Our guest speakers were Suki and Planet from Yayasan Citra Usadha (YCU) – a foundation that has been working in the area of HIV-AIDS for many years now. YCU have a main office in Denpasar and a branch office here in Kaliasem, Lovina – it is directly opposite the Biyu Gallery and Mega Ayu Homestay. Suki and Planer are full-time workers for YCU and are assisted by many unpaid volunteers.

They had agreed that Ginny should do the talking initially – aided by a set of slides – and then they would all help in the question and answer session.

Ginny had already been working with YCU for many years when our Rotary Club started 3-4 years ago. So then by using our club as the way to work with them, more people became involved, and this project helped the club by giving us a local project with visible achievements.

Statistics show that the number of recorded HIV positive people in Buleleng is high – the second highest in Bali after Denpasar. The split between male and female is close to 50-50. Of course, there are many cases that go unrecorded for various reasons – people in remote villages do not seek hospital attention, and there are also cultural issues that may make people reluctant to take tests. And then there is no system of autospies to determine cause of death.

YCU works on several fronts:

• programs in schools aimed at highlighting the dangers of drug use, and the risks of unprotected sex. They work with students of all ages, stressing the drug issues with them all, and giving more information about safe sex to older students.

• HIV-AIDS awareness among women. The pattern is that men become infected from prostitutes, pass it to their wives, and thus put newborn children at risk. The more the women understand, the more likely it is that they can take precautions.

• Public events to create awareness – for example next week they will participate in the Independence Day celebrations in Singaraja and will distribute stickers to go on cars, bikes etc

In the discussion session questions included:

• Why is the incidence worse in Buleleng than other regencies? No clear answer – the remoteness of some areas is a factor, and the pattern for men drinking and visiting prostitutes may be a bit different in the north.

• Why are some local nurses re-using needles for injections? The government policzsy is clear – there should be no sharing of needles – so perhaps there is a problem of getting this effectively commincated to all nusrses.

• Is medication readily avaible for HIV positive patients? Yes they are available at no cost – funding being provided by some Intenational Agencies.

At the end of the meeting there was a formal handover of funds from our club to YCU.