The Sexual Practices of Uganda

A few months ago, there was a lady that was widely known as Doctor Susana. She was a traditional healer, that would cure barren women, and indeed she saved many, but not with her medicine as such. She claimed she had a tool on which she had to smear the medicine, before inserting it deep, into the patient’s womanhood.

This “traditional healer” developed an anal complication and was admitted in the lady’s ward of the local hospital. Unfortunately, because of the extent of pain she suffered, she was sedated. When a nurse was attempting to administer an injection to this lady, he discovered that the “healer” was wearing masculine underwear. On checking the chest of the slumbering patient, it was found to be airy with no breasts.

The doctor was called, he checked the healer and discovered that he was, in fact, a man. Later, the man escaped from the hospital to evade the charges he would have faced, and died shortly afterwards.

Imagine the situation of the ladies he had saved from barrenness, considering the fact that some times the problems are with the man not the woman – and he was doing it for a living. Would I be wrong to say that this man risked catching and spreading AIDS, just because he had to earn a living? What about the gullible ladies? It is true to say that the quality of the life that people live in, can do or undo them as far catching AIDs is concerned.

Now, if there is illicit sex in between people of all walks of life and ages, how can you expect HIV not to spread? Any way, the good thing is that there are condoms, but we should not totally rely on them. Behavioral change has to be preached, especially to the young that have room for change.

In regard to this, I would love to say that indeed Uganda has made a tremendous change and thus Ugandans in general, and the pioneer anti aids activist and victim, the late Philly Bongoley Lutaya in Particular, deserve more than an applaud. When AIDS was still a mystery, some households where totally wiped out -the father, mother, and all of the children. Imagine a situation where a man has flings with a house maid; the housemaid also has flings with boys of the family, as well as the boyfriends of the girls in that family. That’s what you would call catastrophe.

Also, because the culture encourages a man to pay a dowry, in some areas a father (some times some of the brothers) would come in to rescue a man by contributing, for example, some cows so that he can meet the high costs. When the bride is “bought”, they would each take a turn on her, to see if she was really worth the price. However, this has totally died out. Thanks to the AIDS awareness activities.

Despite these improvements, there is still a lot of work to do with people of all walks of life. Where a dowry is paid, married women tend to be more cautious, for fear of having to pay back the dowry on divorce, but the men truly have along way to go.