Faiza Jama Mohamed and Janet Nkubana were named co-laureates of the 2008 Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger.

Last week I had the pleasure of watching live, these two magnificent women receive the Africa Prize, for their contribution to women’s rights and efforts at sustainability and an end to hunger.

One of these women empowered herself rising from a childhood of refugee camps and an unstable environment to return to her native home in Rwanda where empowered, she was dedicated to fighting hunger, poverty and hate. She reached out to the Hutu and Tootsi widows and help them see that behind the labels and pain they were all in need of the same things…love, hope, food, shelter and peaceful change. Together the troupe known as “Gahaya Links” -more than 4000 women- have utilized their basket weaving talent to bring sustainable change & micro-enterprising to a new level. BELIEVE ME…it’s a new level with commercialized CSR embracing the opportunity that neither these women nor the original sponsoring organization could foresee; their works can be purchased in the USA with proceeds going back into sustainability.

Our other equally talented recipient is a mover and shaker on women’s rights in Africa. This is no small task! To challenge not one system, but all systems in a region, to institute a effective declaration and protocol that recognizes women as contributors to change and to cease all criminal acts against them.

These women (2 and the 4000 plus behind them) have proven that sustainability comes from within and can be achieved with time, support & seed money from external donors/organizers who believe in them as much as they believe in themselves. Collaboration works and empowerment takes on a life of it’s own once the seed is sown.

So with all the efforts and arguments on ‘cures to global problems’… Globalhood IS RIGHT AND does have a point at the end of the day…THE seed sown through collaboration and empowerment (simultaneously) …yields a mighty damn forest…

I don’t know about you…but I see a forest planted by locals as far more effective in shielding from the rain storms than a few trees planted on untiled and unfertilized soil!!!

Another interesting read! http://proxied.changemakers.net/studio/01july/haque3.cfm

The women in Bangladesh have managed not only to become a driving force to promote economic independence for women, but have managed to set up a daycare center at work allowing them to multi-task while being the initiators of self growth and change.  They have protected themselves from scrutiny that they are not ‘following tradition’ and being ’suitable mothers’, challenged their position in the work force by being the sustainable force of Asia’s garment industry -which is tradition anyway, but now there’s credit!-, AND are motivating their daughters to want more for themselves than marriage and hand-outs from their husbands.

Talk about social change that is community driven, allowing slow but sustainable development, moderate challenges to the face of traditional roles, and opportunities for mutual gender respect.  These women have managed to manipulate their duties and roles to challenge economic conditions, ideology, gender stereotypes and create sustainable solutions, that may not be the kind of economic growth we hope for, BUT A GREAT START.

That’s motivation to do more and be the change you want to see!!!

If it’s not obvious why I’m reporting and not cynical but happy…women are the driving force and key to sustainability.  Positive changes in their roles reduce the cycle of early marriage, numerous unplanned pregnancies and continual poverty which is further correlated to diseases… which drives up the pharmaceutical industries prices…and thus the domino effect continues.  They are interrupting parts of the domino effect.

Nothing is new, but everything is recycled and improved. This is how I view the economic enhancements discussed on Changemakers.net. The article caught my attention because it speaks of ‘new’ initiatives that allow people that have been forced out of the economic system or just plain ‘broke’ to belong and utilize their skills and talents as systems of commerce. How could you not want to read that, it’s all about integration of social identity and economic opportunities within reach!!!

While I am highly in favour of the thoughts, processes and methods discussed, it is not entirely new, but a spin-off of bartering, and one that we would do well to re-invest in as a global community.

Marx informs us in many technical terms that ‘money’ is that which is most valued turned into commodity and weighed against the haves and have-nots. He among other economic and social theorist also informs us that we utilize our skills and unique qualities in trade for something that we need. Years after Marx, we have other sociologist and anthropologist which talk about the “KULA system”, which is similar (a modern day version with no boats) to what they are doing in Australia that this article is discussing and that the world is dubbing ‘new’.

The idea –Kula/new money/shells = how many points? that if I invest 25 hours sewing a wedding dress and I need beads for a rite-of-passage ceremony, and I’m financially ‘broke’, the wedding dress that I made can be exchanged in a giant market for the ‘right’ type of beads and maybe a few other commodities based on time/value of the dress. There is of course an understanding of mutual respect, quality of merchandise by ‘exoticness’ or carefully displayed skills, and allocated time commitment.

