I first met Dr. John Chittick of TeenAIDS PeerCorps during the International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000 where he was busy distributing his business card amongst the crowds on lunch break. He told my colleagues and me of his Global Walk and since he was planning on heading north through Africa I thought it would be a great opportunity for him, the community and my program to have him visit us in Kericho, Kenya. John contacted me by email and not long after he arrived in Nairobi and I was able to drive him to my Kericho field station.
The first thing one notices about John is his size, his very 'loud' Hawaiian shirts, his shock of white hair and his magnetic personality. Not surprisingly, John attracts attention everywhere he goes and immediately takes the opportunity to make eye contact and engage people in conversation about HIV/AIDS. Even in the gas station John started to talk to the pump attendants and cashier about sex and HIV! People are nervous, they giggle, they feel uncomfortable but their fascination with how he can talk about these issues, and the issues themselves, keeps them listening and they are all left with a business card with a few key statements (in their language) to save their lives and that of one friend.
The main focus of my program in Kericho was to prepare a community for AIDS vaccine trials and we were just starting community education so it was a perfect time for Dr. John to come and initiate the sensitization of the youth, and for us to learn some of his techniques and skills. My staff and I were all new to this type of work so we were keen to have such an expert help us. A group of my staff spent several days in John's company, walking the streets of Kericho town itself talking to all of the young people they met. Specific meetings had been arranged in many of the local secondary schools and with church youth groups. John found classrooms bursting at the seams with youngsters excited just to have a 'mzungu' (white man) talk to them, let alone talk about relationships and sex, which adults don't talk about.
Dr. John's way of speaking transfixed huge crowds, he told them the facts, he said sex is fun, normal and special, he made everyone laugh with jokes and condom demonstrations and silenced the rooms with his heart-breaking stories about young girls and boys he knew personally who are no longer with us. He answered questions throughout but they continued long after the presentation and then many youngsters stayed on late for one-on-one time with him. Dr. John, as an adult, has a very unique ability to attract and hold the attention and respect of teenagers. He inspired several young people in the sessions I attended to go on to talk to others, and some went on to do voluntary work with AIDS orphans. He inspired my staff to expand their community education efforts with tremendous energy and commitment which has been felt by the Kericho community as a whole, as well as in the specific areas in which the program works.
From Kericho some of my staff took Dr. John on the next stage of his journey, down to the regions bordering Lake Victoria, where HIV rates are the highest in the country. They walked around Kisumu town, in the poorer residential areas and then out to the rural home villages of my staff where he talked to youth on the streets and in the village school. These areas are so remote that they had heard little about the true facts of HIV/AIDS, particularly the youth.
I joined the Board of TeenAIDS-PeerCorps as I feel the work Dr. John is doing is so important that it needs to be expanded in a way that it can continue without needing him personally in every corner of the globe, much as we'd like him here. I was so impressed by the way Dr. John worked, his dedication and commitment to the cause of teaching teenagers the true facts about HIV/AIDS that it was an honor to be asked to join the Board from where I hope I can help.
For more about Dr. John's trip to Kenya,
click here.