Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.
In the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, there is no silver bullet.
And as we travel throughout sub-Saharan Africa we are seeing dozens of innovative ways that organizations, governments, and individuals are working to fight the disease.
One of the organizations that stands out, thanks to their variety of innovative strategies and approaches to combating the spread of the disease, is the Solidarity Center , an AFL-CIO affiliated non-profit organization that assists workers around the world who are struggling to build democratic and independent trade unions.
We want to share with you three different ways they are making an impact on the ground as we visit projects across the continent.
1) Changing Behavior with Worksite Education and Testing
Johnson Matthey in Germiston , South Africa , just outside of Johannesburg , sees 600 workers pass through its doors every day, heading to work on an assembly lines to make catalytic converters that are inserted in cars to reduce pollution, complying with South Africa 's auto environmental emissions standards.
As we arrived there last January, Percy Nhlapo, a trainer with the Solidarity Center , was leading a discussion with a group of workers, correcting misconceptions about contracting HIV and urging participants to get tested. The Solidarity Center is working in partnership with the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA), an industrial affiliate of the country's largest union federation, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), to provide free HIV/AIDS education and HIV counseling and testing to several thousand manufacturing workers a year (literally going from plant to plant providing trainings).
Following the HIV/AIDS education session, more than 200 workers voluntarily agreed to be tested. At the testing area, we spoke with registered nurse Dorothy Majola, who said that before workers are tested they are given private counseling, and then she administers two separate tests - both with 99.99 percent accuracy - to ensure correct results.
Within ten minutes of being tested, workers receive their results. The companies work in coordination with NUMSA and the Solidarity Center , agreeing to host the HIV/AIDS outreach, allowing workers to attend and get tested at the beginning and end of their work shifts. Before each outreach, shop stewards mobilize their co-workers to participate in the HIV/AIDS activities at their workplace.
Chris beat me to the Friday tab dump, but that's OK, because mine's an LGBT one anyway. Here's what I'm reading around the tubes:
Courage Campaign and GetEqual has a petition from Cleve Jones, a longtime friend of Speaker Pelosi, asking her to move ENDA after recess. You can read and sign here. They're going to deliver it to her offices during recess.
Meanwhile, Barney Frank says "it's our turn" and Tammy Baldwin says she's counted and the votes are there in the House. OpenLeft will also be partnering in an action on ENDA in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Up in Maine, the Catholic Diocese- one of the most vicious opponents of marriage equality last fall- announced it was withdrawing funding from Preble Street, a non-profit serving disadvantaged women, teens, and other people with food, shelter and support, because Preble Street joined a coalition in favor of a No vote on question 1. In response, the Diocese demanded its $15K back and rescinded a 2nd $15K award, while Catholic Charities Maine demanded its $2,400 back. There has been an outpouring of outrage and support for charity for charity's sake. I know a lot of Maine Catholics who have given this week, including the awesome mom of Joe Sudbay over at AMERICABlog. Check out Bill Nemitz's column here, and Catholics for Marriage Equality, a new group run by Anne Underwood (a very smart organizer I interviewed in Maine) has a donate page here.
HRC President Joe Solmonese has a very measured response to Dan Choi's criticism here. My earlier piece is here if you'd like some background.
Asked about the new DADT regulations and the White House commitment on the issue, Barney Frank says, "They're ducking. Basically, yeah, they're not being supportive, and they're letting Gates be the spokesman, which is a great mistake."
HRC is launching a new nationwide tour of veterans discharged under DADT and their allies. Those featured are here. I have an unconfirmed list of dates and tour stops, and I'll get a full list up as soon as it's finalized. Target states are WV, NE, VA, IN, FL.
Would sure be nice to see our Commander in Chief, or Admiral Mullen, step up and smack this guy down.
These new numbers on HIV rate of infection in DC are really, really scary- and according to the piece, may even be off-target because they may have not sampled enough in establishments frequented by African-American men. A friend of mine has generated a lot of good activism on this through FUK!T, a DC non-profit which sets up tables I see at nightclubs and bars so guys can take a free package with condoms, lube and safe-sex information cards when they go home for the night. It's a very smart, prevention-oriented campaign whose budget was just cut. A $10/month (tax-deductible!) donation pays for 2400 kits, and I just signed up to contribute exactly that. You can donate here. If that's not enough to entice you, check out these hot videos and pics featuring world-famous porn stars (sorry, I couldn't resist).
Freedom to Marry, a smart pro-marriage equality organization, is expanding their staff in NYC. Several jobs here.