It is an honor system that the West pushed out of style, brought back in, and those who do not read too often see as ‘new’. Jump on the bandwagon, push for it in developing countries and communities, and embrace it, because it does in fact allow previously financially challenged individuals and groups to opt-in to the system (to a certain extent) and benefit; It does allow people to grow and live in the fullest sense according to their own learned skills or naturally talents. However, do not embrace it as a ‘cool new fad’, but DO GIVE IT and the News Reporters two thumbs and two feet up, y for keeping us informed of GREAT efforts in sustainability..

“Glad to see it’s back…it’s useful in development and is as sacred as traditional inter village marriages used to bring sustainability where one tribe lacks something another has need for”.

For more info, read Jared Diamond, Marx, Adam Kuper or any number of economic and social theorists in anthropology.

To read the article see: http://www.changemakers.net/node/12870

The article focuses on Burkina Faso, but the problem of people having sex too young and contracting HIV/AIDS is a world problem.  I was alarmed at a previous AMSA conference when the now retired senior officer reported on his findings that the rate of HIV was higher in China than Africa (so he said) but was unreported due to the language barrier and people living in the country-side and being ignored from assistance .  I was alarmed when I went to Jamaica to understand the reality of HIV, as I sat in a 22* year old woman’s house to find that she hides and cannot find work, because she has been verbally torn down and ostracised for having HIV, that was given to her by her long term boyfriend.   

The problem is the same in Africa!  But how do you solve a problem in which the roots are in gender roles and ideologies of what it means to be a woman?  Many women catch HIV because [as the HIV educators in Jamaica informed me and the article on Burkina Faso support] a woman is not seen as a woman without a man with whom she is sexually engaged, -that is the belief; it is an enforced social ideology (through taunting and ostracism) that the presence of a visible relationship makes a woman ‘whole’ and the sexual relations with the opposite sex creates a ‘man’.  There are many ways and versions of saying the same thing, but this is the premise that seems to be prevalent among “African” oriented cultures.  I say African cultures because I make it a point of only generalizing information that I have first hand knowledge of or witnesses myself.   

The problem with the latter issues is that solving it is bigger than health education and ARVs (which have become in the minds of some active engagers of sex ‘it’s like candy’ because education or no education, certain factors are not being addressed) because as long as a woman is not self empowered and the community is not educated to redefine the roles and ideologies of ‘woman-hood’ the woman will continue to compromise her wants and needs which only results in deterioration of life-hood for her and at the very least her children.  This lack of empowerment and the end results of the engagement ultimately affect the entire community, because we all know it really does take a village to raise a child.    How much more will be needed to raise a HIV child, who now faces an unemployed mother, discrimination, restrictions on marriage, lack of family support, restrictions on ability to work and fears about death?  So many domino effects are created by the one decision to have sex.  Why should this be the case?  Why should it be that the change from ‘girl to woman’, ‘boy to man’ is defined by this one action by the non-formally college educated masses (developing country or not)? 

The formal education changes the ideology and the majority can’t afford formal education; thus we go back to the sex equals ‘worthiness’ arguments verbally and mentally and stipulations of acceptance enforced by stigma and ostracism, leading people to compromise the health of others and themselves.    The end result of the unprotected, unwanted, misunderstood actions to gain acceptance and LOVE is either actions that ultimately can kill the ‘self’ (literally and allegorically), or kill another.

 “These young people want to have a normal sex life, which is reinforced by the fact that it is “practically inconceivable” to not have children in Africa, where “a couple who have been together two years without having a child are criticised,” said Martine Somda, president of Rêve +. “People say that the man must be impotent.”  (plusnews –click) The above is an extraction that provides insider knowledge on what I am speaking of when I say the actions to gain acceptance and LOVE.  If there was acceptance and strong self confidence wouldn’t have to worry about so many people ignoring the fear of death from HIV and placing more focus on the fear of being unloved or unaccepted, resulting in them having undesired, unwanted, unprotected sex.  There seems to be a lot of ‘uns’ and unnecessary compromises!  What that says to me is that someone would rather risk death to themselves and others than feel unwanted.  Thus, if this is the case the mental and emotional aspects of health education (not resolution) seem to be the ignored factor when addressing sex education, and how to combat feeling and social stigma.  It also seems that the social responsibility argument is being missing from many individuals choice to engage in social roles to meet their own needs.  In plain English… selflessness/selfishness of the choice behind having NOT ONLY HAVING SEX, but Unprotected, Unwanted, Unprepared for sex seems to be missing.  We all need a dose of humanitarian, social responsibility education behind the ‘freedom of expression, freedom of love, buy a condom advertisements’ or “be an adult and get your ‘party on’ ”. 

