God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

01/05/2010 • 9:47 am Comments Off on 05.01.2010 Holiday blues…

05.01.2010 Holiday blues…

Staying on holiday so far away from home has two disadvantages: The first is that people forget that there is indeed a time difference and that phoning me in the evening means waking me up after midnight. Well, one might say, that one could simply switch off the cell during night – and yes, that’s right. But – and this is the second disadvantage: climax points of disasters and worries happening normally especially, when one is far away – so one is needed the most, when one is far away… Or is that only my fantasy?? 🙂

Nevertheless, Bangkok is starting to fill up again with people and cars and noise; normal life has come back to the city of angels. And checking the news I see our president dancing the Zulu wedding dance in full leopard outfit – his third wife, not to count the divorced one and the deceased one – and it is mentioned that he is already engaged with future wife number four. And it comes to my mind what that all means to fidelity in marriage – and the concept of marriage as we Catholics have. Not to mention that his now third wife has already three kids – so sexuality must have been practiced before marriage. Which is obvious for most Africans, as after paying the lobola the couple is allowed to engage in sexual activities before the wedding ceremony – old African traditions – once again – what does this mean to the more Eurocentric view of Catholicism which puts sex only into the marriage.

Here in Bangkok I am reading in the moment a book about katoeys – the third gender in Thailand – and once again I asked myself, what does the existence of such a third gender mean in the framework of Catholic moral theology.

So not, only sleepless nights, but also so many questions and so little answer…  And all this has indeed also to do with the topic of HIV and AIDS and how we approach it.. Well, I still have more than a week time to find some…  🙂

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, Politics and Society, Reflection, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

12/23/2009 • 7:50 pm Comments Off on POZ Magazine: President Obama Approves More Than $1 Billion for Global Fund

POZ Magazine: President Obama Approves More Than $1 Billion for Global Fund

POZ – POZ Magazine – POZ.com – News : President Obama Approves More Than $1 Billion for Global Fund.

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, Politics and Society, , ,

12/19/2009 • 7:29 am Comments Off on 19.12.2009 Civil rights lost and the meaning of a state community

19.12.2009 Civil rights lost and the meaning of a state community

Discussion yesterday evening while meeting up with friends. The failure of Copenhagen is imminent, and I do argue that the biggest problem is, that the rich industrial states are not genuine in their desire to cut CO2 and provide other measures in a way which would make the world community really an equal bunch of states. There is always the impression, even for somebody watching from outside, that the aim of the game is to keep all economical advantages and injustice the world is experiencing since decades.

And there is more: Politicians in most countries have given away their power to establish rules and regulations to economic powers, which are meanwhile the major global players. Free capitalism seemed to be the key for prosperity and success (for those who anyhow have already more than enough) – and suddenly the recession has shown, that it is not working out this way. The institution of a country are meant to create and enforce a framework which also keeps a certain ethics up and protects those, who are falling through the roaster of society. It seems that it will be a long way until politicians take on their original duties.

On the other hand, Europe is losing out when it comes to civil rights – we are developing more and more into a surveillance society where the right of an individual is completely ignored. It is time that all people of good will are standing up to defend the hard-won civil liberties – also in Germany. The institutions of a state are to serve the well-being of a group of people pursuing the same goals. One has the impression, that meanwhile those institutions are there to be served by the people – and that politicians are above the rest of society. Democracy in its original form is surely on the losing side contemplating the state of affair in European politics. It is time that civil society, but also churches are taking note of the eroding of civil rights and of a capitalism, which does not care about people or moral values.  That this has also consequences for a topic like HIV and AIDS goes without say.

Filed under: General, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

12/17/2009 • 10:56 pm Comments Off on 17.12.2009 Manto and her legacy…

17.12.2009 Manto and her legacy…

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has died and it is amazing to see the reaction from around the world. From wishing her to “burn in hell” till the praise of “nation building” there is not one gray shadow, which one can not encounter seeing what it is said and written about her. You don’t say something bad about a dead person, I was taught in my childhood, but this wisdom does not to count anymore. So what can one say as an AIDS activist and a priest?