Cross posted from Border Jumpers, Danielle Nierenberg and Bernard Pollack.
When we arrived by bus at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center in Katuna, Uganda (the border between Rwanda and Uganda), twenty men were intently watching a match between Manchester United and Chelsea on a small television. Along with the pool table, board games, and additional television downstairs, soccer games provide a much needed distraction for the long-distance truckers who have to wait for their vehicles to be cleared by customs before entering Rwanda.
But just eight months ago, instead of television and camaraderie among workers, the easiest diversion for truckers was sex. Katuna is one of many towns along what is known as the Northern Transport Corridor-a span of highway that stretches from Mombasa, Kenya through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and all the way to Djibouti.
In the past, the truckers were often delayed for days on the border, giving them little to do. Boredom-and drinking-often led to unsafe sex with prostitutes at the truck stops along the highway. As a result, truck drivers have one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa. Unfortunately, the virus doesn't stop with them, and is often spread to their spouses.
Now, thanks to the work of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit launched by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organziations (AFL-CIO) to empower workers around the world by helping them form unions, and Uganda's Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), which has about 3,500 members in
Uganda, the amount of time truckers spend on the border has been reduced from days to just hours. The union has worked through bargaining with the government to reduce the amount of time it takes their paper to go through which reduced the amount of free time they have on the border. When they don't have as much free time, they're not as likely to engage in unsafe sex.
The Katuna resource center, like many others dotted along the transport corridor, offers training and education to truckers and sex workers, and provides reading materials like pocket guides explaining sexually transmitted infections and the dangers of letting them go untreated. More than 150,000 truck drivers and community members have received prevention services, care and support information through one-on-one or community group outreach. The Center also provides free testing for truck drivers, already more than 5,000 of them to date.
As we continued along into Kampala, you can't help but immediately feel the pulse and energy of the bustling city. In fact, we love this country so much we have no doubt we'll be back sometime in the future.
People here are also very laid back -- We've even gone three days without a cup of coffee here and didn't seem to mind.
You hear the words "Hakuna Matata" everywhere. Literally.
Internet services down nationwide all day? Hakuna Matata...
Flights cancelled? Hakuna Matata...
Two hours in wall-to-wall rush hours in Kampala? Hakuna Matata...
We spent a lot of time letting go and reversing any stereotypical American traveler latte-induced behavior...
Right after arriving, we visited the Mukono District, about an hour outside of Kampala, Uganda, where we met up with Edward Mukiibi and Roger Serunjogi, coordinators of the Developing Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC) project. Edward, 23, and Roger, 22 started the project in 2006 as a way to improve nutrition, environmental awareness, and food traditions and culture in Mukono by establishing school gardens at 15 preschool, day and boarding schools. And over the last year, DISC has received global attention for its work-DISC is now partly funded by Slow Food International.
They started with Sunrise School, a preschool taking care of children between the ages of 3 and 6. By teaching these kids early about growing, preparing, and eating food they hope to cultivate the next generation of farmers and eaters who can preserve Uganda's culinary traditions. In addition to teaching the children about planting indigenous and traditional vegetables and fruit trees, DISC puts a big emphasis on food preparation and processing. "If a person doesn't know how to cook or prepare food, they don't know how to eat," says Edward. The kids at Sunrise-and the other schools working with DISC-know how to grow, how to prepare, and how to eat food, as well as its nutritional content.
As a result, these students grow up with more respect-and excitement-about farming. At Sirapollo Kaggwass Secondary School, we met 19 year-old Mary Naku, who is learning farming skills from DISC. This was her school's first year with the project and Mary has gained leadership and farming skills. "As youth we have learned to grow fruits and vegetables," she says, "to support our lives."
Thanks to DISC, students no longer see agriculture as an option of last resort, but rather as a way to make money, help their communities, and preserve biodiversity.
We were so impressed with project DISC and urge you to check out this opinion-editorial we wrote about them for the Des Moines Register.
With 1,000 words nearly coming to an end...
We would be remiss if we didn't mention that Uganda, like most of the countries in Africa, is full of contradictions.
While everyone we met in Uganda was friendly and helpful, going out of their way to assist us when we needed directions, a Wifi hotspot, or a place to find vegetarian food, the country also has some of the most restrictive laws against human rights on the continent. While we were there, the "Bahati Bill" was introduced in parliament. The Bahati called for life in prison -- and in some case the death penalty -- for people found "guilty" of homosexual activity.
