How is Coach Mpilo different?
“Men know they can talk to me and so they do. Most times I don’t have to say anything, just listen. They talk and talk and talk until they work out themselves what they have to. I don’t have to do much, just listen.”
— Coach, Ugu District
Empathetic support from a true peer is what differentiates other approaches to reaching men.
As another man living with HIV, Coach is someone a man can immediately trust and open up to, without fear of stigma or judgment. Someone who can give credible advice on overcoming barriers because he has faced them himself.
Coaches must always be men living with HIV. While other cadres have an important role to play, we would never call them coaches unless they have the lived experience of a man with HIV.
The messenger is the message. Before he even says a word, Coach is living proof that everything is going to be ok.
“I overheard a coach talking to a man and then I understood what coach Mpilo is all about. He can talk to that man in a way I could never do. Men [living with HIV] can communicate with each other like that.”
— Clinic Nurse, Ugu District