So difficult to say: I do remember sitting next to her at a Durban AIDS conference and discussing her controversal stands on antiretrovirals. I also do remember the embarrassment of the South African stall in Toronto during the World AIDS Conference where she singing and dancing visited the exhibit of natural remedies, forgetting about the medication. And I do remember the collective outcry thereafter. I do remember her seemingly to enjoy being controversial at conferences. And I do remember her at a visit at Red Cross Children’s hospital, which she clearly loved very much.

I remember all my sentiments while listening to her beetroot and vitamin talks – and I am aware, that thousands have died because of her resistance to HAART treatment.
She was wrong, deadly wrong for thousands of people, but still – I refuse to condemn her completely. I have no idea what was really in her mind. I never understood why she resisted the obvious and why she kept up her views proven wrong so many times.

I am sure also in her life there was some light, some good, some moments of giving and loving and appreciation. I refuse to believe that she caused the death of people on purpose. My anger about the past dealing with HIV in South Africa remains, but I believe that it needed much more than just one person to mess it up so completely. It also needed all those in her department who followed and implemented this nonsense. It also needed the cowardice of a whole bunch of people assisting her.

So instead of damning now one person, lets rather look to create structures where obviously wrong politics will have no chance to blossom; Manto is for me in this sense a lesson to learn also for the future of South Africa. Let her rest in peace.

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Treatment, Politics and Society, Reflection, , , ,

11/12/2009 • 6:39 am Comments Off on 12.11.2009 Maybe there is hope…

12.11.2009 Maybe there is hope…

I came across this article from IOL, which seems to provide proof that we move from showering away the virus getting into serious debate on the political front:

Zuma issues HIV wake-up call

By Carien du Plessis (copyright IOL 2009)

President Jacob Zuma yesterday call for national mobilisation against HIV/ Aids, saying South Africans had to come to terms with the reality that the country was “not yet winning” the battle against the pandemic. Speaking in the National Council of Provinces, he cited “chilling statistics” of the number of South Africans dying, warning there was “a real danger” that deaths would soon overtake the number of births.  In an emphatic departure from the Aids denialism that marked the era of his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, Zuma said “extraordinary measures” were needed “if we are to stop the progress of this disease through our society”. Recent statistics from the Department of Health, Human Sciences Research Council, Medical Research Council, Statistics SA and other sources “paint a disturbing picture of the health of our nation”, Zuma said:

  • Nearly six out of 10 deaths during 2006 were of people younger than 50.

  • The number of deaths registered in 2008 jumped to 756 000, up from 573 000 the previous year, when just more than a million births were registered (1 205 111).

  • The Independent Electoral Commission had to remove 396 336 names of deceased people from the voters roll in September 2008 and August this year.

  • The average life expectancy of South African men in 2006 was 51 years, while in Senegal it was 60 and in Algeria 70.

  • Some studies suggested that more than half – 57 percent – of deaths of children under five in 2007 were due to HIV.

    “More and more people are dying young, threatening even to outnumber in proportional terms those who die in old age,” Zuma said. “At this rate, there is a real danger that the number of deaths will soon overtake the number of births.” What was “even more disturbing” was the number of young women dying “in the prime of their life, in their child-bearing years”. The situation was made worse by high levels of tuberculosis infection, with the co-infection rate between HIV and TB now “a staggering 73 percent”, with 481 584 people ill with the disease. “These are some of the chilling statistics that demonstrate the devastating impact that HIV and Aids is having on our nation,” Zuma said. He called on political leaders to lead by example and have themselves tested.

    • After this wake up call suddenly other political entities are also declaring the need of a change in politics. Where have all these intelligent people been the last years?????

    Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, , , ,

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