As gay marriage laws are passed around the world, including most recently in Mexico City, it's hard to believe that lawmakers would punish people for being gay or having HIV/AIDS. The Bahati bill also punishes anyone who fails to report a homosexual act committed by others with up to three years in jail, and a prison sentence of up to seven years for anyone who defends the rights of gays and lesbians.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, due to mounting pressure from governments such as the United States, across Europe, and in Canada, said that he opposes the measure, and would attempt to try and soften the bill. Yet, even the possibility that a watered-down version of the proposed law could be passed, is an alarming sign of a dangerous trend of prejudice all over Africa. In Blantyre, Malawi, for example, a gay couple was arrested a few months ago after having a traditional engagement ceremony. Homosexuality is punishable by 14 years in jail in Malawi.
Other things we want to quickly note
Where we stayed: overall, the Aponye Hotel in Kampala, Uganda is a very good budget option in the heart of the bustling city center. It is in walking distance from restaurants, markets, ATMs, the bus station and more. Approximately $35/night, the room was very simple, clean, with air-conditioning and hot showers, and Wifi in the lobby.
The veg options were great: We ate fresh avocado, a local staple called posho (or maize flower), matooke (or banana), rice, and cassava. Served with the meal was a dipping sauce made of ground nuts and tomatoes cooked in a covered box sauce pan. Most of the vegetarian food is served in Uganda is steamed -- usually using banana leaves on the bottom.
A must do: Go whitewater rafting at the base of the Nile (just a short ride from Kampala). Don't worry it's safe and you will have a lot of fun.
Another must do: Go swimming in Lake Victoria -- no need for a fancy hotel, most will let you on the property to swim and use their facilities for a nominal fee.
The overland bus company we recommend: Starways (and trust us -- because we traveled on all of them)
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(I wrote this post exactly one year ago, and am promoting it today unchanged because so far, with the exception of not being able to turn one's Twitter status red this year (darn), I see no difference in publicity or calls to action on World AIDS Day today. If there is, I will update this piece. In the meantime, vaccines do not make themselves, but finding one remains the best hope for a cure. Prevention must one day become eradication.
Please consider volunteering for an HIV vaccine trial. And if you are not eligible, consider asking a friend, family member, or colleague to do so. We have made great strides over the last year and it must continue. More details below, or you can go to hopetakesaction.org for more. - promoted by Adam Bink)
I've been sitting at my computer all morning, reading through the advocacy discussion on World AIDS Day. Usually on these kinds of commemoration days there is an overemphasis on quick internet activism- a Facebook status update is all I expect out of lots of friends, both gay and straight- and an underemphasis on offline action.
Today is no exception, but it's especially disappointing because of the lack of emphasis on vaccine trials. Allow me to get a little personal on you.
I come from a background of volunteering. My mom was a team leader for the United Way Day of Caring, so I participated each summer. Before I became sexually active, I donated blood at the Red Cross every chance I became eligible again- literally gallons' worth. My grandpa spent the last few years of his life needing blood transfusions, so I became aware of important it is and how many shortages there are.
In that spirit, and because of how HIV/AIDS affects my community and friends, two years ago I participated in an HIV vaccine trial through the National Institutes of Health. The trials were no secret- NIH advertised in Metro Weekly, a local LGBT magazine, calling for volunteers. It wasn't difficult- when I had a visit (I had a total of about a dozen, I got up a little earlier so I wouldn't miss work and hopped on the DC Metro a couple of stops to the NIH campus. I did a few visits of background medical counseling and routine blood tests- the same you would get at a yearly check-up with your physician. The vaccine was given in separate doses- all with careful monitoring of symptoms. The extremely courteous, friendly, professional medical staff called regularly to check up and make sure I was okay. I was given a chart to monitor any reaction I had- which was none. The follow-up visits consisted of simple blood tests and inquiries on any symptoms. It was not, by any stretch, a harrowing experience, and I was generously compensated for my time. And I've been tested multiple times since then and am still HIV-negative.
I didn't tell many people about my participation at the time, and those I did tell, I was shocked at the concerned reaction- even by physicians I know, even by people I know who lost family to breast cancer, another disease with no cure, and have lamented to me how there is no vaccine. But the trial vaccine cannot cause HIV infection. From the NIH website set up for volunteer intake (emphasis theirs):
Q: Can a study vaccine cause HIV infection?
It is impossible to get HIV infection or develop AIDS from experimental vaccines. They are not made from live HIV, killed HIV, weakened HIV, or HIV-infected cells. The investigational vaccines in this trial cannot cause HIV infection.
