On the Road Again

June 29, 2012 - Mahwanke, Zimbabwe

While Juju convinces Aiden that she can carry him like African women carry their babies, I prepare for a day in the field:

Water bottle.
Snack.
Sunglasses.
Paper and pen.
Camera.
Toilet paper

I am on the road again.

This time, I am on my way to Mahwanke with Shungu (monitoring and evaluation guy) and Q to distribute 32 goats to some elderly Go-gos (grandmothers) in the middle of nowhere.  We talk easily as now-familiar scenery flashes by the side windows of the car.  I don't lift up my camera when a troop of baboons cross my path or when impala jump in front of the car startling the three of us.  Now, if a rhino or a giraffe were to make their presence known, I'll be all over that!

As we drive, we talk easily about ideas, about development, about hunger, about food security, about goats, rabbits, and chickes.  Shungu tells me that what AFCA does here is life-changing.  He is passionate as he tells me of the goat babies born in programs we've supported in the past and how the children are getting plumper due to good milk.  He is so excited to monitor the activity of various sites because he sees real change. Of all people, he should know.  He has worked all around the country and can easily tell you where villages are located, where the driest areas are, where the biggest hunger lurks.  He will also tell you with a broad smile about the places where hope lives and where grandmas dance at the birth of a new baby goat. 

Go-go Judith

After what seems like half the day, we arrive dusty and a bit parched.  It is a hovel of round huts, a space where dust and greenish-brown skinny trees meet under an intense blue sky.  There, waiting for us, are the grandmas.  They shake my hand in the funny three-part African handshake and some hug me.  Introductions are made and short speeches are called for.  It is obvious, though, that no one came for speeches.  They came for GOATS and we are going to give them some!

Now accustomed to the routine, I write out ear tags and hand them out to each woman as Q explains the details of what we'll be doing in the beautiful clicking sounds of N'debele.  They clap and smile, eager to get the party going.  Beautiful, colorful head coverings stand out against the blue of the sky and the heads bob up and down as they nod in agreement to Q's words.

Q readies the syringe and I get the tagging gun ready.  With a quick nod, goat by goat are brought out of the pen, are vaccinated, tagged and handed to the Go-gos. 

Go-go Judith is about 90 years old and she breaks out in a dance of joy right there, in front of us, missing teeth and all.  She is about six inches shorter than me (imagine that!) and dances ferociously. Her feet work up a pattern in the sand and dust. She grabs my hand and says "thank you" with such intensity that the sky cannot compete with her smile.  She is radiant. 

She is all any donor would ever need to see to feel that their work is valuable.   Please understand that you are a hero to many in a dusty land far from your own. 

You are a hero to me.

More importantly, you are a hero to Go-go Judith and the children she is raising as her own.

Stigma

One of the worst things about AIDS is that it’s not just a disease. It’s not just a biological phenomenon. It’s a degrading status symbol. Around the world, AIDS is associated with degenerate morality and shame. Once you have it, it becomes an unwanted social marker if you tell and a death sentence if you don’t—and all too often, it is both. The phrase ‘insult to injury’ could never has been more apt. HIV comes with a terrible weight on the victim’s shoulders—not just because knowing that something lethal lives inside you puts an ominous feeling in the pit of your stomach, but because you now have a humiliating social burden to carry as well.

It’s not hard to figure out why HIV and AIDS have a stigma associated with them. When HIV/AIDS first appeared in humans in the mid-1980s, the infected population was primarily composed of marginalized groups—sex workers, intravenous drug users, and homosexuals. In many cultures, each of these groups is associated (some unjustly) with immorality, and this association transferred to the virus. Even in America, upon hearing the world “AIDS,” the listener will often think “homosexual,” “immorality,” or “dirty.” Moreover, the primary mode of transmission is sex—and the more partners you have the greater your chances of contracting HIV. Needless to say, the moral connotation of AIDS is nearly invariably negative. Additionally, in rural areas of developing countries, indigenous beliefs and religions may regard AIDS as the result of sin or spiritual malaise, sharpening the social division HIV can lead to.

