Haiti. Beauty parlours and health promoters.

PIP: In the poor neighborhoods of the capital city of Port au Prince Haiti are 100s of brightly painted beauty parlors, displaying signs like "Femme Moderne, studio de beaute." They are popular and cheap; between 70 and 80% of the population use them. In the south of the city, a team of health promotion volunteers are turning some 64 beauty parlors into AIDS education and condom distribution centers with the help and cooperation of the owners. The majority of these beauty parlors are owned and run by women who cannot find work elsewhere, including many immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Some proprietors work as prostitutes in the evenings because they cannot survive on the earnings of the parlors. These proprietors are now becoming AIDS educators-- talking to customers, handing out leaflets and distributing free condoms. The team of young volunteers responsible for this education program belong to the Center for Haitian Social Services (CHASS); a nonprofit, voluntary organization set up in 1987 as a community response to the lack of government health and social services. A CHASS volunteer explains: "The beauty parlors were chosen as a focal point for reaching the population. To start with, 1 box of condoms was distributed every week, not the owners are distributing 3 or 4 boxes. We encourage them to keep a record of numbers taken, client's age, sex, marital status and so on." The majority of volunteer health promoters are ex-students who have given up their studies because of lack of funds. Many cannot find jobs, and they are encouraged to develop skills in their volunteer work which could help them find employment in the future. The team of volunteers meets every Saturday to discuss the program and training needs that arise. "At first the focus of our training was on AIDS, but now we need more information about other related issues." The most urgent need is to find out what local people's thoughts and understandings are about the disease. CHASS has designed a questionnaire in Creole and French for use in a knowledge, attitude, and practice survey. Volunteers are interviewing over 1000 local residents, and will randomly select 200 questionnaires to analyze. Information gathered will provide a basis for planning and orienting health education messages. "The problem with planning any educational program," explains Daniel Bernier, "is that Haitians work most of their waking hours--and so we are trying to organize mass education at traditional public gatherings, such as at Church and the gaga (a traditional religious ceremony).^ieng