Today I was chatting with the mudlogger and the sample catcher (two fellows who work for me). The sample catcher who is a Mozambican from Beira was showing us a tuber from which he makes a drink which is reputed to help prevent and possibly cure many small diseases found in this part of the world. This drink basically keeps you healthy and protects you from life small ailments. He only had the tuber so I have no idea what the leaf looks like (sorry no photos of the tuber since I have forgotten my camera, but here is one I got of the internet from a South African company's website and it does look exactly like what John has). The plant as far as he knows is called "African potato" in English.We also talked about malaria and John told us that many people die of malaria around here. This is indeed true since in this area the dominant form of malaria is the one which kills people, and the government has started a campaign of insecticide spraying in and around people's houses to try to keep malaria down. Hopefully this will work.
At some point in the conversation I remembered that John had not been around when I explained to the crew that one worker in the last month died of rabies. I explained to him that he had to report all bites immediately, regardless how small, and told him why. But he already had been told by the head of his team.
John is new here and I do not know him very well at all but I can tell already that he is a smart guy. When it was his turn he had a question about AIDS. He wanted to know if, as he had heard, and I quote here: "the liquid you find in condoms gives you AIDS". By that point Monsef the Egyptian mudlogger was squirming, he wanted to be anywhere but here taking part in this conversation. I had to ask what he meant by "this liquid you find in condoms". It was a bit of an awkward situation for a couple of seconds but it didn't last. John really had a genuine question. I found out that he meant the lubrication / spermicide you find in condoms. So we embarked on a conversation on how AIDS is transmitted, body fluids, various body fluids (blood, sweat, saliva, urine...) I'm not the expert on the subject but at least I knew more than John.
It was interesting to talk with a smart young Mozambican man who realizes that he does not have all the information and wants to know more. At the end he apologized for asking and I assured him that it was alright. I told him he could ask any questions about AIDS or anything and that if I didn't know the answer I would find them for him.
To make everybody feel comfortable I did add that as the only old woman (well, the only woman) here I am a bit like everybody's mother, so it was OK to talk to me about stuff like this, and I was pleased to see that Monsef agreed with me when I said that. But at that point I remembered why I wasn't a nurse and understood why one old bossy unapproachable doctor in a many-man camp is not quite enough. Before people ask questions they need to feel that they are in a "safe" environment.
So here is the thing, you are hearing from somebody who was told here in Mozambique: there is a rumor in Mozambique that condoms which come from other countries should not be used because they give you AIDS, because the lubrication on them gives you AIDS. This is what John told us.
Here is my question: are there any condoms in Mozambique which do NOT come from other countries?