The irony is that the marginalized groups among whom AIDS initially spread are now responsible for a small percentage of HIV transmission, at least internationally. In Southern Africa, in countries such as Zimbabwe where we work, HIV/AIDS is a problem that entire societies face. But whether these societies are willing to face it depends on their ability to accept the stigma it carries. Sometimes, entire communities will baldly deny the presence or at least the pervasiveness of HIV. And that denial is deadly, because where available, testing means treatment, and treatment means unnecessary deaths are avoided.

So AIDS means so much more than physical pain. AIDS means ostracism. AIDS means humiliation. AIDS means secrets. AIDS means stigma. And it’s really, really terrible. You’d think at least that kids would escape the social wounds of AIDS, but in many places, they don’t. Even though all children who have HIV were either born with it or had it breastfed to them, that is, no choice of theirs led to their infection, many children with HIV or AIDS face discrimination and neglect because of their condition. Sometimes, HIV+ kids who were also orphaned by AIDS have no caretaker because no one is willing to take on a tainted child. And that is not okay.

The world must begin to see AIDS victims as God’s children, as sisters and brothers whom we are to suffer with, care for, and lift up. They are not tainted, they do not deserve ostracism; they are cherished and deserve love and care. The AFCA strives to provide that love and care, and YOU can be a part of that effort. Visit the main website to learn more.

Water, water - not everywhere

June 28, 2012 - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Cows in Riverbed

Water is such an immense issue, isn't it?  Where I am right this instant, in Bulawayo, water is scarse. Not as scarse as outside of the city, though, where we drive by countless dry riverbeds, all full of sand and the hoofprints of horses and the footprints of other animals.  I don't know where animals and people go to find water, but am told it can be 20 kilometers for a person to get water.  When they arrive at the water hole, the creek bed, the borehole, the well, they take time to get their water and then, they have 20 kilometers to get back home - this time carrying a 60 - 70lb jug of water on their head.  This is HOURS from a person's day.  HOURS of walking under the hot sun in search of something that we Americans take for granted.

Animals survive more from the liquid they get from leaves and stems they chew on, even though these, too, are shriveled and brown.  It is amazing to me to see how the local goats have adapted to life without much water, looking plump and healthy, even though they might not actually drink water but once a day, if that.  Imagine how much more milk they'd produce if they had actual water to drink?  This topic has been occupying my time these past two days, taking me to meetings with dam builders and borehole diggers.  If we can find a partner to help us in this particular area in the villages where we work, life would be much sweeter for many. I keep plodding forward, researching, calling, writing, visiting, pestering, begging, and pleading.  Someone, somewhere will answer.  I am sure of it. 

Bathoom in middle of no where

I don't know how many times we leave the water running while washing dishes. The water running so it gets hot enough for us to enjoy a shower. The water running while we reach for a toddler who needs his hands cleaned.

After two weeks of very controlled water supplies, I've learned to bathe both Aiden and Julia using the water from one stardard size bucket.  I can wash completely, hair and all, with less than half a bucket, reserving the other half to flush the toilet when the water is off.  Will we remember to be this careful when we return home and water seems to be flowing everywhere, at little expense? 

Another issue with water is the fact that without it, people can't grow gardens properly.  With this in mind, we are starting a small pilot project to see which vegetables grow best in these conditions, with which specific type of gardening (4x4, pallet, hanging, etc) types.  We are enlisting the help of ECHO, an organization in Florida, to record our findings and to access seeds suitable for drought conditions.  A big part of this project will be the use of manure from goats and chickens given to orphan families and tons of mulch to keep moisture in the ground.  Stay in touch to hear how this project progresses...I promise it will be interesting and we'll all learn a lot.

Where Did Two Weeks Go?

June 25, 2012 - Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Incredible Rock Formations in Matopos

Jodi has left us and returned home.  We will miss her, as she is kind, affable, knowledgeable, loving, and sweet.  She also has so many talents!  If she had stayed here all summer, she would not have run out of things she could teach and share with others.  I do hope she will return one day soon, but this time, with Ed.

straw used for roofing

This morning I meet with folks from Forgotten Voices (an NGO from PA who also work here, but in a different capacity than AFCA), introducing Q and ZOE to them.  I think the meeting goes well because we are like-minded in our approach to development and in how we work. I like these folks and what they do.  Hopefully, we'll be able to do something together soon. 

