Lushomo gives young people who are HIV positive the chance to share their experiences with others in the same position. Through this process, they hopefully learn a lot, and are able to enjoy their youth while moving towards adulthood.
The main way in which Lushomo does this is by holding meetings for all the members every fortnight. The format for each meeting differs, depending on the topics being planned, and whatever the members decide they want to cover. Group members plan, organise, and facilitate the meetings themselves, with support from the coordinator. Meetings start at 10am, and go on till about 1-2pm, including a lunch that everyone helps to prepare in the kitchen. 
Sometimes people pick avocadoes and mangoes from the trees in the garden, then make sandwiches, with other fruits and juice. Peer educators in the group get things started, with others helping out. They prepare a number of activities for the day, then take a lead in individual sessions.
What happens at the group's meetings?
First thing usually is some ‘quiet time’ chatting, and getting to know any new members, or those who haven’t been to many meetings. Then to liven things up, there’ll be some games, which also help to break the ice. Often these are very simple, just using a ball or whatever’s to hand. Though great fun, these games are all based on working co-operatively, and so help bring the members together. For example, games involving trust, or truth, or knowledge, though playful, can also help to demonstrate how these things are used in real life, and help to teach important lessons. Such educational games are a good lead in to more ‘serious time’ and discussions. These could be about topics members have suggested or requested, items in the news, or other subjects of interest. One of the peer educators might start to talk about their own HIV status, how they found out, how they felt, and how it affects their day-to-day life – all of which enables others to join in and share. Though simply talking is absolutely crucial, the activities are often interactive, involving drama and role play, for example, with cameo roles for other members acting out the behaviour of both people living with HIV, and others’ attitudes to them. The emphasis is very much the active part of activities, and there’s never a song or dance very far away!
Obviously some of these discussions could bring up very sensitive issues and experiences, but being able to do so in a safe and supportive environment, with people who can empathise and advise, is a large part of what the group is about. For example, when a counsellor from a clinic in another compound came to a meeting to find out more about the group, they too joined in the discussion and told the young people about her own HIV positive status. Some weeks these conversations could go on for a while – indeed many could go on all night! But to round up in a positive way (and get ready for lunch), there’s usually more fun and games before lunch.
The idea of ‘5-a-day’ hasn’t really got to Zambia yet, and given that most people’s staple food includes a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, it probably never will. But junk food is incredibly common, and actually something that ‘rich Zambians’ aspire to eat. Living positively with HIV, especially if you’re taking ARV drugs, means you need a healthy diet to keep your immune system strong, and for the drugs to work. This is why the group’s lunch is as healthy as possible, even if it costs a bit more to arrange. All too soon after eating, the meeting’s over, and it’s then up to the peer educators and co-ordinator to complete a monitoring form for the session, and make a note of anything that needs to be followed-up next time. Particular attention is paid to observing individual children who may need special support – either through future activities with the whole group, or one-to-one, and perhaps with external help. Initially, two of the older girls in the group were the main peer educators. They have since been training other group members to become peer educators too, so more of the group can take a lead in activities.
How are sensitive topics tackled?
At the heart of all the group's work is sharing experiences and helping each other to learn about living positively with HIV. But tackling sensitive subjects, especially when the children have different backgrounds and levels of understanding, tends to be done in a range of different ways. On the left, for example, they're playing 'catch me if you can' before talking about more serious topics.
Often the group is split according to age for discussions, so they are based on a broadly similar level of knowledge and experience. Sometimes the division is made according to sex, because both boys and girls can be very shy when talking about relationships, and strong gender stereotypes are still a big part of addressing HIV. Over time, and as the group have become closer friends, these barriers have been reduced, but it's still something the facilitators have to keep an eye on.
One way the group has found useful to start discussions is by watching a short film, and then relating what they've seen to their own lives. For example, Looking for Busi is the story of a South African girl who became a mother at 14, and was abandoned by her family and friends for being HIV positive. Busi then started to visit high schools to talk about her status, and encourage her peers to avoid some of the problems she had faced. Following this film, the group discussed some of the myths around transmission, and the promotion of abstinence by various churches and NGOs.
Another film, Imiti Ikula, explores the lives of two girls living on the streets of Lusaka, and some of the challenges they face through being excluded from 'mainstream society.' 
The subsequent discussion focused on stigma and discrimination towards not just people living with HIV, but also those with disabilities, street kids, albinos, refugees, people with mental health issues, and commercial sex workers. The children realised that certain attitudes they had towards these groups were as negative as those that people had towards them about their status, especially their friends at school. The screening also highlighted that the group members are lucky to have homes and families to love and care for them, compared to the two girls on the street. This in turn led to a further discussion about how the children lived at home, and the difference in attitude of some family members. One girl talked about the stigma she had faced from an uncle, and how she'd had to finish school early to look after her sister who was ill. Others said how loving and supportive their grandparents had been, especially when they had lost their own parents.
Special occasions too ...
As well as all this talking and sharing, the group members have also been making stuff and marking birthdays! For World Aids Day, they've been making dolls, and hope to take part in some of the exhibitions and parades that light up Lusaka every year on December the 1st. They've also been making doormats from old rags - a traditional Zambian craft that also helps to earn a bit of money - some of which will be displayed on World Aids Day too. These mats are also a great example of the idea to 'reduce - reuse - recycle' that we're still trying to make work here!
The group also decided that everyone's birthday should be the occasion for a special celebration. It seems obvious perhaps that a birthday is a milestone, but in a country where life expectancy is about half that of the UK, every year takes on greater significance. Birthday parties and picnics are also an all too rare chance for the children to simply be free, fun-loving children - free from discussions about their HIV status, reminders of which punctuate their everyday lives.
How do the young people in the group benefit from these activities?
Some of the benefits that the young people get from taking part in the group were mentioned above, and the main ones certainly include:
- sharing experience with others in similar situations, who really understand the sort of challenges they face as young people growing up with HIV;
- building on these experiences to help deal with day-to-day problems, not just about their status, but possibly about some tricky homework too!
- increased self-confidence and self-esteem are certainly some of the intended results of the group, and though quite difficult to measure, this is quite demonstrable by some members over time;
- especially for those working as peer educators, doing a good job inevitably entails a degree of responsibility and leadership, which we also hope are quite practical skills that can be used beyond the meetings.
And of course, just as important, everyone gets to enjoy playing and having fun – one of the rights of simply being a child that we take for granted but, especially for girls in Zambia, is often hard-won.
To some people, these ‘benefits’ may sound quite intangible – and they usually are. But we don’t feel any apologies are necessary for focusing on what’s sometimes called ‘soft outcomes’ (i.e. feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and other hard-to-measure characteristics of real people) rather than ‘hard outputs’ (or things that easy to measure – how many people completed a training course, or received a food parcel, for instance). That’s because the objectives of the group are primarily educational, on two sides: for those young people learning to live positively with HIV, and for their families and communities learning to live with them positively too. Great changes don’t happen overnight, but they almost certainly start with attitudes. Though the group is only 15 people at the moment, they are making that start in a small way.
[More detailed versions of some of this information was originally published in the group’s newsletters in February and November 2008.]
