Last day of class, placement, and the French Music Festival

If you are reading this on Facebook, please click "View Original Post" near the comment box below.

Today was our last day of classes at UB. Next week we will begin our internships with NGOs. More on that later.

Today in class we heard a few speakers, but we first played a "game" that simulated the effects that HIV/AIDS has on the lives of the affected. We began the game with beads representing our grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, sister, brother, and best friend. As we went from table to table, we rolled a die which assigned us a fate such as "grandmother dies of old age," "sister is infected with HIV," "father dies of AIDS," "mother dies of malaria," etc. It was very difficult to put beads away or change the color of beads to indicate infection.

Sometimes, one of the numbers on the die would indicate that "life goes on as normal." This was actually the most difficult part of the exercise. Life can't go on as normal after a family member or friend dies or is infected with HIV. Even in places like Botswana, where anti-retrovirals are readily available and the lifespan of an HIV positive person is drastically expanded, taking drugs everyday that can have irritating to debilitating side-effects is not "life goes on as normal." Even with the best counseling services available, losing a family member--maybe the breadwinner for the family--is not "life goes on as normal."

Overall, the game was an excellent way to display how deeply HIV affects the lives of everyone, not just the infected.

After our classes, we had a meeting to discuss our placements for internships. Because there has been lot of shuffling around, and because BONELA decided not to participate in the program, I have been placed at the only women's shelter in Gaborone. I am looking forward to the experience for myself. However, I am concerned that I will not be able to help them enough. I hope that my experience in organization and communications along with my cultural anthropology perspective, I will be able to help them with the logistics of the shelter--even if I am not trained to counsel the women themselves.

We spent the afternoon and evening at the French Music Festival. Contrary to our initial assumptions, this was not a Festival for French Music. Rather, it was a music festival, sponsored by the French embassy, a french school, and other companies. There was a wide variety of music, as well as crafts and food for sale. The music really showed how cosmopolitan Gaborone can be: there was a heavy metal band with a black African singer and a blues band made up of white South Africans--not what you'd expect! My favorite performance was by Mogwana, a traditional dancing group. The food was delicious and I was able to buy some gifts for my family, so all-in-all, it was a very good night!

The Mogwana dancers were very intense and expressive.

"Hey Whitey!"

If you are reading this on Facebook, please click "View Original Post" by the comment box below.

I am adding some pictures to my blogs (backdated), so be sure to check them out!

Today we began to delve more intensively into issues regarding HIV in Botswana in addition to our Setswana lessons. Dr. V. Chipfakacha from SADC (Southern African Development Community) came to speak to us about his approach to HIV/AIDS. In addition to an overview of what HIV/AIDS is and how it is affecting southern Africa, Dr. Chipfakacha gave us some special insight into the disease in this context.

He had us begin by making a tree. At the roots, we wrote the causes of HIV: poverty, mother-child transmission, sharing needles in drug users, unsafer sex practices (he stresses that there is no "safe sex"), lack of sex education, gender inequality/violence, etc. At the trunk, we wrote effects: girls forfeit education to run households, gender inequality, rape as treatment, stigma/discrimination, morbidity/mortality, poverty/lower productivity.

Amongst the branches, he made us put flowers. The flowers, he said, were the positives of HIV. We sat silent for a while--we often do not think that there can possibly be a positive to something like HIV/AIDS. However, after a little coaxing, we did come up with four flowers: women's empowerment, a multi-sectoral response, multi-billion dollar industry, and bringing countries together against a common threat.

With these causes, effects, and "flowers" of HIV in mind, we went on to discuss more about the disease. Dr. Chipfakacha stressed that "mass killer are nothing new to Africa." Malaria is endemic and still kills about as many people as AIDS in Africa. Mass killers are also nothing new to the world: he gave examples like the AD 541-542 plague in Constantinople where 10,000 people died daily and the Black Death where 25 million people died in three years from AD 1347-1350 and 137 million died by AD 1700. The pattern that we must observe, he argues, is that "epidemics follow development."

Earlier, I wrote that Gaborone's growth contrasted starkly with the HIV pandemic. Understanding that this is a normal pattern helps me to comprehend how the fastest growing economy in Africa can also have the highest HIV prevalence rates.

We also discussed the nature of germs. A germ of any kind cannot kill off ALL of its hosts--because if it doesn't have hosts, it will die too! This is why epidemics follow an S curve. They get bigger and bigger, but eventually level off.

These two understandings are vital to redefining our views of and approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention, education, treatment, etc.

Dr. T. Maudeni came to speak to us as well. She has intensively studied sociocultural factors that place males at risk of HIV/AIDS in Botswana. She is a UB professor, but the research was funded by OSSREA (Organization for Social Science research in Easter and southern Africa.) She discussed the seven main factors that she found in her study:

1. Males learn about sex from peers and media
2. Sugar-Mummy Syndrome
3. Absence of community and family based socialization agents
4. Inadequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS
5. Views about vulnerability
6. Views about sexual relations with females
7. Silence of the family

In her brief discussion of "ways forward," she noted that empowerment of families and engaging teachers are important steps to combat these vulnerabilities in men.

Both of our speakers were very informative, but our day was long and we were ready for some fun! We went back to Riverwalk to do some shopping (I got jelly flats for P17.50--about $3--each) and to have dinner. We ended up eating at the same restaurant that we ate at in South Africa. It was just as good the second time around. I did realize to a larger extent the political incorrectness of the restaurant's Native American logo. It would never fly in the US!

Also, I should note that on the way to the mall, some of the men waiting for Combis decided to yell, "White people! White people!" at us. As we continued along, they yelled, "Hey Whitey!" at us. We are REALLY starting to feel what it's like to be a part of the very small minority!

Botswana Bound!

As many already know, I will traveling to Botswana this summer to participate in an Ohio University and University of Botswana sponsored program on the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. I have decided to keep a blog to share my experiences whenever internet access is available.

My stay in Botswana will last roughly one month. We will be departing from Columbus on June 13th and flying to Atlanta for the connecting flight to Johannesburg where we will spend the night in South Africa before going on to Botswana. On the return flight, we will be leaving Johannesburg on July 16th, flying back to Atlanta, and arriving home in Columbus on July 17th.

The first week or so in Botswana will consist of an orientation to the country, the HIV/AIDS situation there, and the governmental and non-governmental programs that have been instated to deal with the disease. Although--thanks to British colonialism--English is the official language of Botswana, we will additionally be working on learning some Setswana, the language spoken by the majority of Batswana. (Batswana is the plural of Motswana, the nationality of Botswana.)

The second and third weeks will be spent volunteering for a non-governmental organization (NGO) working towards an HIV/AIDS-related goal in Botswana. We will not know our NGO assignments until we arrive in the country, but I have already ranked my top four choices. Clicking on the links will take you to their websites.

1. Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS (BONELA)
2. SOS Children's Village
3. Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Program (BOCAIP)
4. Botswana Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (BONEPWA)

The fourth and final week in Botswana will be time for traveling and seeing the country. Botswana is a popular destination for safaris. Experiencing the scenery and wildlife is a priority during the last week.

As I said earlier, accessing the internet regularly may be difficult in Botswana. I will do my best to update whenever I can. Please feel free to leave comments as I would greatly appreciate your feedback on what I write.

This blog can be found at http://Botswana-MJH.blogspot.com/

I can be contacted by email at mh213106@ohio.edu