Work at the office went smoothly as I search for grants to help each of our programs.  I so wish that we could raise more funds through churches and schools, rather than through grants, as these take long to research, long to write, and longer to wait for a response.  But God knows what we need and if this is way we can help, then, I'll do it.  I am grateful for Yasmina in South Africa who is helping me compile a list of possible grantors an for Mary who is helping with with PA company info.  It is only through the work of many that a load gets lighter.  The next two weeks is dedicated solely to grant-writing, with some animal distributions mixed in the middle of the research and writing days. Then, the next week, I'd like to focus on writing various companies in PA who might be interested in supporting our work. Then, at some point, we are taking a week off to visit a large game park on our way to Victoria Falls.  Before you know it, our time here will be over and we'll find ourselves packing up to return home. 

Rainbow Lizard

It doesn't seem possible that tomorrow, we've been here two weeks.  Where has time gone?  So far, we've distributed 116 goats and 84 chickens, attended church twice, washed clothes four times, consulted with two other groups on how to write grants and how to fundraise for projects, gone to a game park twice, gone to a b-b-q, seen rainbow lizards, met countless new people, gone food shopping 6 -7 times (we buy a little at a time so it stays fresh), Morgan has had one sleep over, Juju has gone out with friends to a game park, we've had four children over to play, and we've lost electricity and water half the time we've been here.  What a trip it's been! 

Last weekend while visiting another part of the Matopos game park, we got out of the car to look for hippos at a lake.  The water table was very, very low, we everyone made it down to the area where water would normally be.  Instead, we were walking on dry sand between large puddles, looking for the hippos.  Suddendly, we saw a baby crocordile not too far away and while we all stared and took photos of it, it occured to me that the mama must be somewhere close by.  So, we pile back in the car and drive off.  Turning back, we read a sign...see it here.

Oops!!

My Heart is Warm

Today is gorgeous.  It is just me and the young ones - Aiden and Juju.  Morgan is out with friends for a sleepover and Eric and Jodi are at another training.  I have cleaned, washed clothes, fed four kids, played with the same kids, made potato salad for a bar-b-q we've been invited to tonight, caught up on some emails, and overall, had a busy morning. 

One thing that makes today gorgeous is that face that we have two little friends over - Jonathan is four and Anesu is eight.  They belong to my friends Sugu and KC (I can't pronounce his given name) and their parents had something to do today, so they came to me.  Having never met them, I wondered how things would go, as they are here all day long.  I shouldn't have wondered.

The minute (THE MINUTE) they arrive, Aiden takes Jonathan by the hand and they scamper off to look for frogs and to play with dirt and cars.  No need for introductions when you've found a friend, it seems. Juju and Anesu hit if off just as quickly and have spent a large part of the day playing with a plastic set of kitchen play dishes the Stambolies lent us, feeding me leaves, mud and berry juice. 

The thing that definitely makes the day gorgeous is hearing Juju and Anesu giggling and talking.  I  heard this:

Juju: "we could be twins, you know."
Anesu: "oh, i know!  my mom said your family is pink, but iI think you are peach-colored."
Juju: "even though I am peach-colored, we still are just alike, don't you think?"
Anesu: "definitely.  I think we must share a birthday because we really could be twins"

They build a fort in the loft and I hear them practicing jokes on each other.  They laugh uproarisouly at the silliest jokes.  They complain of their brothers but decide they should keep them.  They read together.  They go back outside to cook another meal, but now their names are Elizabeth and Rosie, the twin cooks.  They decided that their birthday is April 13 (Anesu was born in April and Juju was born on a 13th day).

Jonathan thinks it is hilarious that I call him "buddy" and he laughs each time I say that.  Aiden tells him that "buddy" means "friend" and Jonathan giggles more.  Those two boys eat more than the girls and they play harder and faster.  They gave up finding frogs and moved on to hockey.

