World AIDS Day, etc.

This year’s World AIDS Day ( December 1st ) was a scorcher (!) but was certainly well-celebrated in Lusaka, and at the University of Zambia. I was on the University’s planning committee so the pressure was on… and let me tell you: it was crazy! Pure chaos! Although (as expected) the programming was a little helter-skelter, late and last minute, the greatest drama came from the t-shirts we were giving out (baggy, simple AIDS/UNZA printed t-shirts). I was warned back in Toronto that people in Lusaka go crazy over t-shirts, but it was only on World AIDS Day that I realized the true passion that exists. I don’t know what it is (I’ve been told it’s because they’re free and new) but throughout the morning I found myself literally cornered in our small office by twenty boisterous, angry young men (UNZA students), demanding t-shirts from me (it was kind of scary). The problem was that we didn’t have enough to give to everybody, and had to be selective (only giving them to official student associations) – a concept that was unacceptable to the masses. Anyways, I did manage to sneak out, leaving a male committee member in my place (mwahaha).


So, enough about t-shirts. My real job was to organize ‘March Past’ (a march around campus in the morning to signify unity in the fight against AIDS). Fortunately, we had great weather, the marching band showed up on time, the banner we printed looked excellent and we had a pretty good turn out of students (although very few invited staff came). Best of all, the much-loved first President Dr. Kaunda (our Guest of Honour) marched alongside. He’s a wonderful old man and very deserving of all the admiration. He is recognized primarily for his role in the fight for independence and work in the HIV/AIDS field. I’m not sure if during his presidency HIV was such an issue (he began in the mid-60s), but since then he has been very active and vocal. Most notably, he was one of the first African leaders to admit that his family was affected by HIV/AIDS – right after his son died of the disease. Pretty huge… As expected, his speech at UNZA was interesting and passionate, and was started by him jogging onto stage and doing a couple jumping jacks (pretty impressive for an 80 year old man!)… Although his speech was positive and encouraging I couldn’t help but feel sad. As he sang ‘we will fight and overcome AIDS’ in a low, frail voice I couldn’t help but think that he probably won’t live to see the day when AIDS is under control in Africa. He has spent his whole life trying to gain freedom and prosperity for Zambians, he has spent much of his life fighting AIDS, but he’ll never see the end of it. It just seems so wrong, and sad... But, hopefully I’m just a miserable pessimist and things will get better sooner rather than later…

On a less down note, the rest of the day’s festivities went really well. There were a few good speeches, some hilarious dance-drama presentations and awards presented to the most involved students. One of which was Bob (who I work with) and Bernard (the only openly HIV positive student on campus). Can you believe it? 7000 students, about 1400 are likely HIV positive and only one of them feels comfortable enough to admit it... I hope next year Bernard has more competition. :)

~~~

Over the past few weeks I’ve come to realize how much HIV education and outreach remains to be tackled – particularly for the truly ‘working class’ population here in Zambia. I think that the university population is pretty aware of HIV, prevention methods and treatment options but so many people outside this highly educated group are really missing information. For instance, just the other day my taxi driver (after hearing me talk about some AIDS-related work issues to my mom) asked at the end of the trip “can God cure HIV?”. I was caught off-guard and probably answered too bluntly, but fortunately I didn’t seem to offend him. He proceeded to tell me of his positive HIV status and asked a few questions about treatment. The next trip together he told me how he contracted the virus (from his second wife) and how sad he was that his little daughter was also infected. Despite his difficult situation he seems like a very happy and peaceful man, and I think we both enjoy these conversations. Since then, I’ve had similar conversations with the gatekeeper on campus (he’s really eager to distribute pamphlets and condoms to his neighbours in the compound) and one of the security guards at UNZA (he quietly passed me a little note asking for information about STDs). I think I keep getting approached because I am seen as a person who can be confided in because I am not a member of their community (i.e. who would I tell?). While I quite enjoy these little interactions they also totally surprise and frustrate me. Considering all the foreign aid in Zambia it shocks me that simple information about HIV prevention and treatment isn’t getting to everybody.

See photos @: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2176646&l=45b70&id=13613119