WUNRN
KENYA
Kenya - A traditional practice that contributes to the spread of HIV in Kenya is meko tatu, when a woman has three relationships at once. Common among the Miji Kenda tribes that largely populate the coast, meko tatu contributes to the high infection rate in Coast Province. Translated from Kiswahili, meko tatu means “three stones,” signifying the three stones used to balance a cooking pot in traditional kitchens.
A story produced in the Internews workshop featured an interview with Zena Thuva, a resident of Mnarani village and a community health worker. “The belief here is that a woman can’t function normally with one man,” Thuva says in the program. “She needs the support of two other men to survive. She looks for another man to buy her clothes and shoes, and yet another man to finance her grooming needs such as hair, nails and make up. All these goodies are in exchange for sex.”
Meko tatu is a common practice in Kilifi district for both married and unmarried women. Many of these women do not use condoms with their various sexual partners. Interestingly, the practice is not shrouded in secrecy—it is openly talked about and is an accepted part of the culture. “This has been one of the greatest contributions to the spread of HIV in this community,” says Thuva.
Kilifi district is home to about half a million people. Here, one in seven people is HIV-positive.
Meshack Mwangale, the Kilifi District AIDS and STI Control Coordinator (DASCO), is also interviewed, saying, “It is true that many couples today are involved in extra-marital affairs. Either we are not teaching the public correctly, or the public is not adhering to safe behavioral practices.”
As a result of the Internews journalism training and field mentoring sessions, these and several other feature stories on HIV/AIDS have been broadcast. Internews continues to mentor the six journalists as they cover more such stories.
Internews’ health journalism program in Kenya is funded by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development/US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
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