I have let Morgan take my camera with her, otherwise, I'd be posting photos of the four new friends.  I envision many days of them playing together and I like what I see.

First Eric, Then Tanya

June 21 - Mayezane, Zimbabwe

 From Eric Weaver

Jodi Teaching with Q

Today Jodi, Q and I went to a workshop in Mayezane, Zimbabwe.  Mayezane is located about 2 ½ hours outside of Bulawayo.  A third of the trip was on paved roads but the remaining 2/3 was on sandy dirt roads through a very arid area looking much like Nevada or southern Texas.  (It totally amazes me how Q was able to find this place.)  We arrived at a small school house where about 200 kids attend school, some of them walking up to 10 km to get there.

This community, like many others in Zimbabwe, have been hit hard by drought and HIV.  Many of the women in attendance are guardians of children how have been orphaned as the result of AIDS.  The work shop today was on how to properly take care of goats.  Jodi led this workshop for about 20 individuals, mostly women.  She talked about warning signs that an animal is sick, checking goats for signs of parasites, as well as the many uses that a goat can be for a family, including the use of manure for fertilizer, milk, meat, and for some goats, the use of their wool to make yarn for rugs or clothing.  The group was definitely interested in the what Jodi was saying, actively taking notes and asking good questions. 

Eric and his timeline

Taking Notes

After Jodi had finished there was some extra time before lunch was served to the group and I did a small timeline with the community, looking at major events in the life of the community.  The oldest individual that attended the workshop was born in Mayezane in 1921.  Taking this as our starting point, we looked at what years were good years and what years there was drought and parasites or other challenges.  Each of these time periods were marked on the chalk board.  As these events were marked out, one could definitely notice a cycle which includes years of drought and good years (with more droughts in recent years).  Using this information, we discussed how as a community they could grow stronger and be better prepared for the drought years.  The community brought up the use of dams, drilling of boreholes so as to have a better water supply, better farming techniques such as conservation farming was also discussed.  Dams would be a major expense, borehole wells are expensive but may be more affordable if the community comes together to pitch in, while a change of farming techniques would be low cost and very doable.  Each of these alone do not provide a total solution, but the combination of a borehole and new farming principles would make a positive difference.  The idea of this exercise was to recognize that there are cycles and that things are changing.  The community as a whole and as individuals need  to take steps to change and adapt so that they are less affected by the changing climate.

After  a lunch of sadsza (a corn based  thick porridge), a fried chicken leg and a little bit of green stuff we hit the road back to Bulawayo.  On the way back we stopped at another village and were informed that AFCA chickens were on their way to be distributed (we thought they were coming next week).  The chickens weren’t there yet so we continued on.  We didn’t get more than a half hour down the road and when we saw a pickup truck coming down the road with a cage full of chickens on the back.  We turned around and headed back to distribute them.  There were 85 chickens to be distributed with each family receiving 5 chickens (4 hens and 1 rooster).  The idea is that in a years time the family will give 5 offspring  back to ZOE who will redistribute them to another family who are guardians of orphaned children due to HIV.   These chickens will provide valuable protein through meat and eggs they produce. 

We left the chicken distribution and headed back home arriving after 6.  A long day but filled with joy of having been able to take part in the work of AFCA and ZOE as they seek to help those orphaned by AIDS.   

From Tanya

The kids and I stay at home today, cleaning and preparing food, knowing we will loose electricity and water by noon.  I crack down by nine in the morning and work furiously on my computer, cranking out letters to donors and writing updates for reports.  I search for grant opportunities and try to connect with potential partners who might want to help us in our work here.  Morgan is surprised at how much can get done when I am under pressure.

The kids take a bunch of silly photos and then they, too, get serious and do some schoolwork.  I am pretty strict with them keeping up with some reading and writing and math.  Morgan is working on some algebra that boggles the mind.  I sure hope she doesn't need any help from me because, sadly, I am not able to do the stuff she is doing.  I just pat her on the back and encourge her to keep going.  Our host, Helene, said she can help if needed, so I am grateful for that.

