Blog #2- Pandemic: My Country is on its knees
Reading this piece has been both eye opening and heartbreaking. The Africa that Stephen Lewis knew from his first visit in 1960, in comparison to how the entire continent is now, I find to be both fascinating and of course incredibly depressing. I have a high amount of respect for him with his many efforts in bringing awareness and to battle the HIV/ AIDS pandemic in Africa through his lectures, his book, "Race Against Time" which was published in 2005, and there is also the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which has funded over 300 projects in 15 different countries since 2003.
It is clear to me that he wants it be well known around the globe the amounts of trouble Africa is facing. The Africa he knew during his first visit in 1960 in Comparison to 2005 (when he wrote this piece), he states is "like comparing Rome with Pompeii", meaning there is no way he can compare the Africa he knew forty-five years ago to the Africa of today. Of course there was poverty, and he also states that there were countless health emergencies, but it never felt like "Armageddon". Despite the fact that there was poverty and various other issues occuring in 1960, from Stephen's experience, at that time people were not suffering from starvation, unlike today. South-Eastern Africa specifically, has been facing terrible droughts over the last several years which leads to the vast amount of famine you see today. With the language Stephen uses in this piece, and the facts he provides, it's more clear that he wants to bring more awareness to mature and well educated individuals around the world who may be willing to help turn Africa around to the continent it used to be. It is no secret the amount of depression Africa faces, these facts from his personal experiences are more to inspire able and willing individuals to help the cause.
I can not begin to imagine the sadness of his visit to the pediatric ward of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2003. The amount of death that occurs , whether or not you personally experience witnessing it, is needless to say, devastating. What really effected me while reading this is when Stephen was greeted by the young men making miniature coffins for infants looked at him and said, "We can't keep up with demand". With words such as "extermination", "annihilation", and "holocaust" to describe what countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, and Zambia are dealing with, confronting and facing, it is certainly appropriate to say that their nations are "on its knees", which is what the new deputy prime minister of Namibia said publicly about her country in June 2005. At the end of this piece, Stephen states that, "It's hard not to be in a near stupor of anger", yet there is also the sense of hopefulness, as he says, "I'm sustained, as so many Africans are, by the memories of what the continent used to be, and the conviction that the present will one day reunite with the best of the past".
So much can be said after reading this. As he states, "These groups of people living with AIDS are remarkably courageous, coming forward, declaring their status, preaching the message of prevention, sustaining each other in the face of cosmic tragedy". It is great to know, that with help of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), training courses on HIV prevention are effective, such as with the truck drivers who are considered high-risk. There are so many more facts about this pandemic that I can't even to begin to imagine what it must of been like to experience this reality in person. I have seen a lot of poverty in different areas of the world that make me have a great deal of appreciation as to how good of a life I have here in Canada. Despite Africa being poor, he states from his first visit that people everywhere were so unbelievably kind, and although Africa is in a much worse state now, it appears that even from his most recent visit, the people are just as friendly and welcoming. I recall my first adventure outside of Canada was when I went to Thailand, 4 or 5 months after the Tsunami hit. I saw a great deal of poverty, everything I experienced during that trip gave me a whole new appreciation for life. The people there were also extremely friendly and welcoming. It makes me wonder, how do all of these people living in such terrible states of disease and poverty appear to have such a positive outlook on life in comparison to us North Americans with all of our luxuries that we, for the most part, take for granted?
It is clear to me that he wants it be well known around the globe the amounts of trouble Africa is facing. The Africa he knew during his first visit in 1960 in Comparison to 2005 (when he wrote this piece), he states is "like comparing Rome with Pompeii", meaning there is no way he can compare the Africa he knew forty-five years ago to the Africa of today. Of course there was poverty, and he also states that there were countless health emergencies, but it never felt like "Armageddon". Despite the fact that there was poverty and various other issues occuring in 1960, from Stephen's experience, at that time people were not suffering from starvation, unlike today. South-Eastern Africa specifically, has been facing terrible droughts over the last several years which leads to the vast amount of famine you see today. With the language Stephen uses in this piece, and the facts he provides, it's more clear that he wants to bring more awareness to mature and well educated individuals around the world who may be willing to help turn Africa around to the continent it used to be. It is no secret the amount of depression Africa faces, these facts from his personal experiences are more to inspire able and willing individuals to help the cause.
I can not begin to imagine the sadness of his visit to the pediatric ward of the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2003. The amount of death that occurs , whether or not you personally experience witnessing it, is needless to say, devastating. What really effected me while reading this is when Stephen was greeted by the young men making miniature coffins for infants looked at him and said, "We can't keep up with demand". With words such as "extermination", "annihilation", and "holocaust" to describe what countries such as Botswana, Lesotho, and Zambia are dealing with, confronting and facing, it is certainly appropriate to say that their nations are "on its knees", which is what the new deputy prime minister of Namibia said publicly about her country in June 2005. At the end of this piece, Stephen states that, "It's hard not to be in a near stupor of anger", yet there is also the sense of hopefulness, as he says, "I'm sustained, as so many Africans are, by the memories of what the continent used to be, and the conviction that the present will one day reunite with the best of the past".
So much can be said after reading this. As he states, "These groups of people living with AIDS are remarkably courageous, coming forward, declaring their status, preaching the message of prevention, sustaining each other in the face of cosmic tragedy". It is great to know, that with help of the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), training courses on HIV prevention are effective, such as with the truck drivers who are considered high-risk. There are so many more facts about this pandemic that I can't even to begin to imagine what it must of been like to experience this reality in person. I have seen a lot of poverty in different areas of the world that make me have a great deal of appreciation as to how good of a life I have here in Canada. Despite Africa being poor, he states from his first visit that people everywhere were so unbelievably kind, and although Africa is in a much worse state now, it appears that even from his most recent visit, the people are just as friendly and welcoming. I recall my first adventure outside of Canada was when I went to Thailand, 4 or 5 months after the Tsunami hit. I saw a great deal of poverty, everything I experienced during that trip gave me a whole new appreciation for life. The people there were also extremely friendly and welcoming. It makes me wonder, how do all of these people living in such terrible states of disease and poverty appear to have such a positive outlook on life in comparison to us North Americans with all of our luxuries that we, for the most part, take for granted?