Approaching the last week of our study abroad program and
work with our community placement sites, Max and I have been kept plenty busy
with a few new tasks at the Triangle Project.
This non-profit human rights organization provides a wide range of
services to the LGBTI community in South Africa in order to help better realize
the full human and constitutional rights of this often underserved and
marginalized group. Ongoing projects we
have completed this summer have included the drafting of a policy briefing
regarding LGBTI sensitivity training for providers in the medical
community. Healthcare providers are
often misinformed about the reproductive and mental health needs of this group
while services are frequently offered in a prejudiced manner that can lead to
further stigmatization, fear and a reluctance to seek out medical care. It has been difficult at times for Max and I
to read through and try to process the various literature outlining the conditions
the LGBTI community faces in addition to personal narratives and testimonies describing
some of the challenges and abuse individuals have faced here. Nonetheless, it has been inspiring to see the
community responding to these inequities and disservices. For instance, reading through the Department
of Higher Education and Training’s Policy
Framework For The Realisation of Social Inclusion In The Post-School Education
And Training System and seeing a specific reference for the need to address
homophobia coupled with a requirement for Universities to monitor, report on,
and include “internal guidelines that promote awareness on Lesbians, Gays,
Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) rights and combat any form of
homophobic violence against these groups” in their institutional policies
offered quite a reassuring sign.
While these
pledges and requirements are promising and great on paper, the need for community
monitoring groups such as the Triangle Project is certainly still necessary to follow
the implementation of these guidelines and to pressure parliament and specific political
leaders if these promises are delayed or unsuccessful in practice. Max and I actually visited Parliament once
with a group from the Triangle Project to observe several portfolio committee
meetings. While the discussions we sat
in on didn’t necessarily seem particularly related to the Triangle Project’s
work as they were focused on the police services quarterly financial reports
and a discussion regarding a dilapidated police headquarters building the
department of public works has spent the last two years delaying making
renovations to, we learned that the organization is able to develop
relationships with various parliament members through the monitoring and
surveying of these meetings. These relationships can prove useful when the
Triangle Project is trying to lobby for more relatable or pertinent issues,
like the need for widespread LGBTI sensitivity training for instance.
The entire group also visited the Ivan Toms Clinic in
Woodstock, implementing the Health for Men project, which offered further encouragement
after seeing a clinic working to provide tailored services to members of the
LGBTI community in order to try and combat some of the evident health
disparities. The Health for Men Project,
which coordinates with several groups including the South African Department of
Health and USAID, works in response to the significant levels of HIV infections
present in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) populations that
has higher prevalence rates than other groups.
Through our research at the Triangle Project, Max and I are familiar
with the prejudices and inadequate health information counseling sessions that can
contribute to these high levels of HIV infection amongst MSM. It was quite promising
to see a clinic with many dedicated health professionals specifically tailored
and trained to meet the needs of this group and which could serve as a model
for further medical establishments. Max
and I were also able to get some helpful information from health practitioners
at the clinic regarding syphilis in Cape Town and possible reasons for the
seemingly increased prevalence of the bacterial infection. We have been working
on and have designed several informational pamphlets for both healthcare staff
and clients as the Triangle Project has specifically noticed an increase in the
number of clients presenting with syphilitic symptoms recently and wants to help
further provide educational counseling on the STD’s symptoms, how clients can
best protect themselves from infection and how to get testing and treatment if
needed.
As Max and I approach the closing of our time with the
Triangle Project, we have been wrapping up some data processing work and drafting
several summarizing reports for the organization with regard to information gathered
from their latest module on LGBTI
political leadership-learning as well.
This workshop is comprised of 5 different modules and is put on with the
aim to better prepare individuals for cognizant and strategic LGBTI political
leadership while also training participants in how to best advance equality
within political institutions and democratic processes. Working through this
data has shed interesting light on some of the barriers and proposed solutions
individuals have with how to better craft more meaningful and effective
discussions on themes relevant to the LGBTI community in political settings. Max and I have also been working with the
white papers the Department of Health has issued on the implementation of a
National Health Insurance (NHI) healthcare scheme in South Africa. Specifically,
we have been looking for updates or variances in the different versions of
these reports that have been issued recently that may hold implications for the
LGBTI community. Throughout various
public health classes taken at Hopkins, many students in our group have learned
about some of the different healthcare strategies implemented in other
countries, including the specifics of how countries set up a NHI system and how
this structure operates to provide universal health care for it’s citizens. It will be quite interesting to continue
monitoring the status of this proposed NHI healthcare system and timeline for
implementation in South Africa, especially as the United States continues the
debate for what healthcare will look like in our country going forward. While themes certainly vary, it’s important
that we have been reminded that to an extent certain challenges and questions
regarding healthcare issues and solutions are universal in nature.
- Toby Harris
