'Condom Granny" preaches prevention

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"Condom Granny" Jackie McPherson is well known in many Aboriginal communities for her down-to-earth workshops on how to prevent infection from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"I talk from the heart," says the grandmother from Manitoba's Little Black River First Nation.

"We want elderly people involved," McPherson explains about the fight against AIDS in Aboriginal communities.

"The younger generation need support to guide them in the right direction. A lot of them are crying out for education."

McPherson also talks about abstinence as an option for young people. She makes it clear that she is not promoting sex - just making sure that people are safe.

She has plenty of health education know-how, including 18 years' experience as the Community Health Representative in her own community. She's taught new CHRs at Health Canada's Medical Services Branch training sessions throughout Manitoba, and has helped train National Native Addiction and Drug Abuse Program workers.

The Medical Services Branch often calls on her as a valuable resource person and educator.

To date, Jackie has taught safe sex and condom use in more than 60 Aboriginal communities in Manitoba. It was a chief in one of these communities who five gave her the title "Condom Granny" back in 1989.

"After that, the name just stuck."

As "Condom Granny," she has also taken her workshops to the N.W.T., the Yukon and to Nova Scotia. She's shared her wisdom and experiences at AIDS conferences in Montreal, Vancouver and New Zealand. In February, she was invited to visit nine different communities in the James Bay area of Northern Quebec.

McPherson has often been asked back to the same community three and four times. She says her workshops have "great impact because they're real."

Part of that reality are the companions who travel with her and help her give the workshops: Aboriginal people who have the HIV virus, or who are in the first stages of AIDS.

"These people need support because of prejudiced attitudes toward them," Jackie stresses.

One of her main goals is to see communities carry on the workshops themselves. A strong and constant message is the only way to ensure HIV/AIDS prevention, and encourage community support and understanding for Aboriginal people who are HIV carriers or who suffer from AIDS.

Although she officially retired as a Community Health Representative in May last year, McPherson will continue to work where she is needed. She gets a lot of support from the local Medical Services Branch nurse, her community's chief and council and her own family of five children and nine grandchildren. One of her daughters is band manager, and her youngest daughter drives the community bus.

"I'm proud of them," she says, just as the many Aboriginal communities she has visited are proud of their own "Condom Granny", and her tireless work in HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

Jackie McPherson can be reached through the Little Black River First Nation, O'Hanley P.O. Manitoba, ROE 1K0. Tel: (204) 367-4411, Fax (204) 367-2000.