HIV/AIDS SITUATION AMONG THE WAYUU IN COLOMBIA: SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND THEIR VIEWPOINT

HIV/AIDS has become visible among indigenous peoples in countries such as Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, in Latin American countries. In Colombia, even though cases have been identified, the epidemiology and the perception indigenous communities have of HIV/AIDS have been scarcely studied. This article analyzes the Wayuu people's perception of and response to HIV/AIDS from their socio-cultural realities and the knowledge they have about the virus. Our qualitative study presents the results of nine focus groups and 29 semi-structured interviews. The participants perceive HIV/AIDS as a "disease", and associate it with words such as: "incurable", "fatal", proper to "alijunas", not Wayuu, among others which help them to recognize the disease without naming it. In sum, for the Wayuu HIV/AIDS is still a disease beyond their understanding and which puts their "well-being" at risk. They live today with HIV/AIDS similarly to the way Western societies lived through it and other, at the time, unknown or misunderstood epidemics.