Straight Talk, May 2010 1

STF provides PEP in North HIV BASICS

STF''s Gulu and Kitgum
Youth Centres can help PEP is available at all health
centres and hospitals that have
you to get PEP.
ARVs and at facilities like Mildmay
Call Jackie on and Joint Clinical Research Centre.
077-9-709629 Under MOH policy, PEP is free.
in Gulu or You do not need a police report.
IRC hotline Doctors recommend
you go for PEP
077-3-170664 before reporting
in Kitgum. to police. You must
A youth centre start PEP within 72
staff will escort you hours of the rape.
2010
through the process. o.5 May
Vol.16 N

PEP saved me after rape

Rape is a terrible but common crime. Even boys
can be raped. After rape you need to prevent HIV
infection. Here is the story of a Straight Talker
who got help. She is 19 and lives in Soroti.
"I came back from church quite late one day.
I used the front door to get into the house. As
I was settling into the house, I heard noise but
thought it was a rat. Suddenly, I felt someone
holding me down. I tried to scream (shout) but
he was strangling me. He held me down tightly
and started parting my legs. I felt helpless. He
raped me. He covered up but I could tell it was
a man I knew.

When he finally set me free, I ran to a

neighbour and went to Soroti Regional hospital.
That night I managed to get a physical check
up. But I was asked to come back the next
morning for an HIV test. Very early, I went
back. They tested me for HIV. I was negative.
The health worker counselled me. I was given
ARVs to take for 30 days. When I went for PEP,
I was confident that it would save me. I had
been a virgin, and I was not born with HIV. I
did an HIV test three months after and I was still
negative. I will do another after six months.
I knew about PEP because I had read
Straight Talk at school. Straight Talkers,
there is hope after rape. Act quickly in
case of rape. Go to the health centre
immediately. My boyfriend has been
so supportive. We are still together.
My family is also helping me to get
over it."
For help after sexual assault in Soroti,
visit Soroti Regional hospital.
PEP side e ffects
ARVs are very powerful drugs.
Like all drugs, they have side effects.
Always eat before swallowing ARVs.
Before starting PEP, you will be
counselled. Feeling like you want to
vomit is common. If you experience
this, take more fluids like juice.
PEP can give you rashes. If they are
serious, your health provider will
PEP stands for change the drug type. Others side
Post- Exposure effects may include feeling tired or
Prophylaxis. It is sleepy, stomach or head pains, loss
the use of ARVs to of appetite, change in menstruation
prevent someone period and a dry mouth. If the side
exposed to HIV from effects become too much, talk to your
being infected. health provider or doctor.
Dr Stephen Watiti, Mildmay Centre

