Clark University - Clark News Winter 2003
Fighting AIDS in Africa
A student reflects on her summer in Tanzania
by Yeshe Legesse '05
The experience Yeshe Legesse '05 describes in this article was supported by the Anton Fellowship Program. Legesse is a biology major, with a minor in international development, and plansto pursue a master's degree in international development.
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to follow one of my many dreams. As a participant in the non-government organization Global Service Corps (GSC), I taught HIV/AIDS education for six weeks in Africa's most at-risk country, Tanzania.
After a week of training about how best to teach HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in Africa, where the disease is a very sensitive and shameful topic, my group and I began teaching the people of Arusha, Tanzania. For a month and a half, beginning on July 12, we taught at the Maasi Community Center three times a week. Located near Mount Maru, the journey to our work site required a 40-minute drive and a two-hour walk. The Maasi Community Center, established in a region inhabited mainly by Maasi people, was more or less a huge hut, with no windows, walls that came up to my waist and a straw roof. Outhouses served as bathrooms. The center was developed by a woman and her husband from Switzerland and offers many programs, including jewelry making, basket weaving, reading, writing and other classes for children of various ages.
Since its establishment two years ago, GSC has worked with the Maasi Community Center. Our presence there was no shock to the people in this region. Instead, I felt a welcome happiness that GSC had returned to the center. We taught these people about HIV/AIDS, methods of prevention, ways to live with the virus and the effect it has on the community, Africa and the world.
When I returned to the United States, people asked me about my trip and if I accomplished what I set out to do in Africa. I wanted to answer "yes," that I did make a difference, that people are listening and are willing to follow the three methods for HIV/AIDS prevention, what we called the ABCs: Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condoms.
But my response is "no." I never really thought that I alone would make a huge difference during my brief period in Arusha. I never thought that the millions of infected people would stop being sick and everyone would follow the ABCs. From my experiences at the center and talking to Tanzanians on the streets, I knew that just to make them understand the threat of HIV/AIDS would be difficult. They know about the virus and how bad it is, but they can't make sense of it. They are puzzled by how this virus originated in Africa, but was first discovered in America. To them, we are foreigners coming into their country to tell them how to live, to practice abstinence, to use condoms and to be tested. As we told them all of this, we also learned why they are reluctant to change.
Barriers to change
Living in Arusha, I began to identify some of the beliefs that stop Africans from treating and preventing HIV/AIDS. We told them to protect themselves by using condoms, but with an average annual income of no more than $50, buying a condom is an extra burden. Going to health clinics for testing is costly enough. Even though there are free testing clinics that hand out free condoms, I began to question how many people would willingly travel far from home to get tested for a disease that would bring them shame. The Africans I encountered would rather not know they have the disease than bring shame to themselves and their families.
Every day that I reflect on my trip and attend lectures and forums on AIDS, I realize treatment and prevention in Africa is still up to the individual. The methods we teach these individuals do not seem at all effective. As Western countries reach out to help Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS, we must first examine our own beliefs and the beliefs of those we are trying to help in order to develop methods that work. I was born in Africa, and I have seen the effect HIV/AIDS has had on communities there and in my own family. When a member of my family died of AIDS, I saw first-hand why the disease is viewed as shameful. But with an estimated 29 million people currently infected with the virus, I must also examine and relinquish those beliefs that allow HIV/AIDS to continue to flourish in Africa.
An individual battle
The people of Africa must do the same and begin to fight this war as individuals. The debate over morals and marriage can continue, but the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS is no longer debatable. Individuals must take responsibility for their health. They must get tested, practice abstinence and use condoms. What else is there to do when one out of every five people in Africa is infected with HIV/AIDS?
As for me, I will continue to work on prevention and educational methods for HIV/AIDS. I will continue to help those in the United States and in other countries. Most importantly, I will continue to help my people of Africa fight this disease.
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Clarknews Winter 2003
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| Two students with their secondary school teacher |
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| Elementary and secondary classrooms
in Arusha, Tanzania |
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| Maasi Community Center Director Elisobet (left)
in a training session with
global Service Corps volunteers |
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