-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Durban AIDS Conference
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 08:31:13 -0400
From: "Beverly, David (David)"

Hello,

Jeff is a friend I met in Brussels this past Spring 2000.  He is a
teacher at a small university in the Tokyo area.  I think you will find
this personal account of the AIDS conference informative and
challenging.  He has captured the cultural  challenges that cause many
of the survival issues in Africa.  One way to support work against AIDS
is continue to educate where ever when ever possible.

Regards,
Dave Beverly


> ----------
> From: 	Jeffrey Carter[SMTP:jeffreyc@hpo.net]
> Sent: 	Saturday, July 15, 2000 9:56 AM
> To: 
> Subject: 	Durban AIDS Conference
> 
> Hello Everyone,
>  
> I usually don't think about sending mass mailings, I prefer to keep my
> correspondence personal, however, I felt that I would like to tell
> everyone a little about what I have just experienced.  Most of you did not
> know, I think, that I was going to South Africa to the international AIDS
> Conference.  I had never been to such a conference before, and I had never
> been to Africa either.  It was a huge conference, 12,000 people.  One
> third of the attendants were from Africa, most of the others from Europe
> and North America, and a lesser percentage from Asia and Oceania, anyway,
> the numbers of people were overwhelming.  I went by myself, and I am not
> very good at networking.  I am often overwhelmed by large numbers of
> strangers, but the conference was a huge success for me, and, I think, for
> most others in attendance.
>  
> I went mainly to research the plight of Africa's Aids orphans, huge
> numbers, unbelievable numbers, of children are growing up without parents,
> loosing their teachers in school and relying on poverty stricken
> communities and extended families to provide for them.  The common concept
> of orphans in the United States is of children put into mass institutions
> and raised by well meaning religious or charity groups.  Otherwise, they
> are given to foster parents, who  are, in general unrelated paid
> "volunteers".  Generally, unstable relationships and revolving assignments
> result in the most difficult circumstances for healthy development.  
>  
> In Africa every opportunity is being taken to keep the children within
> traditional extended family units.  The African community, in general, is
> patrilineal, and the father's family takes responsibility for orphaned
> children.  Traditionally, this system has worked relatively well, however,
> it is now under enormous stress as millions of African men and their wives
> and many of their children are dying.  Grandparents are undertaking the
> responsibility, but this is the reverse of traditional lifestyle.  The
> elderly rely on the younger generation to take care of them as there is no
> social security system, as a result, the elderly and the young are living
> in extremely precarious circumstances.  
>  
> Perhaps many people have read about the conference in their news papers.
> There is definitely a failure of leadership in the African government
> system.  I personallly don't think this is an isolated African response.
> It is easy to criticize the system, but it must be remembered that the
> American government responded extremely slowly to its own crisis.  In
> addition, it has to be remembered that the African continent was
> mismanaged for a century by colonial powers, their is no reason to condemn
> governments that have no historically constructive models to follow
> especially in dealing with an unprecedented problem.  In particular, it is
> necessary to avoid a sense of racism in any criticism, the problem of bad
> government in Africa is historical and, in my opinion, can be traced to a
> large extent to colonialism.
>  
> I do not mean to say that no criticism can be made.  It is essential that
> the governments shift priorities toward limiting the spread of the
> disaster.  In particular the ridiculous confusion over the connection
> between HIV and AIDS is ridiculous, and hiding behind the excuse of
> poverty as a cause rather than attacking the health crisis directly, is
> regrettable.  I was also extremely shocked to discover that almost no
> subSaharan country has compulsory education.  Even South Africa, which
> gained its independence in 1994 does not have compulsory elementary
> education.  Costs for school fees are completely private, in addition,
> poverty stricken families are required to invest in school uniforms to
> send their children to schools... by custom, and the regrettable lack of
> government funding for schools, results in a heavy burden for families.
> As a result, there is poor understanding of how to contain the epidemic,
> as well as the lack of skills, and economic resources on the community
> levels to combat the problem Africa now faces.  
>  
> SubSaharan Africa has a strong tradition of believing in such concepts as
> witchcraft, shamans, or what the developed cultures might consider extreme
> superstition.  It is apparently true that there is a common belief in
> South Africa that sex with a virgin will cure AIDS, as a result there is
> an increasing problem with child sexual abuse.  It is essential that the
> governments of South Africa work toward educating their populations
> immediately.  Traditional medicines are relied on to manage the health
> problems of nearly everyone.  There are many initiatives being undertaken
> to combine combine constructive traditional medical care into the fight
> against Aids.  Uganda is leading Africa in its reduction of HIV spread.
> It has undertaken aggressive actions in combatting infection with health
> campaigns, distribution of condoms, and has instituted universal
> compulsory education at primary levels.  It is an example for other