Ministry of Health advises on PEP

S T A RO L S Dr Zainab Akol, Programme number of weeks one swallows

SC HO
Manager, STDs/AIDS Control PEP depends on the risk. If a girl is
Programme, Ministry of Health says: raped and an HIV test shows that
, St Stephen the rapist doesn’t have HIV, she
Gulu College ge
kw i, Almond Colle “PEP are ARVs given to someone in will be given PEP for one month. If
SS Kata Se ed SS , emergency like rape and accident to the rapist is positive, the girl will be
nd i
Lira and Buba r st ar prevent HIV infection. given PEP for about two months.
e ou
Bundibugyo ar ,
bruary, March
schools for Fe 10.
You need to take PEP within 72 hours (3 Dr Akol warns: "Don’t simply go
20 days) of exposure to HIV -- the earlier,
April and May the better. PEP is given to a person who
for unprotected sex and say, I will
use PEP to protect myself. If you
ll
wins a footba has been raped, a caretaker or a health misused, it may not work for you
Each school y letter worker who accidentally gets pricked and other people. The virus will
tb al l. Ev er
and ne (pierced) by contaminated sharp
dual response become resistant.
gets an indivi objects or come into contact with fluids It may damage
Straight Talk.
with a copy of like blood, semen or vaginal fluid of an your body organs
ur sc ho ol a star. HIV infected person.
Make yo 6, like the liver and
BOX 2236
Write to PO It may fail to work if you don’t get
kidney."
Kam pa la treatment within 72 hours. The
 2 Straight Talk, May 2010
Pulling & you
P ulling of the inner lips of
the vagina is a treasured
practice for many ethnic
groups in Uganda, Zimbabwe,
Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, DR
Congo and South Africa.
In Uganda, "pulling" is mostly
the culture of people in
the south. It is also known
as “visiting the bush” -
okukyalira ensiko (Luganda).
Mothers and aunties teach
girls to pull at puberty.
The aim is to make sex more
enjoyable for both the man
and woman. However, the
World Health Organisation
How is it
done?
P ulling stretches the inner
lips of the vagina, also
called the labia minora. These
are the two parallel tissues
that connect to the clitoris.
“In our clan, all girls above
15 have pulled. We did it
from the bush. My aunt
used a ripe wild fruit called
ekitengotengo. She said
pulling increases sexual
desires. But I’m abstaining
and I'm a virgin.” Kurusumu
M, S3, Bukooli College,
Bugiri
Straight Talkers, increased
sexual desire may expose you
to HIV. Be in charge of your
life and don't allow to be
controlled by sexual feelings.
“I pulled at 13. My aunt
told me to mix herbs like
mukasa and kamunye with
my saliva and apply them
on my labia. She told me to
use the dust from my heels
to hold the labia and stop
them from being slippery. I
got wounds but used herbs to
heal. My aunt gave me a stick
to measure the labia. I pulled
for two weeks and my labia
were long to the length of my
middle finger.”Nanyondo M,
Kiboga
“When I was in P4, a friend
told me if I don’t pull, I would
face problems in child birth
and in marriage. So my
friends held my hands tightly
while one pulled my labia,
using local herbs. It was
painful. I screamed! The labia
regards pulling as
Female Genital Cutting.
Many of you have written
to us about pulling.
Nakabugo Z, Iganga SS,
asked: "Would something
bad happen if she didn’t
pull?
"Is it true that if a
girl does not have
curtains in her vagina,
she will never produce?"
asked Innocent from
COU Archbishop Yona
Okoth Memorial PS,
Tororo.
