Fishing boats along Lake Victoria in Mwanza
By Lucas Liganga, The Citizen Reporter
Kasalazi. It may be just a tiny island in Lake Victoria, but Kasalazi punches above its weight when it comes to a spot for fun. The men here play pool and guzzle beer after a long night on the lake and, satisfied with their Nile Perch catch, they wind up their daily routine in the arms of commercial sex workers.
Those who have no appetite for pool and beer can watch a movie or the English Premier League at a makeshift theatre. The fishermen have spent the night out in the cold, trawling the lake for Nile Perch, and they return home armed with the evidence of their hard labour.
In the days when Nile Perch was readily available, they would go to work in the morning but they have to go the extra mile these days. Their journey starts around 5:pm and ends at dawn the next day. They spend the night not only fishing but also guarding their valuable nets against pirates who have devastated the fishing communities here. These days, fishermen go out to work fully armed--some bearing guns and others wielding their traditional weapons--ready to face pirates who steal fishing nets and outboard engines.
But when they return after selling their catch, it’s time for merry-making and they drink, play pool or spend time with commercial sex workers. Lake Victoria’s fishermen live like nomads, migrating from one place to another in search of greener pastures, and this has contributed to the spread of HIV/Aids among them.
Faced with lack of jobs, many young men and women have migrated to the islands hoping to cash in on the booming Nile Perch bonanza. Men go fishing and make millions while women have to settle for sex work or domestic labour. Playing deputy to the woman of the house often does not pay well and some of the househelps moonlight, to put it mildly, to boost their income.
This risky practice has fuelled the spread of HIV/Aids among fishermen--many of whom appear to believe that sex with more than one woman per night is, in fact, evidence of power and machoism--especially for those who can afford the services of vulnerable girls like Paulina.
Last year, three Ugandan researchers--Alex Opio, Michael Muyonga and Noordin Mulumba--established that HIV prevalence among the communities surveyed was three times higher than in the general population.
Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation estimates that 40 per cent of the fishing communities are HIV positive--the highest number not only in East Africa but across the continent.
When the sun sets, a new life begins
Two decades ago, Kasalazi--like many islands in the world’s second largest fresh water lake--was home to only three families. Today, there are thousands of women and men who have gathered here to earn a living on the back of the Nile Perch, which once enjoyed a boom here. But the Nile Perch bonanza is fading, and so is the money.
In its heyday, a sex worker recalls, life was good here and her earnings were worthwhile. These days, she is lucky to get enough customers to keep her afloat. The would-be buyers have been hit by the downturn in the fish stock too.
There are diehards, though, who keep the business going on this tiny island. And the competition is more fierce than ever before. Kasalazi comes to life after sunset and commercial sex workers roam the streets in hot pursuit of the shilling. Some of the girls are as young as 15 and they flock to recreation places such as movie halls, discotheques and soccer clubs in search of potential customers.
“Welcome to Kasalazi…it is an island of all pleasures one can find under the sun,” says a fisherman who identifies himself as Bundala. “Whether you need a teenager or a grown-up woman, they are available at all times--as long as your pockets are bulging with money.”
Some of these girls are primary school dropouts who left home in search of greener pastures, hoping to cash in on the fortunes generated by the Nile Perch.
Paulina came to this island in March hoping against hope. The girl from Sengerema in Mwanza Region says: “No problem in going to bed with me if you agree to my terms. Short time is Sh5,000. If you want to spend the entire night with me, it will be Sh10,000. If you want to have sex without a condom, the price is Sh20,000.”
Without skipping a beat, she adds: “I need a quick reply because I have no time to waste. If you think my rates are exorbitant, go look for old women who are cheaper,” she quips before she walks away.
If you are willing to pay for BBC--Body to Body Contact or sex without condoms--you might as well be buying HIV/Aids at a throw-away price.
Health experts rate fishermen and commercial sex workers among the most vulnerable groups alongside long distance truck drivers. These days, the two groups appear to be in bed together daily.
But a quick survey by The Citizen here shows that many residents are aware of the Human Immunodeficiency Viru and Aids. This knowledge appears to have come from other quarters, though, since there is no sign of an HIV/Aids awareness campaign on Kasalazi Island--unlike Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha where both government and non-governmental organisations preach the HIV/Aids and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) message on a regular basis.
Jane Mandara, owner of Musoma Moja Tea Room on Kasalazi Island, says girls carrying plastic bags holding their meagre belongings flock here daily. Mandara, is 50 but looks like someone in her early 30s: “The way they misbehave after reaching the island is unthinkable. They sell their bodies like no one’s business. We feel ashamed.”
