Tashiya GunesekeraEducation 2 -- Rubavu District, Western District
During the examination period last term, I noticed therewere a group of my female students in a classroom listening to the Animatriceand another woman who was talking very seriously. The boys were sitting outsideon that rare sunny day. Out of curiosity, I asked one of my male teachers as towhat was going on.
“They are checking the girls over 16 to see who has SIDA,”he replied. I nodded and went along my way. By SIDA, he meant AIDS. I was a bitconfused and questioned myself as to why only the female students were beingchecked for HIV/ AIDS, but thought it was more likely they were checking to seewhich girls were pregnant. I had heard of this being done from other PCVs.Later, I saw female students coming out of the classroom applying cotton swabs totheir upper arms, meaning a Vaccine. Weeks later, I brought it up with myAnimatrice, Veronique. After I refreshed her memory, I asked her what themeeting and vaccine was for.
“It’s atype of vaccination,” She said trying to find the name of it, “for Cancer.”
“For what type of cancer?” I asked,surprised thinking the only type of Cancer that I knew of that women gotvaccines for was HPV, Cervical Cancer. Veronique couldn’t remember and referredme to Vestine and Immacule, two nuns at my site, who were nurses at the HealthCenter.
Later that evening, after some debate as to the actual name,I came to the understanding the vaccine was indeed the HPV vaccine, whichprevents infection of certain species of human papillomavirus. This virus isassociated with the development of cervical cancer, genital warts, and someless common cancers. Many women in the developing world that get cancer do notreceive proper medical care. Therefore, this vaccine can contribute greatly tostronger women’s health in the developing world.
All female students over the age of 16 at my school weregiven the first dose of the vaccine in March of 2012, and they were told thenext dose was to follow around the time I was asking questions, in May of 2012,two months later.
I found this news compelling as this vaccine in the UnitedStates has not been made compulsory due to the high cost of the vaccine ($120/dose for a total of $360), and also due to some conservative groups who arguedthat the vaccine would cause girls to start engaging in sexual activity at ayounger age following the vaccine. There is also some discussion about howeffective the vaccine is because it does not protect against all the virusesthat can cause Cervical Cancer. For all these reasons, I found it interestingto know that my school in Rwanda, which even for Rwanda is under-developed, waschoosing to vaccinate many of their female students.
Later on, I found out through one of my students, that eachstudent was also given a small booklet in Kinyarwanda that explained thevaccine, the purpose for it, and what it protected against. This was from theMinistry of Health and it was complete with diagrams of the women’sreproductive system and photographs of smiling Rwandan girls.
Coming from the United States, I have seen many differencesin regards to the way women are treated in Rwandan culture. For example, I knowthat many female students have to do a lot of housework after school, whichprevents them from being able to study and attend clubs. This is not always thecase for boys. In my classes, overall the better performing students are boys.It’s almost impossible to get the majority of girls to talk loud enough to beheard because they’re taught to be quiet. There are obvious GenderInequalities, even though Rwanda is considered by some to be an Africa successstory for Gender Equality (See Note at end of post). Yet, to me this is a signthat the Government of Rwanda is trying seriously to promote women’s healthissues and roles in society.
Note: A good article that looks at the discussion of GenderEquality in Rwanda, both how far it’s come and how far it has to go: http://thinkafricapress.com/rwanda/women-gender-equality
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