Academy for Educational Development

Sonia Guity loves working with her people, the minority Garifuna population in Honduras. A physician by training, Guity now heads up EcoSalud, a community-based organization working to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among 5,000 Garifunas in seven communities in the northern region of the country.

Six years ago, AED partnered with EcoSalud to promote healthy behaviors, encourage young people to delay sexual relations, and increase voluntary counseling and testing services among the Garifuna people, who are of West African descent.

Working with AED enabled EcoSalud to expand its work, said Guity. “Initially we could only serve youth, and now we can reach out to adults as well.”

‘Successful Strategies’

Using a model she learned from AED, Guity trained a core group of 80 adults and 100 youth “leaders” on the dangers of risky sexual behavior and how to prevent HIV. The leaders learned to reach out to their parents and peers, reaching between 500 and 700 people a month with prevention messages.

"We feel as though this is one of the most successful strategies,” especially among the adolescents, said Guity. “They have a common understanding about the problems that other youth are facing.”

One of Guity’s biggest challenges was reaching out to the men in the Garifuna community. While the women were attending meetings and getting involved, the men were reluctant.

At an AED training session with other organizations working to prevent HIV/AIDS, Guity learned about “The Love Boat.” This is an intervention wherein one of the male leaders goes out on a fishing boat to teach other men in his community about prevention techniques, such as the importance of using a condom.

“They are very open if you go to where they are,” Guity said of the Garifuna men.

Guity emphasized how much she enjoys her work. “I really like it—to be able to plant a seed and know that that person is changing their way of thinking, their attitudes, behaviors,” said Guity. “Seeing this change has made me feel very satisfied.”

For more information, contact Danielle Darrow de Mora or Shanon McNab in the AED Center on AIDS & Community Health.