Happy World AIDS Day
Of course, there's not much that is happy about the state of AIDS in the world today, including in Tanzania. Yesterday we visited an AIDS hospice and orphanage. It started out only as a hospice, but they quickly discovered that no-one would take care of the HIV-positive children left behind when the patients died. After we saw the four current patients, we visited the sixteen orphans, who range in age from 1 to 15. They were adorable and so happy to see us. The 1-year-old would not let me put her down and later fell asleep against me. It was almost impossible to imagine that these lively children already harbor the seed of their death: their life expectancy is not more than 17 or 18. What struck me the most was the difference between the caring and love the staff provide and the terribly poor environment in which they operate.
Several of the women in my placement are also HIV-positive. Some of them are open about it, but most keep it secret because of the huge stigma a positive status brings. Most people in the country don't even get tested because of this stigma, despite free testing and free antiretroviral treatment. (They also have free birth control and condoms, and some of the women I spoke with responded with disbelief and pity that people must pay for these things in the States.) The practice of multiple wives, the growing practice of prostitution, traditional beliefs about condoms, and the lack of sanitation in doctors' offices and hospitals also add to the crisis. There is absolutely no coordination of various treatment and education sites. There is, of course, a large community of caring people who spend every day trying to combat all of these obstacles, and those who are discovered to be positive actually get what sounds to my untrained ear like excellent and fairy comprehensive treatment, all things considered.
Today was marked with a parade through downtown Arusha in the morning, a conference in the afternoon, and a gala in the evening.
On a different note, a few things that I've seen since I've been here:
The Sahara, an astoundingly vast and barren expanse
Women carrying impossible things on their heads
A restaurant sign: Masai Restaurant - Italian Food with Pizza
A clerk in a huge supermarket waiting patiently in the dark until the power came back on and she could check out the next customer
Maize, coffee, and other crops growing in neat green rectangles up the side of a mountain
Men carrying large boards covered with merchandise on their backs
A herd of goats crossing the road
Last thing for today: if anyone has questions, feel free to email me, and I'll address them in the next post.
Kwaheri,
Jenna
Several of the women in my placement are also HIV-positive. Some of them are open about it, but most keep it secret because of the huge stigma a positive status brings. Most people in the country don't even get tested because of this stigma, despite free testing and free antiretroviral treatment. (They also have free birth control and condoms, and some of the women I spoke with responded with disbelief and pity that people must pay for these things in the States.) The practice of multiple wives, the growing practice of prostitution, traditional beliefs about condoms, and the lack of sanitation in doctors' offices and hospitals also add to the crisis. There is absolutely no coordination of various treatment and education sites. There is, of course, a large community of caring people who spend every day trying to combat all of these obstacles, and those who are discovered to be positive actually get what sounds to my untrained ear like excellent and fairy comprehensive treatment, all things considered.
Today was marked with a parade through downtown Arusha in the morning, a conference in the afternoon, and a gala in the evening.
On a different note, a few things that I've seen since I've been here:
The Sahara, an astoundingly vast and barren expanse
Women carrying impossible things on their heads
A restaurant sign: Masai Restaurant - Italian Food with Pizza
A clerk in a huge supermarket waiting patiently in the dark until the power came back on and she could check out the next customer
Maize, coffee, and other crops growing in neat green rectangles up the side of a mountain
Men carrying large boards covered with merchandise on their backs
A herd of goats crossing the road
Last thing for today: if anyone has questions, feel free to email me, and I'll address them in the next post.
Kwaheri,
Jenna
posted by Jenna @ 12:41 PM
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