The situation regarding roles and ideologies mixed in with tradition, religion, elderly values and media influence is so complex and they have to be ‘attacked’ all at once to get any large scale positive change underway.  I don’t know about you, but the ‘fit in and be one of us’ is a bit creepy to me; it reminds me of a horror movie.  That’s what it’s like when I hear irrational arguments about ‘manhood’, ‘womanhood’ and how that relates to sex.  “come…join us…be one with us…”.  Wait!  Wasn’t that a line if the movie ‘THE LOST BOYS?” “Repeat that to yourself out loud and see how you feel.   

Back to the African Diaspora argument (from paragraph 1)…  In Jamaica, a woman without man is asked if she’s a lesbian.  If she does not have kids during her teens or 20’s the under-educated masses call her a ‘mule’.  The animal is used to translate a message since the culture speaks in symbols, analogies and allegorical messages.  For both Jamaica and Africa a man without a woman is inferred to be homosexual or impotent.   The only thing that this taunting and allegorical side bars, heard as whispers in school yards leads to [in those that have not had the benefit of being self empowered yet] is unprotected and (many times) unwanted sexual relations in search of self acceptance, love and some attention.   Why do we do this to each other? Why do we define a social identity and gender roles on things that limit the other entity from self empowerment and a brighter future!  Do we really self hate that much that we need to tear down another to feel good, or is it that we are so wrapped up in ideological ‘correctness’ and boxed concepts that we are sheep that follow the masses even when we question the ethics and morals of what we are engaged in! 

This is a commentary on the reports of the multitude of deaths from bottled milk in China.

A long time ago I read the reports on Brazilian children dieing after there was a push for baby formula because mother’s were too weak to breast feed. The problem with the push, was not that their was poison in the feed but that it was unaffordable. Today, more than 10 years later Western culture has managed to convince the world that ‘less breast is best’. For anyone with a medical sciences background, they quickly acknowledge the absurdity of moving away from breastfeeding to the bottle.

Children are sick and dieing because we’re ‘modernized’/'westernized’ -whatever you want to call it- in our eating and ‘feeding techniques’. We’ve moved away from maternal instincts and natural body productions that are designed to protect infants -though acceptance of natural defense factors called antibodies- to more commerical and ’sophisticated’ means of ‘nutrition’.

I won’t get into the different types of antibodies; what the reader who’s not medical oriented needs to know is that a baby is not born with natural defenses against antigens-foreign invaders-, but obtains the necessary protective factors from breast milk, which they will NEVER get from a bottle. In social sciences terms…babies get ground level support from the mother.

Rich Euro-Western society decided long ago that ’sophisticated’ bottle feeding is better, that only the ‘lower classes’ breast feed. Their convictions that have traveled through nations have continue to create a ripple effect in child heath and now we can add one more problem to the list. That said, 53,000 babies wouldn’t have been in danger of bottled milk poising if we weren’t so fixated on a ‘better body’ and ‘less breast is best’, ‘preserve the shape of your breast’ and trust technology over that which was created as a natural system that knows when to change according to an infants needs. A mother’s body & instincts knows what her child needs and puts itself into motion to provide those needs, whether or not the mother is aware or wants to. Don’t believe…watch the changes as she gets pregnant, and watch the changes as the baby reaches 6 months.

We’ve trusted infant health (internal) ‘ground level protection’ -breast milk natural growth factors- to machines and chemical engineers- a lot of whom probably don’t have any breasts (last line sheds a bit of humor on the situation). In the end ’sophistication’ has cost us more than 53,000 lives…I wonder what would have happened if mothers had stuck to proven method that have worked for centuries! If it’s not broke…don’t fix it!!!

WHO reports that there is a decrease in Malaria outbreaks and child mortality since 2001.  They credit the decrease to increase in Anti-malarial medicines, sprays and bed net usage.  They also acknowledge that more funds have been poured in to efforts to aid in reduction of efforts to cease child mortality; obviously more money does mean more aid. 

