THIS IS MOM --- WITH JOHN'S 9/9 THROUGH 9/13 POSTINGS, CAME A WRITE-UP ON HIV/AIDS HE HAD DONE AT THE REQUEST OF A FRIEND FROM PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL. I THOUGHT I'D SHARE IT WITH YOU.
AIDS in Africa
Living in Mozambique, I have found that it's harder to find proof of the AIDS pandemic here in the middle of it. Back in the US, I could read every day about some study done in sub-Saharan African that confirmed the sorry state of affairs. But like being in the eye of a hurricane, the impending disaster is invisible and easily - if not necessarily - ignored.
Yet having been exposed only to the Western "let's beat this thing" mentality, I arrived fully expecting to see manifestations of the same philosophy. It surprised me to see graffiti on trees saying "AIDS exists". Was this the crux of the battle? Had AIDS so devastated a people that the main problem was admitting its very existence?
So I arrived in C--- in December of 2002, motivated but unprepared to help. A colleague in nearby H--- told me about the daily funerals going by his house - and how, when nobody says why they died, he knows it was because of AIDS. I saw the ubiquitous red ribbons, condoms being sold in every market, posters advocating getting tested, hospitals devoted to HIV prevention; in short, I saw the Western approach to fighting HIV/AIDS.
When I started teaching, I similarly took the Western approach. Get the information out, people will internalize the information out of fear, people will change their behavior. My lessons were well-received, and I was well-appreciated as a living, breathing resource, but it was clear I was just dancing in the eye of the hurricane.
I knew that around me, somewhere, 30% of the people in C--- were HIV-positive. Thirty percent. That means that, in a society where multiple sexual partners are not only accepted but encouraged, if you had two sexual partners, then you could almost bet that one of you three was HIV-positive.
The problem is not what behavior to change, but how to change it. People are stubborn in any culture, but Africa is more connected with their ancient culture than what an outsider sees. It is easy to see secondhand clothes, hear American music, see Portuguese-style homes, watch Japanese cars drive by, and eat foods produced by European companies. But what lies in the heart of most Africans is a uniform spirit that no Westerner can ever completely understand.
So here I stood, finally seeing the impending storm by going to funerals, testing centers, hospitals, traditional healers, and honestly speaking with my students. But all I was doing was seeing it. And it's all I can ever do, for I am forever American and I think American thoughts. I want to tell my students that they should just cut down on sexual partners and use condoms. But all I am doing is talking.
What I realized - and this word is important, REALIZED, as in my entire being stopped for a second and said "Aha!" - is that I am not the agent of change, but merely someone who can help it along. I realized that change, real change, comes from the inside. This is an idea I had known for quite a long time, but was too scared by the consequences when it came to fighting HIV/AIDS. The truth is, I had no idea how to harness this change and spirit in others.
Little by little, I am learning. I have a group of student activists who are growing pleasingly impatient. They want to make the mistakes I made, and faster than I made them. I'm letting them go in most directions, and only nudging them away from directions where they will just stall and lose their passion. And every so often, they find success where I found a dead end. After all, they are a part of the community and know how to communicate the message competently. They have a drive and desire to help their community and avoid what they see every day in their villages - the sick, the orphaned, the grieving.
These students are starting to see that the face of AIDS is both familiar and deceiving. They are starting to see that families, which are so critical to African life, are getting smaller and younger. So it is they who walk directly into the storm and fight it, while I get as close as I can.
