God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

We have done it: the feared road between Los Mochis and Tepic lies behind us and we are all in good spirit. There was only one brief moment of excitement as gun shots like sounds were heard in the car of Mahuma, Max-Martin and Sandra. First ducking, then exploring, at last relief: the safety harness of the cover of the roof tents went off and crashed against the car roof. Lucky us!  To be honest: there was no feeling of fear and anxiety, we followed the advice of the locals to go via the expensive toll road and as it is Good Friday, there is no heavy traffic and it seems that also the Catholic Mafia are in church today.

So we pass lovely crop fields and cattle herds, enjoy the sunshine and 30 degrees Celsius and finally the view onto the white beaches of Mexico and the Pacific.

But in the late afternoon the picture changes: more military, more check points, more road blocks, heavy guns, pools of police cars – never one alone. We are relieved to reach Tepic, heavily protected by military inclusive heavy weaponery – and inside town an almost perverted feeling of safety and security.

Our night camp is at the backyard of big Pemex petrol station next to huge American trucks. For the first time in days we can cook, we can shower and use the satellite antenna to send out our reports to Germany. And we feel safe to sleep under the protection of the security guard of the petrol station and our own night watch. What a treat…

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

Is it that easy to leave the US and to enter Mexico? The man from the US boarder police tells us that all papers will be stamped by the Mexican authorities. They on their side are interested to see one of our roof tents being erected; and then we are invited to enter Mexico. No talk about any papers or carnets de passage. Well, let’s wait and see…

At 8 am we meet the local VW dealer and it looks like a big event: Room for all our 5 cars to stand in the show room around the tables and chairs for the press conference, and a buffet is also waiting to be served. After the usual 1.5 hours waiting period for guests to arrive, journalists and TV crews are present. Knowing that it is Easter holiday time, we appreciate that Rodolfo Calixto Medoza, the representative of Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge for Mexico, has arrived from Puebla to welcome us and make sure that we feel at home in the VW family. We do indeed: a well attended press conference, a delicious Mexican meal and some presents change hands: Joachim Franz receives a painting called the „Woman of independence“ and for all other team members there is Tequila (no, not to be drunken before driving again) and some cultural goodies. Songs are presented by workers of VW and Roberto Gonzales Garcia, el chefe of the VW representation of Tijuana, promises 1 Euro from every employee of the company. And he reveals that he also has been affected of AIDS: his cousin died as a consequence of HIV.

But despite the great time we have had at the dealership: we must leave at a certain point. And as a last gesture of hospitality, Rodolfo Calixto Mendoza brings us back to immigration to sort out all our carnets de passage and passports. Otherwise we would have been hold up a bit later at one of the check points of police and military – and Mexico can be an expensive country in that way getting paperwork done afterwards.

At 4pm we drive in direction Mexcali, We have to go further. As our hosts describe there is a part of the motorway, a stretch of 800km around Mazathlan, which is extremely dangerous  because of drug trafficking incidents and car hijacking possibilities at night.  Therefore: only to be tackled during day time and with caution.

So we drive through a mild night in direction Caborca and Hermosillo.

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

The first Round Table of the expedition:  The German Consul General in San Francisco, Mr Peter Rothen, has invited high profile professionals from different walks to discuss the situation of HIV and AIDS in San Francisco and the world. Amongst them Mrs Cecila Chung, who is leading the local commission for human rights, Mrs Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, representing the leading local San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Mrs Elisabeth Geoffroy, program manager and evaluation officer of the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance and Dr. Stephen F Morin from the Centre for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California. An additional guest was Dr Bernhard Hunke, Director of the Volkswagen Electronic Research Lab of Volkswagen in Silicon Valley as the representative of the major sponsor of the expedition, as well as various representatives of the media.

Joachim Franz talks about the expedition, Stefan Hippler is the moderator of the Round Table’s discussion.  The discussion focuses on the local AIDS situation, but also specific questions around stigma, the taboo around sex education, the connection between HIV and drug and alcohol abuse, the question of resistance and cure, the “Berlin Patient” and the learning curve and connections between different situations like the USA and South Africa. A final report at the end of the expedition will present all results of the Round Tables.

After the meeting the team spent some time to document the visit for the media, conquering some of the steeper streets of San Francisco. Tourists gathered to photograph our vehicles and we used the chance to answer questions about the Amarok, not known yet in the USA, and about our tour and the awareness of HIV and AIDS. So many flyers were given out that the question remains whether we have enough for the rest of the tour.

After the rush of photographers, well-wishers and tourists, we had to leave this beautiful town in the rush hour, added by the closure of streets due to the visit of President Barak Obama, which made it a painstaking exercise. Unfortunately we had not budgeted time and money for the Presidents Fundraising Dinner – but nice to know that he was in town too…

Till sunset the sun of California accompanied us on our trip to the South, and we made it till Los Angeles, where we could catch a couple of hours sleep on a parking ground, before moving on again.

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

The first working day: early in the morning we went to the centre of distribution to organise ourselves and the five Amaroks, standing there in a row waiting for the big tour to start. But first we have to pack everything into the back of the cars: food, kitchen stuff, water, tools, spare parts, advertising material and all our personal belongings from clothes to a sleeping bag for everybody. We manage to get every Amarok filled to the roof, but there is still some space left for driver and co-pilot.

At 2pm the first official meeting. Mark Warsaba, VW manager for the West of Canada, the German Consul General Hermann Sitz, the representative of the IHK Sascha Bardens and media representatives from Vancouver are present to welcome the team at the VW representation in Vancouver. Also the working force of the distribution centre is present and Joachim Franz explains the expedition and the motives lying behind the awareness tour.

After some interviews we drive back to town, just to experience that taking Diesel is not the usual thing to do in Canada. Petrol station after petrol station offers everything except Diesel. At the same time, the hunt for a suitable petrol station gives us the opportunity to test the cars with a full load.

Finally we head to the popular Stanley Park to do some film and photo shooting – and experience many people taking note of our cars, taking flyers and asking for more information about the expedition.

At the end of the day we head back to the VW distribution centre to park the cars for one more night – tomorrow we will be back early, to leave Vancouver and head towards the USA.

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler

Today is the day: we commence our long way to “move the world“, the AIDS awareness expedition 2011. The starting day is also a day to bid farewell in Wolfsburg and Berlin, in Bad Camberg, Nizza, Cape Town and Norway. For almost four months we will live and work apart from our life partners, children, families and friends, for all of us not an easy decision and a daily challenge.

In Birkenfeld the mayor, Mr. Schebler, bids farewell to Sandra and Uwe from Unterfranken, a part of Bavaria. The parish priest, Rev Fr Possmayer wishes us well, luck and he bestows a blessing on us and the whole team. And last but not least a word of greeting from Rudolf Wukovich, president of “be your own hero e. V.“ concludes the farewell cermoney.

The day continues to be a long one: two hours flight from Frankfurt to London, followed by another 10 hours of flying to Vancouver. With the stop over of two hours we need more than 14 hours to reach our first goal.  Our emotions are a mixture of excitement, melancholy and the feeling of responsibility. We would like to succeed in adding to the fight against HIV and AIDS in a meaningful way.  Not easy to catch some sleep while flying against the time, but most of us are simply lost in different thoughts, interrupted from some dozing away in between.

It is late afternoon when we arrive in Canada, Lothar and Gudio are our welcome team, having been here since Friday to do some preparation for the cars. They are waiting for us at the VW centre of distribution in Canada.

We arrive at our hostel in the middle of the old part of Vancouver; take a bite before falling into bed and hanging on a last thought before dozing away: We have completed the first step in our adventure to “move the world”.

Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler