I recently spent two weeks in Trinidad on a school trip doing community service. We spent 8 days volunteering for the Cyril Ross Nursery, a home for HIV positive youth.  There were about 25 children living there, from ages 1-22.  We painted, cleaned and organized, and did other odds and ends that needed to be done.  At around 3pm, most of the children came back from school, and we got to spend about and hour and a half playing with them.  We played soccer, did arts and crafts projects, etc.  The children were some of the most sweet, good natured, fun and wonderful children I had ever been with, and they were incredibly grateful to have 10 American teenagers spend time with them.  Here are some pictures of the Nursery: 

While I was there, I wondered about how they got there, what they’re futures would look like, what education they were receiving when it came to sexual health, and what values they were being exposed to as it related to HIV.  Trinidad is a very religious place, and the nursery was run by a catholic organization. There were so many interesting things to observe about this place, but it was very difficult to find out anything out.  The people who worked at the nursery were very closed to talking about anything related HIV/AIDS issues, and I found out pretty quickly that there is a huge stigma in Trinidad around this issue.  The government provides free AIDS medication and treatment, but many people would rather die from the disease than walk through the clinic doors and have people know that they were HIV positive.  The children also had to hide the fact that they had HIV from the school, because if children or some teachers found out, they would be bullied, and maybe kicked out of school.  Here is a picture of a sticker that was in the Cyril Ross Nursery:

I was able to find out a lot one particular day when a group of medical school students visited the Cyril Ross Nursery.  I spoke with a few of them about HIV policies in Trinidad.  One man was from Ghana, and he went to Trinidad to go to medical school so he could go back home and help treat people with HIV.  He said that Trinidad had a very high rate of HIV, especially among young people, but that a lot of progress had also been made.  In school, most people do learn about using contraception and practicing safe sex, but in some places young people (especially women) are expected to remain virgins until they are married, and in those areas people don’t receive good information on protection and sometimes teens that become pregnant are thrown out of their homes.  Cyril Ross Nursery had a very interesting approach to educating people about HIV/AIDS protection:


As you can see, this is not your typical A-B-C approach.  Usually, it is Abstain, Be Faithful, Condoms (use them correctly and consistently.)  Now, substituting in Christ for condoms certainly won’t help protect people from HIV.  However, when I showed that pamphlet to a friend and pointed out how stupid I thought it was, she said not to mock their beliefs.  I thought about this for a while, and I realized that there was no ulterior motive with their approach.  

They really are a humble, devout group providing food and shelter to these kids with HIV, and they really did have strong convictions about Christ.  I went to several church services when I was there, and after meeting some people and getting to know the island, I can make peace with the Abstain, Be faithful, Christ message.  They really do believe that.  Should they educate children with HIV about safe sex and about condoms? Of course.  But are they radical, conservative men who are imposing values on people left and right?  Not so much. Unlike many abstinence-only groups in the US, these people were relatively tolerant and pro-women, and they had no other agenda that they were trying to push. 

Trinidad is a very diverse place, and there are many different standards, values, and beliefs. Understanding their approach to HIV, sexual health, and women’s issues is important to making progress on those issues here in the US.