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A story of Local Response by MariJo Vazquez
But when we started to prepare for the meeting something slightly different happened. I was asked to invite some representatives from the local government and other members of the local NGOs and affected people. I could not quite understand the point of this request but I could ensure the participation of a delegation from a local network of municipalities.
And so I went to what I thought was going to be one more of the ‘planning for action’ meetings. But what I found there is something that I still carry with me to this day. First of all, my speech was well received but the event was not about speeches or presentations. What I found there was a group of people talking about the things that they had in their hearts. This was not about data, statistics or trends. There was no fighting to get the best place at the table, no needs assessment, no experts.
What I found there was a group of people trying to make sense of the many experiences we all brought with us. I realised that we spoke the same language in spite of the fact that at certain moments I found myself translating to and from English, French, Italian and Catalan in just one group.
I understood there that it was exactly what I had been longing for while coping with the frustration of ‘advocating‘ and ‘lobbying’. I suddenly felt at home listening to the experiences brought to the room by people from Curitiba, Ougadougou, Mumbai, Lyon, Italy.... We were talking ‘real’ for the first time in several years. Talking with the wish to relate, to understand the reality of others while we dig deeply into our own reality.
I learned about how much was being done in places where people were meeting to better understand each other to be able to engage in a common quest, that of stopping H IV from being a problem for us.
And this could be made when everybody had the opportunity to participate, to contribute with their piece of experience they had gathered in their communities. Probably some of us have no university degrees, or do not know about incidence rates; we are no experts in many domains.... but we all have our experiences to learn from.
When we listen and reflect on the experiences of others, we will begin to appreciate wisdom over knowledge.
In 2003, I had already been involved in HIV work for quite a few years and I was feeling disappointed that I could see so few results from the great amount of effort put into the issue.
I was a member of the ‘International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW)’ and we got an invitation to attend a meeting that was taking place in Lyon. I did not know about the organisers and I was asked by the ICW to attend the meeting. So I prepared a small speech. I still remember that the topic was about ‘local response’. I thought that it was going to be another ‘strategic’ meeting where we could put the issues concerning HIV women on the agenda of one more organisation. Our hope and wish was to advocate for our issues in as many settings as possible.
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