After lunch, Morgan and I go downtown to check out the shops and to get our bearings. Helene takes us and introduces us to Mohammad (the pharmacist), Paddy (the green grocer), Shorty (the photocopy man), to the avocado man, the tangerine man, to Costs (the baker), and to a bunch of other people who all know and love her.  It is a neat place, this Bulawayo! 

The kids stay at home, playing with the Stambolie kids, having a blast.  They find a red frog and chase each other with it, squealing and laughing.  They run through the garden, get dirty and tired.  By the time I get home, it is time to put them into the bathtub because they look like street urchins.  Then, I try my hand at homemade tortillas, using mealiemeal, which is the only corn meal we can find here.  They come out pretty good and we create a pseudo-mexian meal with the "tortillas", beans and sausage I had cooked up before, grated cheese, greek yogurt (instead of sour cream), and home made guacamole from the avocados we purchased in town.  We eat voraciously when Jodi and Eric return from their training and share with John and Helene.  They rave about the mexican food and I laugh, telling them that it is more like a mexican dream, not the reality.  They love it, though, so we leave it at that.

Injustice In the Price System for Second Generation AIDS Drugs

Around the turn of the century, a wave of activism combined with the generic production of AIDS-combating drugs significantly lowered the price of first-line treatment for HIV. Now, because the price of a standard antiretroviral (ARV) regimen hovers around $160 per person per year, the majority of AIDS victims around the world have access to this baseline version of ARV. This is an amazing reduction from the $10,000-15,000 range of the late 1990s. However, even the lowered price is prohibitively expensive for many developing countries, and unfortunately, international trade law still prevents a straightforward price reduction of ALL types of ARV.

Second-line ARV drugs, developed after the less sophisticated first-line medications, have less potential for toxic side-effects and will defeat strains of HIV that have become immune to baseline ARV. Though they are less critical than first-line ARV, they are needed in the fight against AIDS for those victims for whom first-line treatment won’t work. The WTO’s 1994 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of International Property Rights (TRIPS) granted protection to all antiretroviral medications for twenty years after they are patented. The first-line medications’ protections have already expired, and even before they had, foreign companies and governments had broken the rules of TRIPS and produced generic first-line ARV.

The better performing, second-line drugs don’t have the same protection, causing a great disparity between the price of baseline and second-line ARV. The days of $10,000-yr ARV are over, but because under TRIPS patents still protect the later medications, a second-line regimen costs $550 per year in low-income countries. The price is only this low because the international wave of advocacy which accompanied the production of generic first-line medication in the early 2000s induced the major pharmaceutical giants to operate with a tiered price system—that is, it offers prices to countries on the basis of per capita income. Drugs are cheaper in poor countries than in rich countries, but not cheap enough to be affordable. Considering that a billion people around the world earn less than a dollar a day, and that HIV is concentrated among these people, pricing drugs at $550 is little different from a death sentence for thousands of HIV+ poor people for whom first-line ARV doesn’t work. Considering also that middle-income countries with vast income inequality, such as India, China, and most importantly South Africa, must pay an even higher price, the poor in those countries are even less able to receive second-line treatment.

Governments can legally issue compulsory licenses domestically for generic drug production, so that a limited number of non-brand second-line ARV can be produced, but doing so comes with severe diplomatic consequences, usually from the United States. In 2007, Thailand allowed the generic production of pharmaceutical giant Abbott’s brand medicine Kaletra, a second-line ARV drug. The US retaliated by placing Thailand on the “priority watch list” for trade, and Abbott removed seven other very valuable ARV products from Thailand. This was detrimental to Thailand’s national health and economy, but the country’s bravery did lower the price of this particular type of second-line ARV for the rest of the world.

Much more international advocacy is needed to give all variations of ARV a just price. All people deserve proper treatment for their medical conditions. For more details about the history of antiretroviral drugs, read the a fuller account at http://www.avert.org/generic.htm. And find out more about how you can help on the AFCA website!