By Gibao Brima

In a bid to enable  Peer Educators and Peer Navigators to carry out their duties and responsibilities more effectively towards the fight against HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis, Women  in Crisis conducted a special training for health workers.

The orientation seeks to help victims to gain access to medical services.

Women  In Crisis Movement under the dynamic leadership of Rev. Mrs Juliana Konteh with support from Global Fund under the New funding model 3 Grants in Quarter eleven (11) organized the one day orientation training for Peer Educators and Peer Navigators at WICM Drop in Center at Lumley, west end Of Freetown.

The aims and objectives of the orientation training is to create an awareness for Peer Educators and Peer Navigators on HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis.

It is also meant to create sense of direction on how Peer Educators and Peer Navigators can do their work effectively, and to help Peer Navigators how to make their monthly reports.

The training was also conducted to  help broaden the knowledge of Peer Educators on how to help people living with HIV to have easy access to medical services.

In his teaching Mr.Ahmed Bangura Field officer at Women In Crisis Movement underscores that Women in Crisis Movement is a faith-based organization operating in Kono East of Sierra Leone; Kambia in the North; Pujehun in the South;  Mayenkineh in the east end of Freetown and Goderich in the west of Freetown.

Dilating further, he said, the life span of this Project New Funding Model 3 Grants will come to an end in July, adding that the orientation training is geared towards opening the mindset of peer educators and navigators to understand the dynamic on   how to reach out to Female Sex Workers who are Women in Crisis  Movement main  population of focus.

He emphasized that it is a matter of most to reach out to them and that is why they are being paid.

“It will be a sin if you do not reach out to them since they are our key population and WICM is working for them.”

Mr Bangura further said there are other key population such as people who inject Drugs (PWIDS); Men Sex Men (MSM) and people living in “closet” i.e. those in detention and jail among others.

Mr Bangura further spoke on Sexual Gender Based Violence issues saying that violence is anything one does to another person that will make that person him or her unhappy.

“Violence will not help any nation or society to develop,” he said

Mr Bangura categories sorts violence of such nature as being sexual violence, verbal, physical, psychological, emotional, financial and economical violence, and among others.

He taught on how HIV can be  contacted either through unprotected sex with an HIV victim, Blood Transfusion, Sharp Objects like syringe, Razor blade used by an infected HIV patient, mother to child either by breast feeding among others.

Mr Bangura climax his teaching on how to prepare monthly peer navigators’ monthly reports