got big and red. They told me
to apply herbs every night.”
Namutebi S, S2
“My mother helped me
to pull when I was eight. I
used liquid from black jack
leaves. The purpose of pulling
is to enjoy sex.” Sandra T,
Dabani Girls’ SS, Busia.
Blackjack (above) and
entengotengo (below)
Truth about pulling
1. Pulling does not help you to avoid
rape. The penis can still enter.
2. Even if you do not pull, you can
have children.
3. If you have not pulled, do not
worry that your husband's
relatives will put millet in your
vagina and allow cocks to peck
it. That is just something said to
scare you.
a happy marriage without
pulling.
Last year, we asked you to
tell us how and why girls pull.
Fifty of you wrote in: 36 said
Straight Talk
says that most
women in the
that a friend, matron, auntie,
mother and grandmothers
helped you to pull. Winning
world do not pull!
letters win pads and T-shirts.
They still have
good sex and pro-
duce babies. You Mary M 17, S1, Harvard SS,
can have a happy Iganga wrote: "My culture
marriage without values pulling. I used the soil
pulling. from under the pot and ash
from a burnt bat. My friends
helped me. We pulled when
Guys, pulling is not fetching water or firewood."
a must for a happy
life. Nothing bad will It is good to prepare for
happen if you do married life, but pulling
not pull. You is not 100% safe. Besides
can still have the risk of HIV, pulling
children and makes you focus on sex.
Read on!
HIV risk
1. When you pull your
friends' labia, their
3. Pulling makes you
think about sex -- it's
vaginal fluids go on your all about sex. You can
hands. If you have a begin to feel ready.
“Our matron forced girls crack or wound, HIV can
from P3 to P7 to pull. We enter you -- if one girl Do not pull if your culture
would do it after preps in has HIV. does not advise it.
pairs. She would check to
see if we had done it well.
We accepted because we
2. If you pull one girl and
move on to another,
Says one Atesot girl, "In
our culture, we do not
were told that we would your hands can spread pull. I think God made
not produce in future if we HIV. me not to pull and I can
didn't.” Nabulya R, 16, S2, produce without pulling."
Busia
"My friend said pulling
reduces pain during sex and
child birth. So I pulled for that
reason." Angodia Z, 15, S2,
Vurra SS, Arua
“My aunt had never
pulled. When she married
a Muganda, he told her to
pull. My aunt encouraged
me, saying I may marry a
Muganda. People say that
if you pull, you get enough
vaginal fluids.” N, Jackline,
St Kirigwajjo SS, Kibaale
My grandmother told me
that when I go to collect
firewood, I should first pull
my labia and collect wood
afterwards. Nasirumbi C, Makerere Modern students say Straight Talk has saved
lives. GIRLS, if you belong to an ethnic group that pulls,
Buswale SSS, Bugiri
do not push girls from ethnic groups that do not have
that culture to pull with you. Every culture has its own
way of making sex enjoyable.
4. Pulling cannot stop your pulling but my girlfriend
husband from committing has not pulled. My brothers
adultery. He may still have sex tell me to get a girl who
with another woman. pulled but I refuse. I can’t
5. Love and good communication go around looking for girls
are more important than pulling. who pulled. I might get HIV
Not all boys from pulling cultures in the process. What is
want a girl who has pulled. important is that we love
each other and have good
Kabogozza K, St Stephen SS, communication. We tested
Mukono says: “My culture values for HIV together."

