One counsellor’s passion for helping people

HOMECHAND Mohan is the lone HIV/AIDS tester and counsellor in Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne); as such, he serves the entire region.

The 23-year-old is in high demand given his certification and expertise, so he leads a very busy life; he is never off duty.

He works at the Port Mourant Hospital every Tuesdays and is also at the New Amsterdam Hospital, New Amsterdam Family Health Centre, and Skeldon Hospital.

Mohan told the Pepperpot Magazine that he became motivated after he saw an advertisement in the newspapers and decided to check it out.

He did so at the Roadside Baptist Church in his area and soon started off as a peer educator and he liked it so much, he underwent the relevant training in the city and enrolled himself in several courses.

He was successful and began working at the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association(GRPA). He served there for two years and while there he was encouraged to participate in more training, including Phlebotomy (blood sample collection).

He also assisted as a Phlebotomist at the Skeldon Hospital on a weekly basis.

“I then was transferred to CDC and in 2014 I began working with the Ministry of Public Health; so I have been in the system for the past 14 years,” he said.

Mohan related that in 2015 when he first encountered HIV test results from a young person who tested positive; it was most heartbreaking, because she had contracted the virus through mother- to-child transmission, but her mother never knew.

“I does try to talk to people all the time — no matter if it takes hours — until they are calm and can think rationally and [I] also assist them in getting the necessary care and treatment of a facility of their choice,” he said.

In addition to HIV/AIDS testing and counselling service, Mohan also tests for seven sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) and participates in the Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) Programme across the region.

A regular day for him is hours of in-depth counselling with patients and with the absence of HIV/AIDS navigators in the region, he has to function as one. This entails ensuring that patients enrol in a Care and Treatment Centre within the region after they have been diagnosed; it also entails ensuring that patients follow up on their treatment as well.

Mohan told the Pepperpot Magazine that the USAID Global Fund programme visited his facility and deemed it the second best in the country and he is working assiduously to make sure it becomes the best.

“We are always trying to upgrade our services to make patients comfortable and it is serious work we do, because we have to ensure patients’ confidentiality; but some people are ignorant of the facts relating to HIV/AIDS and we need to make more sensitisation exercises to enlighten folks,” Mohan said.

He stated that since he is so busy within the region, he ‘has an abundance of patients. However, it doesn’t bother him and even after hour, people would show up at his residence and we could assist them in any way possible, since he understands the seriousness of his work and what it entails.

“I like what I do and I think that is what motivates me to assist people and try to get them on the road to recovery. With the proper care and treatment, people can have a long life if they take their medication,” he said.

Although Mohan is single and has no children it doesn’t bother him, since he is aware that he wants to serve his community to bring healthcare to the people who need it the most.