19-year-old Joseph Ikatlholeng attends the Botswana Family Welfare Association (BOFWA) clinic in Gaborone every three months to receive antiretroviral treatment for HIV. He’s currently at university, studying for a degree in transport and logistics. “I hope to start my own transport business, maybe in the future an airline,” he says, laughing at the grandeur of his dreams.   Joseph first came to BOFWA when he and his boyfriend decided to start practicing safe sex in March 2017. “I had put myself in risky situations so thought I should get tested for HIV,” he says.   After learning he was HIV positive, Joseph tried out a few clinics to receive his treatment, but found BOFWA to be the most confidential and friendly. Sitting in the clinic behind the doctor’s desk, he says, “I never have any problems coming here. I feel comfortable here. At [the government clinic] there is no privacy; most of my friends are there. Sometimes if you go there you find them suspecting something, and everyone will be knowing your status. That’s why I prefer BOFWA.”     Feeling safe is important to Joseph, who regularly faces discrimination as a man who has sex with other men. “Last week I was walking along, and these guys came past in the car shouting “gay, gay, gay.” I experience that treatment a lot.”    Now, he and some LGBTI friends in Botswana are trying to work with their community to change the status quo about LGBTI people in the country. “We’re trying to tell the elders that we are here, we’re trying to change perceptions that LGBTI people are not just on drugs and having sex,” he says.  

“I’m a sex worker and peer outreach worker for the Nkaikela Youth Group. We reach the other sex workers because we are the ones that know them. We go to their houses, we go to the hotspots like clubs and the street; we reach them and encourage them to come here [to the Youth Group],” says Jackie Selelo, 34, sitting in one of the temporary office buildings at the Nkaikela Youth Group in Gaborone.   With the support of BOFWA nurses, the Nkaikela Youth Group provides a range of sexual health care to sex workers: “They need health services for STIs, smear tests, HIV tests, and to be enrolling onto antiretroviral treatment for HIV,” Jackie explains.   Female sex workers are in a particularly high-risk group for contracting HIV – the prevalence rate is 61.9% among the community – so having access to testing and treatment is vital. However, Jackie says many women don’t feel safe going to the government clinic. “They don’t accept us. It’s like we’re doing this because we want to, and just bringing disease. We’re not comfortable there and so sex workers are not [being tested and treated] in large numbers. Before BOFWA we were dying in large numbers because we were afraid of those clinics.”     The difference between being treated by the staff at BOFWA is huge, according to Jackie. “We get a good service with BOFWA, they’re helping us to come for tests and they’re treating us good. With BOFWA if you come for HIV testing and were positive they would initiate you on to treatment the same day. Any problem you could discuss with them without fear, like they are your brothers and sisters.”   She’s concerned that if funding continues to be cut, BOFWA nurses will stop coming to the Youth Group completely. “If they stop it will be difficult for us. We will die, we will be infected,” she says.  

.image-section { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 25% 75%; grid-gap: 60px; overflow: hidden; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.4em; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom:70px; } .img-caption { border-bottom: 5px #00a4e4 solid; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom:30px; } .img-caption p { margin-bottom:30px; } ul.img-section-social{ list-style: none; padding: 0; margin: 0; } .img-section-social li{ padding: 0; margin: 0; float:left; } .img-section-social .twitter a,.img-section-social .facebook a, .img-section-social .google a, .img-section-social .email a, .img-section-social .whatsapp a { height: 40px; width: 40px; text-indent: -1000px; display: block; overflow: hidden; float: left; margin-right: 15px; } .img-section-social .twitter a{ background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/twitter-whiteonblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .facebook a{ background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/facebook-whiteonblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .google a{ background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/google-whiteonblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .email a{ background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/email-whiteonblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .whatsapp a{ background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/whatsapp-whiteonblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .twitter a:hover { background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/twitter-whiteondrkblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .facebook a:hover { background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/facebook-whiteondrkblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .google a:hover { background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/google-whiteondrkblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .email a:hover { background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/email-whiteondrkblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .whatsapp a:hover { background: url(/themes/ippf/images/social-icons/whatsapp-whiteondrkblue.svg) no-repeat; } .img-section-social .email { display:none; } @media all and (max-width: 480px) { .image-section{ grid-template-columns: 100%; grid-gap: 60px; } } Gabatswane, BOFWA client In 2012, Gabatswane learned she was HIV positive. "I suspect I contracted HIV from my sex work. There were times I had to engage in risky sex, depending on the money on the table." Gabatswane used to go to the BOFWA clinic in Selebi Phikwe for treatment. “I enjoyed the confidentiality that they had there, compared to the government [clinic] where everyone knows everything. It was comfortable talking to the BOFWA providers.” Due to the Global Gag Rule’s funding cuts, the BOFWA clinic has been forced to close. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Goabaone, sex worker & peer outreach worker "I've been a female sex worker for 5 years and a peer outreach worker for the last two. I was looking at the problems that us sex workers encounter, and thought that this peer outreach system might be able to help,” says Goabaone, explaining how she came to work with MCDA. Since the Global Gag Rule funding cuts the scheme has ended, and she now has to refer them to the government clinic. BOFWA was different: “At BOFWA we felt free, there is no stigma. They didn’t ask [how you got the infection], they just treated you every time,” Goabaone says. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Jackie, sex worker & peer outreach worker “I’m a sex worker and peer outreach worker for the Nkaikela Youth Group. We reach the other sex workers because we are the ones that know them. We go to their houses, we go to the hotspots like clubs and the street; we reach them and encourage them to come here [to the Youth Group],” says Jackie, 34. “We get a good service with BOFWA, they’re helping us to come for tests and they’re treating us good. With BOFWA if you come for HIV testing and were positive they would initiate you on to treatment the same day. Any problem you could discuss with them without fear, like they are your brothers and sisters.” Read Jackie's full story here Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Joseph, university student Joseph, 19, first came to BOFWA in 2017 when he and his boyfriend decided to start practicing safe sex. “I had put myself in risky situations so thought I should get tested for HIV,” he says. After learning he was HIV positive, Joseph tried out a few clinics to receive his treatment but found BOFWA to be the most confidential and friendly. Sitting in the clinic behind the doctor’s desk, he says, “I never have any problems coming here. I feel comfortable here. At [the government clinic] there is no privacy; most of my friends are there. Sometimes if you go there you find them suspecting something, and everyone will be knowing your status. That’s why I prefer BOFWA.” Read Joseph's full story here Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email Keanantswe, BOFWA client A few months after beginning her HIV treatment the BOFWA clinic was forced to close due to the Global Gag Rule funding cuts. “In April I received a call from my nurse telling me the clinic is being closed. She gave me tablets for two months up to June 2018. She told me I will get transferred to a government clinic," Keanantswe says. Although getting treatment is now much harder for her, she has to continue going every month or risks getting sick and even dying. “We have lost so much without BOFWA, not only me, but many women. I wish it would open again,” she says. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share via WhatsApp Share via Email