What the wise people say Key ideas
Use gloves
to avoid
HIV
Dr Haruna
Mwanje, a
gynaecologist
in Mulago
Hospital, says:
"Pulling is valued
in my culture. It
prepares girls for
marriage."
But he warns, "Use your
own hands -- not the hands
of others. Do not pull each
other. Sengas can teach the
girls to do it for themselves.
You can contract HIV, syphilis,
and gonorrhea when you
are exposed to someone’s
fluids. HIV can enter you
through a very tiny cut. If
you pull someone else, you
must use different gloves for
different girls.
Great sex starts with
talking. Good sex is
protected from infection.
Sexuality and pulling
Sexuality is an expression of who
we are as humans. It involves our
thoughts, feelings and relationships.
Sexuality is also an expression of
our culture -- how we think about
ourselves as Bahima, Alur, Madi,
Banyole and so on.
Pulling may express our sexuality
and cultural identity -- but we also
need to think about staying safe.
When your grandmother pulled,
marriage and working in the home
was the life of women. But you need
to think about a career as well as
marriage.
Pulling can encourage you into early
sex and marriage. You can get raped
when you pull in the forest. Men
often peep.
Once you have pulled, people may
say you are now ready for marriage.
Straight Talk, May 2010 3
Think seriously and
Girls, if you do not have You can have long Buddu or Kiboga
gloves, do not touch labia but if it is not every Saturday
carefully about pulling.
each other. Do not good sex, you will or Akaboozi on If you do not want to
use herbs or dust not enjoy it. Fridays!
from your feet. pull, say "NO". Nothing
You can still get You cannot bad will happen. You
Not for
the labia size enjoy sex when will not miss anything in
of your choice it is unprotected very
life.
when you pull and you are not young
without herbs or sure of the status girls If you pull, remain a
dust. of the person you are Esther Bulungi, virgin. Wait until you are
having sex with." an elderly woman from
mature to handle the
Sex is in the Bamusuuta village in
consequences of sex.
mind Keep it safe Kiboga has a clinic where
Dr Oundo Abanga, Nabateregga Zaituni, she counsels on pulling and Do not let pulling push
who runs Straight cleanliness. She says: "I
a reproductive you into early sex.
health specialist Talk's Luganda use gloves to protect against
Parent HIV/ STDs. I give pulling
in Bugiri Avoid touching private
Hospital, says: Talk show lessons only to mature girls
and women. I discourage parts of other girls. You
"Sex is in the (Eddoboozi
y'omuzadde), sengas from pulling girls may get HIV or another
mind. There
is no scientific says, "I value who are below 18. Pulling infection.
my culture but encourages them to start early
proof that
if you pull, do sex. Apart from pulling, I offer Do not believe false
pulling makes sex
sweeter or better. it safely." Listen counselling and emphasize stories about pulling.
to Zai on Radio shaving, keeping clean.
You are OK even if you
don't pull.
You can enjoy sex
The diary and produce children
normally if you have
of a young pulled or not pulled.
positive
Nuru, 23, was born with HIV and "Straight Talkers, if you have never
was very sick as a child. She did had sex, keep delaying and get to
know your status. If you have sex,
not find out that she had HIV until use condoms every time and test
she was 19. We say, "Sorry that together with your lover.
you had to suffer like that." But
she does not want our PITY (feel It is everyone's shared responsibility
sorry for her). She says, "You to avoid HIV spread. If you know
that you are living with HIV, be
don't have to cry for me. I am the careful. If you sleep around, you
owner of my story." can get other STDs that reduce
your immunity so fast.
Since starting ARVs at 21, Nuru has
gone from strength to strength. She You can also
became Straight Talk's officer for re-infect
Young Positives in 2009 and is now
a youth ambassador at UNAIDS in
Switzerland for five months.
She was chosen out of 800 young
yourself with
a new type
of HIV that
is resistant to
Yet you want to stay in school. people from all over the world. It the drugs you
The most important sex organ is the was her third time to apply. On the are on."
brain. It controls all of our sexual third time, she went through. She
reponses, releases sex hormones and did not give up.
gives us the ability to create sexual
fantasies (images and thoughts). "I am learning how to represent
young people on HIV and human
Pulling will focus your brain on rights ," she says.
sex at a time in your life when you
need to be taking yourself seriously. Nuru is still Straight Talk's girl, and
While boys are chairing the school you can still send
debating club, you might be thinking her any question
about pulling! on princessnuru_
If you pull, you will also need 23@hotmail.com
to manage the sexual feelings it Her message this
arouses. month is that ARVs
are not enough
"I am surprised by the results of in Uganda: 200,000
pulling," wrote one girl. "When I people with HIV are
shower with warm water, I feel great getting them, yet 750,000
down there." Girls, think seriously need them! Clinics can't
about pulling. take on new patients.
Sexuality content from Positive
Prevention Counseling Trainers Manual,
Ministry of Health, 2009.
 4 Straight Talk, May 2010