Jonathan Bulabo--who drives a mini-bus that criss-crosses between the island, Sengerema town and Kanyala beach--says he ferries no less than five girls daily who head for the island in pursuit of commercial sex.
Bulabo recalls: “I recently ferried one girl to Kanyala and she proceeded to Kasalazi Island the following day. Surprisingly, the girl came back after three weeks and told me she had Sh300,000 to start her own business. After I did some investigation, I realised she was engaged in prostitution, and it was not true that she was paid after off-loading sardines from fishing vessels.”
When the girls leave their homes, their cover story is always that they are going to work for fishermen as support staff. On arriving on the Island, they quickly turn to commercial sex work--which, they reckon, pays more than housework. On this island, there are hundreds of sex workers—and there are dozens of such islands on Tanzania’s side of Lake Victoria, which are inhabited by thousands of fishermen.
Dr Angela Ramadhani, a programme officer with the National Aids Control Programme (NACP), says surveys are underway to establish the magnitude of the problem. “We have started doing sampling in various parts of the country,including some islands in Lake Victoria,” she adds. “The problem we face is lack of funding for the surveys.”
The surveys would enable NACP and other stakeholders to chart out intervention measures. The NACP’s key population coordinator, Ms Neema Makyao, says a survey conducted jointly by NACP and PSI International with funds from the United States Agency for International Development, will be made public in the second week of next month. “The survey involved checking HIV/Aids infection and other sexually transmitted diseases,” said Makyao, a sociologist.
Island residents say the HIV/Aids prevalence rate is very high compared to the Mainland and there are waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery and malaria here.
On his recent tour of islands in Lake Victoria, Deputy minister for Health and Social Welfare Steven Kebwe said the national infection of HIV/Aids is five per cent while the rate on the lake islands is a staggering 20 per cent. Speaking on Namasabo Island in Ukerewe district, Mwanza Region, Dr Kebwe said the number of people infected with HIV/Aids was rising.
“This situation is alarming,” he added. “We cannot boast that Tanzania without Aids is possible while the situation on the islands is shocking.”
He was on a mission to find out more about the lifestyles on the islands and exchange views with fishermen after he received an alarming report on the local HIV infection rate. But the reality on Kasalazi island does not reflect the fact that it has been visited by experts and the HIV/Aids awareness is still very low.
No toilets, but life goes on for thousands.
This is life in Kasalazi island—one of the 127 inhabited islands in Lake Victoria’s Tanzania side. There are 3,000 residents on this tiny land but the majority have no toilets, which poses a health threat during the rainy season.
No public toilets exist--even in public places such as dance halls and a popular entertainment spot named “Yataka Moyo” that loosely translates into It Requires Courage, where people watch English Premier League matches on DStv at the weekends.
“Just go behind this hall and relieve yourself,” says a young man when asked about the washrooms at half-time of the match between Manchester United and newcomers Burnley Football Club.
Practically the entire crowded Island stinks, with only poorly-built pharmacies that are used as hospitals where those who are ill buy medicine without prescriptions from qualified medical doctors. Sanitary conditions here are low and the crowded huts are reminiscent of a refugee camp in Kigoma.
The fishing communities have been urged to work with their local governments to improve the facilities and services but this has yet to happen because the Beach Management Unit (BMU) disappeared long ago.
But life goes on and a decent guest house charges Sh6,000 per night for a self-contained room. Lunch costs Sh1,500 for a big fish and French fries. “Our BMU is almost dead due to interference by village leaders,” says Mr Kasai Mtunwa, the chairman of the Kasalazi Island BMU. As a result, says the soft-spoken Mtunwa, sanitation is very poor on the island. “Almost all restaurants have no toilets. And very few households have toilets.”
Most people on the island relieve themselves at fish landing sites, and consequently create another health hazard. His BMU intended to build an office and a public toilet, but this has not happened because of a leadership crisis. They have managed to build only the foundation of the office.
Vultures are apparently doing a good job of cleaning the environment. “The birds scattered all over the island eat most of the garbage, including fish offal and food waste,” he says.
BMUs are the foundation of fisheries co-management and are community-based organisations that bring together everyone involved in fisheries--boat owners, crew, traders, processors, boat builders and repairers, net repairers and others--to work with government and other stakeholders in managing fishery resources and improving the livelihoods of the community.
Local governments are supposed to dole out part of the revenues they collect from the landing sites to improve the facilities and services in respective landing sites.
CREDIT SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
No comments:
Post a Comment