Road trip with Sue and Martin, for our research/intervention site visit. This is the LKIM (Fisheries Authority) fishing jetty up in Kuantan - the biggest and busiest in the peninsula. We overslept (!) and missed the pre-dawn chaos of fishing boats docking in and off-loading their catch for the day. Managed to catch the tail end of business though, and it was impressive. All three of us left stinking so badly of fish, we could only get rid of the smell three showers later!
Why were we there? Because initial research through the Needle & Syringe Exchange Programme indicate that the rate of injecting drug use is very high among the fishing community here, and with it comes a high HIV prevalence rate. Sue and Martin is setting up the research centre here at the jetty (our office is just upstairs from all this).
This trip was more than just a site visit for me. A few posts back, I was seriously doubting my passion for this work, with all the drama and politics that I was getting caught up in. This was the reality check I needed. The real thing. Why we do what we do.
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