"Draw a map of your community."
In the fourth phase of our project, Eric and I interviewed over three hundred kids (who had also been interviewed by the Dr. Eve Puffer team about their sexual behaviors and perceptions) to learn about their daily routines. When participants first arrived, they were greeted by one of us and were asked to draw us “a map of their community” using a piece of paper and markers. The maps participants drew varied quite a bit. Some depicted plants, animals, or a building in the community, some were representations of the Muhuru Bay as a landform, and others drew Kenya amongst many other countries. These maps are useful because they contribute to a further understanding of the community narrative told during the focus groups.
After the kids drew maps, I surveyed them (with the help of a translator), asking questions like “What time did you wake up this morning? Where did you go throughout the day? Where did you sleep last night?”When they participants finished answering my questions, they would move to the other side of the table where Eric showed them our map of Muhuru Bay—complete with satellite imagery. Eric would ask the individual to point out his or her house on the map—along with other places they visited frequently according to the survey results I passed along to him. Eric then used the mapping software to record these points on the map. Each individual was assigned a number and a map layer within the software program.It is within this part of the project that CHAMP began connecting with Puffer’s research on emotional and behavioral attitudes toward sex. As I mentioned earlier, the 300 youths Eric and I interviewed about places they spend time were also interviewed by Eve and her team about their sexual behaviors. Eve is now able to look at our map to see a visual connection between space/place and HIV/AIDS risk in the community. The map will be a valuable tool for her as she develops intervention programs geared toward transforming the environmental influences contributing to HIV/AIDS risk in Muhuru Bay.