Since I’ve read the prior efforts, fieldwork on the limitations of community involvement from Anthropological Public Health perspectives (see Anthropology in Public Health), the miscommunication and limits in understanding and finances regarding the usage of bed nets per person versus per family, I have to ask the pertinent questions. 

Is the drastic reduction a result of more money given to the locals or NGOs enabling families to have a bed net for each person, or is there a better pricing for bed nets?  Is the drastic reduction a result of community involvement in ‘spreading the word’?  Is the drastic reduction a result of workers being paid more and working harder to ensure the gaps in communications are filled? 

Although multi-disciplinarians would say all of the above and it’s about collaboration, as much as I acknowledge the contributions and progress collaboration brings, you really have to wonder what is the main contributory factor in a rise from 3% to 23% in usage of anti-malarial drugs, and why there is still such a large gap reported – 125Million protected by bed nets in 2007, but 650 million at risk-.   You have to wonder why some countries report a 50% decrease and others only 23% if the same efforts are being implemented by the WHO. 

 
There is clearly something changing in the field of communication because I see a change in numbers indicating access and usage.  The report says increase in ‘procurement’ of reducing factors, but if it was about procurement and not usage, the rates of infection would still be high.  What good are drugs if they are not used in prevention…holding them in your hands isn’t going to keep the mosquitoes away…procurement without usage is limiting, thus something in the communication field changed.  I want to know what it is!!!

 Source of information and statistics: http://www.who.int/malaria/wmr2008/

Despite economic hardships and temporary set backs a subsistence farmer –, Makoanyane Letsoara of Ha Tsui- continues to realize and inform readers that, support, collaboration, and discourse in solutions, is beneficial to everyone;  not much progress can be made without supporting the needs of others.  After a hard year in which micro-enterprise efforts were destroyed by sickness and there were no open markets for Apples -secondary forms of micro-enterprising-, this community supporter and local farmer informs reporters that he continues to remain optimistic , but believes that collaboration and networking is needed for new ideas & solutions to avoid continued pitfalls.

Extraction:  “It has been a difficult year. We did not produce enough maize, but I planted all my seeds because I did not want to restrict my ability to help others in the village. The bigger harvest I will have will help me help others… I tried to sell apples, but there are no outlets for us. We need someone to help us market our produce… it is good to talk and find solutions. We learn from each other.”

Bottom line:  It’s time for greater support and collaboration.  You’ve heard it not from an organization, but from the person living in reality.  Who knows what he needs, better than the man who’s problem you are trying to solve.

Original Source: Makoanyane Letsoara: “I want to be able to help others who don’t have food.” IN Irinnews, Thursday 18^th, September 2008

http://www.irinnews.org/HOVReport.aspx?ReportId=80446

PlusNews has few articles on the Caribbean and HIV, so although the article I am choosing to comment on is a bit old, the problems and cross-cultural dialogue it speaks on is very current, and thus I’ve chosen to reflect and comment upon it.

The article reports that going to a specific ‘cultural’ healer ‘may be’ dangerous and contributing to the spread of HIV among Haitians. It also informs us that this is a practice replicated in parts of Thailand and Uganda. It may not be in the form of an injection, but lay shamans/quacks/local healers exists in most parts of the ‘non-euro American’ world. Maybe it exits in some European cultures, but since I haven’t studied that, I leave that for those who do know about it, to comment on it.

At the end of the article I am left with the desire to know, are Haitians really at risk for HIV at any higher levels because of the ‘picuristes’ or ‘injectionists’ - a specific type of localized ‘healer’- in comparison to any other users of local healers or fans of ‘injection based ‘cure’ ’, or is the “maybe” just attempted fabrication of contextualized stories and inferences to discredit what Westerners are unaccustomed to?

Every culture in the world has rituals and folk remedies, but when ‘poorer’ countries practice them we- westerners- investigate it and try to link it to some health risk or say it’s ‘uneducated ways’. I’m not discrediting the research, or saying that there isn’t a health risk; there may be correlation and a hidden connection between localized spreading, economics and cultural practices.

What I’m saying is that in order to ‘cure’ –ailments and thoughts- Westerners seek to reclassify issues/identities into their boxes and change behavioural patterns instead of seeing how they can merge their understanding and better proven medical practices, with traditional practices and understanding. It would be almost a cross-cultural dictionary in communications for the same illnesses (in different terms) with all healthy proven remedies that have long term solutions.

