HOW PORTSHIELD OPERATED
Portshield began with an extensive research in the environs of the harbour. Advocacy, as a major part of GSMF International’s program, was done consistently throughout the programme to ensure support and project impact, considering the far-fetched benefits of such workplace programs for managers. Advocacy sessions were held with management of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and Ghana Dock Labour Company (GDLC) to explain the project’s rationale, disseminate the findings from the baseline and also advocate for their support for Portshield.
With the support of management of GPHA and GDLC in the two ports, 206 peer educators were selected, trained and equipped. The peer educators selected based on a selection criteria developed by GSMF, were trained over a period of two and half days and were subsequently equipped with a toolkit to facilitate their peer education activities.
A day’s workshop was organised for condom sellers in both Tema and Takoradi. The objective was to strengthen the condom distribution system as well as equip sellers with basic information on HIV/AIDS and condom use. The knowledge acquired also enabled them to address frequently asked questions on the myths surrounding HIV/AIDS and condom use. The workshop sought to encourage the sellers to acknowledge the importance and critical role they play in the Portshield programme and therefore the fight against HIV/AIDS. In achieving the aim of making condoms available and accessible in the shortest distance, forty-two condom sales outlets were recruited and supplied with condoms in both the Tema and Takoradi Ports. Some of these non-traditional outlets included peer educators, table-top traders, drinking bar operators, food sellers and cigarette sellers.
Confidential Voluntary Counselling and Testing (CVCT) has always been a part of any GSMF International HIV/AIDS intervention, and has resulted in high levels of behaviour change among targets of various projects. Various sessions of mobile a confidential voluntary and counselling and testing exercise were organised for workers and users of the harbour of GDLC in Tema.
Various materials on HIV/AIDS have been developed, printed and distributed. Posters, stickers and different HIV/AIDS leaflets, billboards with behaviour change and IEC messages were developed and printed to consistently remind staff of the need to adopt healthy sexual lifestyles.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Through advocacy with management of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, HIV/AIDS education has been included in the training curriculum of GPHA.
A total of 50 non-traditional condom sales outlets were recruited in both Tema and Takoradi ports to make condoms available and accessible.
A page has also been allocated in GPHA’s newsletter for publication of activities on Portshield and HIV/AIDS
CHALLENGES
The migrating nature of harbour workers, especially the Dockworkers made it difficult to keep peer educators. This is because some trained and equipped peer educators ended up relocating, hence the need to constantly train new ones to replace those left.
The inverse relationship of motivation in this project is the voluntary nature of peer education. Peer educators were not given any monetary reward for their activities and this made it difficult for some peer educators to pledge their commitment to the job.
There are lots of night activities in the ports, which makes peer education at night very timely and very important. Unfortunately peer educators are very reluctant to educate their peers at night, since after the hard day’s work they needed to see to family needs. Hence aside reaching the night target with audio visual aids, the one-on-one interaction with this same group was quite difficult.
