reflections from the islands...

two weeks on the ssese islands, it seems, was all i needed to get my feet back on the ground and regain a sense of normalcy in my stretched out little brain. i feel like the more i try to understand and make opinions about things i'm encountering, the more complex and "gray" everything becomes. like everything in life, hey?

i've been thinking alot about HIV in africa and wanted to share some inspired ideas/stories that have come through me...

- as the west fights to keep HIV positive people alive, poor families report that they are becoming increasingly poor. before, when a relative was sick with HIV, the family would work to support him/her for several months, maybe a few years. now, sometimes these families go deeper and deeper into poverty as they support their relative through years of ongoing health highs and lows. some of these sick people are kept alive but donations of drugs, but they can't work and become a drain to their family's resources. some families believe that the west is trying to hold them in poverty by prolonging the sickness of their family members.

- some argue that the longer we keep an infected person alive, the more probable the virus is to reach other hosts, whether through accidental exposure or sexual contact. again, some wonder if by keeping infected individuals alive longer, we are increasing the potential spread of the disease.

- we all know that hollywood movie "the constant gardener"; well in case you believed there was any fiction to that story, let me assure you that HIV drugs are still being distributed with obligations to be a guinea pig for other random drugs that can't be ethically tested in other places. one family has a 12-year-old daughter that is HIV positive but she won't take any ARVs because the other drugs she has to take with them make her too sick...

- many of the fisherman near where i've been staying report that every time they have an HIV test, the result is different. positive one week, negative the next, positive the next... they think the whole disease is a scam.

- one of the boda boda drivers that i spent a lot of time with was really interested to hear my opinion about condoms. he said that years ago, they all learned the ABCs of sex: Abstinence is best, Be faithful if you do have sex, and finally use Condoms. since a certain western leader was re-elected and a certain republican initiative was put in place, donor money to HIV education programs in uganda cannot be used if any education involves discussion of condoms, rather than abstinence. this means that now they learn the ABs (without the C), there are no adverts discussing condoms anymore and where once there were free condoms being distributed all over the country, there are now empty baskets and no visitors with latex gifts. since many ugandans aren't educated in the direct link between bush's re-election and their health, they now assume that condoms must have been discovered to be faulty since they aren't around anymore. now they believe that condoms were a fad and that they should just get on with sex they way they used to...

- bush's abstinence campaign is stellar in so many ways! the city is plastered with billboards framing women as raging sex machines that need to learn self control, and truly there is no mention of condoms in sight. abstinence campaigns do alot of good if you're a woman with an HIV positive partner, in a society where women have no control over their sexual rights; or if your husband has several other wives; or if you're a woman who is raped regularly but doesn't know it's not right.

- christian religious groups seem to me to be one of the biggest obstacles to erradicating aids in uganda. how's that for a bold statement? this country is dripping with blind believers that jesus governs every last reality they face. there seems to be a real barrier to health as believers take no responsibility for their actions and instead have faith that jesus will protect who should be protected, and not protect those who should become ill. and don't get me started on all the other scams that churches are up to around here...

- one man in the town where i just was, is a hard-working man who practices HIV prevention, is faithful to his ONE wife, and works diligently every day to earn his living. he barely scrapes by. his neighbour is HIV positive, sexually promiscuous, drinks and smokes, and has more children than he knows about. this neighbour has been adopted by an aid organization, so his life is paid for, his kids are sent to school for free, his food and drugs are all taken care of, etc. the hard-working man who is HIV-negative suggests that maybe he should just try to get AIDS so he can get some help and just live with the drugs, since they will probably help him beat the average life expectancy anyhow! and the more HIV positive kids you have, the more donor money you receive...so he might as well get reproducing too!

okay. so i am left with lots more questions and no answers yet. but i'm certainly beginning to wonder if "help the aids victims in africa" is actually a campaign that instead is keeping africa on its knees. are we keeping the sickly alive and draining the potential vigour of a fighting people?

i'm going to jump back into uganda today and keep trying to figure this stuff out...

love to you all!