This is key, because as Rahill –the researcher- notes, the reclassification attempts (of those outside US boxes into the US ideologies/boxes) has resulted in Haitians being placed under Africa-American labels, which means that the subculture isn’t being investigated and targeted directly.

Seeing the subgroup as practicing the same medical psycho-social patterns as African-Americans leads to gaps and limitations in interventions.

Bottom line! Language is a lot of who we are, discrediting that part of our identities to blend colour boxes as a form of identity (much like the US has already done) doesn’t change the subject’s reality, ONLY YOURS! It’s like when colonialist moved the boarders of tribes in Africa to make partitions for ‘new countries’, and tried to blend tribes without asking them. The people’s identity weren’t changed because the colonialists views changed, the actions simply caused a war, and gaps in understanding were further perpetuated; now it’s just medical knowledge and preventative efforts.

In the end, whether second or fourth generation, the Haitians in Rahill’s studies noted that understanding the local healers words and description of illness offered greater comfort and psychological healing (affecting the body) than going to a Western doctor/nurse. It didn’t matter who spoke English, French, Creole, it was the usage of words that we identify with, the contextualization and connection between ideas and identities.

Original Article: (Source) PlusNews, Haiti: high risk and underground

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79128

The article says YEMEN is building HIV/AIDS response capacity!  A reporter writes that the association is the only local association in Yemen that is fully dedicated to deal with HIV/AIDS issues, with a program costing 10.6 million USD.  It is also reported that there were only 2,431 registered cases of HIV/AIDS in Yemen, but then I wonder how many people really have HIV. 

 If the numbers are that low in reality, and there wasn’t cause to believe that the growth rate was exponential, why would you spend $10.6 million USD on health education dedicated to raising awareness, understanding and positive social response.

 I also have to ask, how many people are involved at the ground level in this program designed to create changes, with such an enormous economic investment, which is undoubtedly aimed also at long term prevention?

Why did on-lookers take so long to decide a communications program was needed?

Who is reporting on these people’s living experiences to create awareness, and thus create desire to participate in mobilization efforts and increase awareness of cause-effect relationships?

 In the end, the lack of reporting slows community knowledge, thus affecting advocacy and mobilization efforts.  The result is this low recorded numbers, which may or may not reflect the truth.  This is important because if there is no ground level advocacy the multi million dollar communication efforts are in vain.  If you decide to read the article you will notice it says ‘registered cases of HIV/AIDS in Yemen’; that does not necessarily equal the reality of existing cases. 

 Without ground level advocacy and mobilization, resulting from awareness and reporting of people’s living experiences to allow for support, formation of common identity, understanding and diminishment of some fears, those numbers of ‘reported/registered’ HIV cases will continue to be low, testing will continue to be low, and thus preventative efforts will be limited in success. So again I ask, who is reporting?  Where are the anthropologists, sociologist, journalists and media gurus on this project who are dedicated to recording living ‘truths’ as they occur. 

Original Article:  http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80377

It’s a disgrace when a mother has to watch her children die of something preventable.

IRINNEWS reports on the living experiences of a mother (in Somalia) who, in search of a better life, pulls her family out of a war zone only to have them claimed by death (a shorter time later) through lack of food and sitting in the open rain storms for ‘over 18 hours’.

Why is it that the world is not short of economic assets, financial funds, wood and ‘man power’, yet many like this woman have to eat wild shrubs in hopes of stopping hunger for 1 day, and many have no shelter to cover them from the storms. A wooden shelter and a meal is all she, like many seek, yet despite the search, in many places this cannot be found.

How much –time or money- does a shelter of wood cost (literally) that it could not be built to secure the safety of living beings from death by Mother Nature? Is the life of someone worth less than the thirty minutes it takes to build a shed?

To have your children survive a war zone, but die because there was/is ‘no room in the inn’ (allegorically speaking) during the rain storms… what is humanity’s justification?

A mother raises a child, then buries that which she pours her hopes, dreams, and trials into. She hopes to see a better future for her children than she received for herself…she knocks on the door of hope and pleads to humanity and no one lets her in. She hushes her children in her arms and says that things will get better after the storm, and so they sleep during the storm, but two of them NEVER WAKE UP; they will never get to see the sun (literally and metaphorically).

Original Source: Http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80393