> nations to follow.  However, the stigmatization of AIDS infected people is
> widespread.  Though superstition, non-scientific thinking, and alternative
> medical systems are not limited to Africa, there is an immediate need for
> education and prevention to battle the pandemic.
>  
> A major problem is the traditional patriarchical system in Africa.  Men
> hold all the power, women are expected to obey.  Women have no power to
> insist on safer sex with their partners.  Rape is relatively common,
> apparently.  There is also a widespread tradition of polygamy as well as
> the expectation and acceptance of men to be promiscuous.  There is a wide
> spread tradition of postpartum sexual abstinence for married couples,
> which lasts anywhere from 6 months to two years.  It is recorded that even
> polygamous men have casual lovers outside of the marriage bond.  Another
> important cause of the AIDS crisis in Africa is related to the very
> frequent need for men to migrate to work sites.  THey often live in
> dormitories surrounded by sex workers.  They return home at varying
> intervals, some only once a year, which results in abandoned wives also
> frequently having extramarital affairs.  The high prevalence of
> opportunistic disease and STDs is a serious, poverty based, cause of the
> spread of HIV in the populoation.  The combined conditions of cultural
> disempowerment of women, expected sexual promiscuity among men, the taboo
> of talking about sexual matters (especially among women), lack of
> education, poverty, worker migration, and the current dislocations of
> civil war and violence in much of Africa are spreading the disease
> relentlessly.  
>  
> Perhaps many of these things sound disastrous or unacceptable to us, but I
> hope you will once again remember that cultural practices are developed in
> response to group experience and tradition.  Our own belief in universal
> education and women's rights are relatively new, and the latter, in
> particular, is still in its developmental stages.  In addition, the wealth
> and advanced medical systems of the developed countries are also  products
> of recent history.  We must never forget that developed countries have
> long histories of warfare and cruelty.
>  
> It is a bleak picture, but I was in South Africa and I felt hope.  I know
> it sounds strange, but at such a huge, impersonal conference, there was a
> sense of real hope.  I think it was the gathering of 12,000 people who
> want to make a difference, who want to work for solving the problem, who
> want to work toward changing the conditions that are ravaging the African
> continent.  It felt that there are possiblities, there are things that can
> be done. It was key at the conference that much of native African culture
> is extremely valuable, but there are extremely important aspects that need
> to change, or adapt, in order to solve the problems.  Especially, the care
> of orphans must be undertaken within their communities, allowing children
> to grow up in connection to their cultures in order to help them develop
> strong identities and personal relationships, to the greatest extent
> possible.
>  
> There is no question that African culture must take important and
> unprecedented steps to solve its problems.  As an interculturalist, I
> believe that cultures must adapt or die.  This is certainly the case in
> SubSaharan Africa.  From what we read in the newspapers, it is easy for us
> to believe that these cutures are preparing to emolate themselves, but I
> don't think they will.  Humans seek to survive, that means their cultures
> act in the same way.  
>  
> It is certain that a cure must be found, or this disease will ravage the
> world.  Already, it has reversed all the development gains made in South
> Africa in the past 30 years.  It threatens Southeast Asia and the former
> Soviet Union.  It is evident that rates of infection in the United States
> may start increasing due to the false belief that drug therapies make
> survival possible are putting the disease on a level with diabetes.
> Current drug therapies cannot be undertaken for more than a few years and
> many people cannot undertake it at all due to toxicities.  In addition,
> there is a measurable "safe sex fatigue" that seems to be leading many
> toward greater risk behaviors. The hope is entirely on a cure.  However,
> there is no immediate hope, perhaps ten years, but there are no bets among
> the scientists.  If the spread of HIV is not contained, the development
> gains of the world can easily be reversed for all of us.
>  
> The closing ceremony was addressed by Nelson Mandela, It was an extemely
> emotional experience for me.  His message was exactly that the resources
> of South Africa must be put to work in containing the AIDS pandemic, but
> it is necessary for help to come from every corner of the world and for
> differences of opinion be put aside in the battle for ending the crisis.
> I hope all of you will try to do something to help in this disaster.  I
> have no suggestions, but I think each person is able to do something, and
> something must be done.  I think you are all intelligent people, and you
> know what you can, or are willing to do. To do nothing, is to be guilty.
>  
> Forgive me for making such a demand.  I was not an AIDS activist before,
> and I am not much of an activist personality.  I was a half baked hippie
> in the 60's and 70's, but the philosophies of that time found a place to
> live in me.  I believe humans live together on this earth and it is the
> only home we have, we must take care of each other and the earth.  The
> traditional constraints of patriarchal power and the disempowerment of
> women and the feminine in the human psyche must be undone.  There is a new
> battlefield, it is in South Africa.
>  
> Do what you can,
>  
> Love, Jeffrey
>