers and international media houses were following this initiative with keen interest.
Well here are some of the biggest questions I asked myself about this initiative, why would one be bought to change behavior? Does money guarantee good behavior? Are we not being hypocrites in the sense that we encourage girls not to engage in transactional sex yet we go ahead and pay them not to engage in sex? What is the sustainability plan? How long is our government going to be forking out the E 200.00 on top of the millions that are spent on HIV treatment? Above all how do you put a price tag on a human being? These are some of the questions that I have and actually I have fail to answer. I once herd of an idiom that says “don’t give a man fish but teach him how to fish”, I find this statement very relevant in this case more so because I believe that addressing the core problems which have and continue to cause the escalating number of infected people is more important.
In this case what does it mean for someone, the “sugar daddy” who can actually pay more than the said amount in a day? Does that mean girls should then choose the E 200 monthly or the E 200 in a day? Reality is that sugar daddies pay more than what is being offered, not even in a space of a month but in a matter hours. So I am really not sure if this was a smart move that will bring the desired results. One would think identifying the main major causes of the high HIV prevalence in Swaziland especially amongst young girls and finding key and lasting solutions would be the way to go. One of the important things one will ever do to influence change is to educate, train people to take responsibility of their lives. It even goes further for a government because it has to also create the necessary conditions for its citizens to live without being forced by certain circumstances to do something that will backfire at some point.
For instance, the age group that is targeted by this initiative which are young girls aged 18 – 24 years, people of these age originally are supposed to be at the universities and colleges enrolling in whatever they desire. Whilst studying they should also have an assurance that after their studies they are guaranteed employment, but our reality is that this group is the same group that is neglected by our own government due to lack of scholarships, high unemployment rate, lack of alternatives incase you did not get space at the university or collage or a provision of other mean of survival. For me those are some of the core problems that we as a country need to address instead of the bribes. It’s even worse when one take a look at the socio-economic aspect of the country. About 69% of the Swazis live below the poverty line, there is underdevelopment, unemployment, underemployment and so many social ills that we are still faced with, which by the way contributes hugely to the high numbers of people infected with HIV.
Proper teachings and education to our young girls remains the key fixation to do, teachings that will encourage our sister to be responsible and to take charge of their future.Change of mindset in relation to sex is needed. We need to teach our girls the importance of abstinence and delayed sexual debut, we need to make them understand the importance of consistent condom use where they are sexually active. They should be able to make independent and responsible choices for their lives not because they will get paid for it but because it is the right thing to do for themselves. We can not throw money at our problems especially not at this problem, we need to address all of the social ills that make young girls so vulnerable and exposed to HIV infection. Throwing money at them is absolutely not the answer. As a country we have to gear up and start addressing the problems which are fueling bad habits and behaviors.
