Hardship, Public Health, Heshima, Lube and Problem Trees: Forces Shaping Grassroots Organizing Against HIV Among Same-Sex Attracted Men in Dar es Salaam

This chapter aims to identify the role of human and non-human actors in the emergence and expansion of grassroots organizing for HIV prevention among same-sex attracted men in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It draws on ethnographic fieldwork, including long-term participant observation in community-based groups and interviews with grassroots activists, community members, health care workers, community leaders, policy makers and planners involved in programming focusing on same-sex attracted men and their HIV and health-related challenges. It discusses ten actors influential in grassroots organizing: (1) hardship, (2) HIV, (3) the field of public health, (4) men’s sexual practices, (5) the concept of heshima (dignity, honour, respect, and courtesy) (6) the concept of key populations, (7) sexual lubricants, (8) religion, (9) funding agencies, and (10) money. It describes how grassroots actors in Dar es Salaam have been able to adapt and multiply their community-based work in spite of significant challenges. By drawing on the values inherent in heshima, they have found allies in unexpected places (e.g., in the church), practised reasoned subversion (e.g., by establishing alternative lube supply lines), and created widespread community awareness and action through dialogical education.