Dear
STF P. O. Bo x 223 66
K A M P A L A

HIV test:
If one is HIV positive and he
goes to test for the HIV virus
after having sex, will the results
be negative? Kibbamba J,
Bunyagule ST club, Bundibugyo
Not at all. The HIV test will be
positive before sex and after sex.
You have said that the person is
HIV positive. That means he has
the virus. HIV enters our bodies
from another person. Once it enters
the body, it mulitplies and sets up
Straight Talkers from different schools meet
home in all body parts and in all
at Naguru Teenage Centre. The centre offers
body fluids like blood, seme, vaginal
a number of youth friendly services includ-
fluid and breast milk. After about
Do this before you go back home protected sex with condoms. ing HIV/AIDS counselling and testing.
three months, the HIV test will
be able to pick up the sign of that for holidays to get advice and They should also treat any STDs
virus. The sign is antibodies that protection. Your father must not immediately.

Is candida an STD?
the body makes to fight the virus. be your lover. Even if he says
After that point, nothing -- including this as a joke, this is not the way Menstruation
no medicines -- will make the test to joke. I know you respect him and pregnancy
negative again. as your father and would like If I have sex with a boy five
to protect him but you need to days towards my menstruation Is it true that if you play
Forced love protect yourself above all. periods, can I get pregnant? sex with a person who has
with a daughter Alepar B, 3C, Tororo Girls candida, you will also be
Discordant School
My mother died, and my father
couples Yes, you can. This is called family
infected? Namwanje Shadiah,
has refused to re-marry. He Kakungulu HS, Luwero
demands for sex whenever I go What causes one partner to planning by counting days. It seems
back for holidays please advice have HIV and the other is easy, but unfortunately, it is not
Dear Namwanje, candida is not considered
me: Asere M, Dabani Girls, negative and yet they continue very accurate. You cannot be sure
an STD. We live with candida, the fungus
Busia to have unprotected sex? when you are going to have your
that causes candidiasis. It is found in the
This is very wrong and difficult. It Ngobi D, Muterere SS, Bugiri periods. Sometimes they may be late
mouth, urethra and genital areas. You can
is hard for you as his daughter and Such a couple is called a or early. Even when a person has
be infected by someone who has candida
child to deal with this alone. Please ‘sero-discordant’. There is no regular periods, they can change.
only if you have conditions that make it to
can you tell a relative -- auntie, clear factor why this happens. So it is not safe to say that you will
overgrow. Such conditions include; weak
uncle, grandparents or a teacher? Scientists are still doing everything have your periods on such and such
immunity, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, cancer, over
Someone must talk to your father. to find out. But some of the facts a date. Also, during our teens, in
use of antibiotics, wearing tight clothing
thought include the presence of the first years of our periods, they
like silky, plastic panties for a long time.
STDs and the number of times are not very regular. You should not
they have sex. With time a person have sex. It will disrupt your life and
My cousin resisted who is HIV negative can still get studies. If you must have sex, use
Tight clothes and nylon panties limit the
fresh air entering the genital area, making
infected. It is recommended condoms always.
forced marriage that such couples should have
you sweat. Using soap and detergents
to wash inside your birth canal (vagina)
Last month, we talked disrupts the normal bacteria there. Wearing
about bride price. You told clean cotton pants and clothes that are not
us of some parents who Advice to Chemutai tight and having a strong immunity will
forcefully marry off young In Straight Talk March, a boy you. You could be talking to protect you from candida. Candida is not
girls to get bride price. got through sharing toilets, bathrooms or
called Chemutai said: I have a them because you want to learn
Straight Talkers, say no to towels.
girlfriend who quarrels when something from them. Okiror
forced marriage.
I talk to other girls. What can Simon, 16, S2, Pallisa SS. In girls, candida causes itching and a white,
Nabucha B, S6, Bumbo I do? Ninety of you answered! Thank you! You both win ST T- thick discharge in the genital area. Boys get
SS, Manafwa says: Thanks for the good work! Shirts an itchy, sticky discharge under the fore
“ My cousin skin of the penis. He may also get a rash or
Nekesa W, Dabani Girls School redness on the penis. Avoid tight clothes,
was in S2.
The father
says: “If you still love her, tell
her that those girls are just
Advise BJ use cotton panties to allow air circulation,
brought a We stay in a grass thatched hut bath at least twice a day.
man but she friends not your lovers.” Dr Oundo Abanga, Bugiri Hospital
which leaks. When it rains, we
refused. The Love is like that. No one feels shift things from one corner to
father got safe when their lovers are another. My father now wants
angry and talking to the opposite sex. me to get married to his friend
stopped pay- who has promised to build him
They will always suspect that
ing her fees.
something is going on between a better house. I don’t want to Girls and boys, share with us stories about
She went to
her uncle you. Be open and tell her how get married now. What can I do? the first time you had sex. How did you feel?
's place. these girls are important to BJ, 16, Kyando Education Centre You can leave out your name. Write to
Fortunately, Kasese PO BOX 22366 and win.
the uncle
accepted to pay her fees.
STRAIGHT TALK FOUNDATION Plot 4 Acacia Ave, PO Box 22366, Kampala (U) Tel: 0312-262030/1, E-mail: info@straight-talk.or.ug,
She is now a happy primary
Web: www.straight-talk.or.ug, President: C Watson, Executive Director: J Wiltshire, Print Director: T Agutu, Editorial Manager: M Akello,
teacher.” Editors: F Ouma, J Abongowath, P Kiwuuwa, J. Nafula, Photo Editor: G Awekofua, Chief Designer: M. eB Kalanzi,
Designers: G.B Mukasa, A.B Dentine. Funded by CIVIL SOCIETY FUND, SIDA, USAID