On November 28th Milica Andrić and I participated in the HIV/AIDS bus action; our route was between Novi Sad and Ledinci.  As we rode the bus to Ledinci and back, we were responsible for distributing condoms and informational fliers and booklets to passengers as they entered and rode the bus.

Initially, Milica took the role of introducing who were and what we were doing, but it was not so effective because people automatically didn’t want to listen to what she had to say. We adapted right away and realized that the best way to go about doing this was to just hand people the materials. If they were interested, they would ask questions or ask for more condoms.  At times, there were riders who refused to take what we were distributing, but that reaction was not too common. 

The first ride to Ledinci was about establishing a technique that we could use for the other rides to and from Novi Sad. On our way back to Ledinci, Milica and I positioned ourselves right next to the entrance and gave people the condoms and information as they got on the bus.  If we missed passengers who entered from the middle or the back doors, Milica made sure to walk to that section of the bus and distribute the materials.  This latter method was the one we used for the second ride to and from Ledinci.  By the time we returned to Novi Sad for the second time and finished the bus action, we had distributed about 200 condoms, 200 fliers, and 150 mini booklets.

Dominique Ibekwe