In the remote and rugged landscape of Lesotho, high in the Drakensberg Mountains, 34-year-old herdsman Retsélisitsoe Tséle was tending his cattle with others from his community in Butha-Buthe district. As he herded his cattle across the vast plains near the Afriski Resort area, he was met by the RISE (Reaching Impact, Saturation, and Epidemic) Lesotho HIV VMMC (voluntary medical male circumcision) team from Butha-Buthe, who happened to pass by while traveling home from an outreach campaign.
The RISE project provides VMMC services in all 10 districts in Lesotho with support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Agency for International Development, reaching men ages 15 and above with this important biomedical HIV prevention method, along with HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis and other HIV prevention services.
The RISE team introduced Retsélisitsoe to the benefits of VMMC, emphasizing its role in reducing the risk of HIV transmission. As the conversation unfolded, Retsélisitsoe realized the potential impact of this intervention for his community. He saw an opportunity to safeguard his own health and lead by example to inspire others to embrace VMMC for HIV prevention. Retsélisitsoe pledged to spread the word among his fellow herdsmen. He also talked with the RISE team, including the RISE driver who plays an important role in community mobilization, about planning an outreach to provide VMMC services to herdsmen from his community.
With the information he learned from the RISE team, Retsélisitsoe spread the word about VMMC to his fellow herdsmen. When the outreach team arrived on March 19, they were met by a crowd of eager herdsmen who had gathered to receive VMMC services. During the four-day outreach visit, the RISE team used a loudspeaker to mobilize other herdsmen in cattle posts in the surrounding area. RISE’s clinical and demand generation team encouraged the herdsmen to continue mobilizing their peers throughout the campaign. By the last day, 55 herdsmen had undergone VMMC. The outreach campaign was a success. It had reached an underserved and hard-to-reach community with HIV prevention services in alignment with the World Health Organization’s and PEPFAR’s quality standards and built a community of satisfied clients who were encouraged to share their stories and become VMMC champions.
“I am proud that I have received the VMMC service, I am even more proud that I have played a role in changing the lives of 55 men, who believed in the importance of this initiative and made the right decision to circumcise,” said Retsélisitsoe.
For Retsélisitsoe, his fellow herdsmen and the RISE HIV VMMC team, this journey illustrates the power of community-driven initiatives to transform the lives Basotho men.