You could even be receiving a placebo. More to the point, though, I was left wondering at the public approach to HIV/AIDS and other diseases. How are we ever going to get past prevention and onto eradication if we don't get past the perception that these vaccines just make themselves, and volunteering isn't critical?
You see the same approach today. On Twitter, you can turn your update status red by tweeting #RED. But as of 10:45 AM EST, the sponsor, @joinred, which is run by Nike and has over 850,000 followers, makes no mention of volunteering to find a vaccine or even getting tested. The Obama administration's new website, AIDS.gov, has an entire section devoted to using new media, but no mention of the government's own NIH vaccine trials- which, as I discuss below, are still calling for volunteers. I can't find it in the HIV/AIDS Programs, National HIV/AIDS Strategy, HIV/AIDS 101, or Prevention sections of the website. President Obama's proclamation this morning doesn't call for volunteers. And this is the federal government's own program we're talking about! In the LGBT world, I don't see it on the Human Rights Campaign's blog post titled "Marking World AIDS Day". NGLTF, in a statement, mentions the need for treatment access, comprehensive sex ed, combating discrimination, syringe exchange programs, but nothing about vaccine trials.
Now, I'll be the first to say I'm no expert on epidemics, and I know items like getting tested, combating stigma in the African-American community, and syringe exchange programs are important. I also know HIV/AIDS vaccine trials have had limited success- although no more so than lots of other diseases. But it simply doesn't make any sense to talk about prevention of diseases through pap smears and mammograms and HIV tests, and not ask people to volunteer to try and end these diseases permanently.
We've just achieved a cervical cancer vaccine. Every winter, everyone flocks to get a flu vaccine to the degree that there's always a shortage. Every child gets an MMR vaccine. Hepatitis B. Polio. On and on and on. Americans know how critical vaccines are. What seems to be be unknown is that these vaccines do not come out of thin air. They come from people bravely volunteering to help develop them so that the rest of our country, and the world, can live longer. People bravely volunteer to fight overseas in the name of saving lives. Why don't the rest of us bravely volunteer to save lives here at home? It's time to start volunteering, and for our leaders to start calling for volunteers.
If you are a man who has sex with men, HIV negative and between 18-45 years old, please consider volunteering (there are a few other requirements you can read about on the website). There are trial clinics all over the country (and the compensation is really good too). We will never get eradicate these diseases if we don't and step up individually. Mark World AIDS Day by taking a giant step forward towards a cure.
Originally posted at Corrente -- lambert
* * *
Pravda has what looks like a fine report today on AIDS programs in Washington, DC. Here's how they describe it:
About this Investigation Over ten months, the Washington Post analyzed the spending, services, and finances of every specialized AIDS organization funded by D.C.'s HIV/AIDS Administration from 2004-2008, an estimated 90 groups, building a database from tax returns, audits, lawsuits, real estate records, D.C. Council records, and corporate and police reports. The Post also obtained grant agreements, invoices and government correspondence for about 60 of these groups. The newspaper interviewed dozens of people with HIV or AIDS patients, their families and service providers, and visited more than a dozen offices across the city.
The largest possible sum at issue seems to be $25 million, since that's the total sum available to non-profits, where the problems seem to be concentrated.
The Pope says Africans cannot rely on condoms to reduce the spread of H.I.V. and AIDS because condoms make the problem worse. AIDS workers there, uh, disagree:
Rebecca Hodes of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa said that if the pope was serious about preventing new H.I.V. infections, he would focus on promoting wide access to condoms and spreading information on how best to use them.
"Instead, his opposition to condoms conveys that religious dogma is more important to him than the lives of Africans," said Ms. Hodes, director of policy, communication and research for the action campaign.
While she said the pope was correct that condoms were not the sole solution to Africa's AIDS epidemic, she said they were one of the very few H.I.V. prevention mechanisms that work.
In other comments the Pope insisted the world is flat, up is down, black is white, hot is cold, young is old and Miller Lite "tastes great."
Stemming HIV/AIDS in Africa is an urgent necessity. The activist community is divided over male circumcision, with one end of the spectrum arguing for mass child and adult circumcisions, and the other end skeptical of such advocacy and the claims which support it, troubled by the ethical implications, and concerned that such colonial-style interventions may backfire.
STATE BLOGS
In the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, there is no silver bullet.
Johnson Matthey in Germiston , South Africa , just outside of Johannesburg , sees 600 workers pass through its doors every day, heading to work on an assembly lines to make catalytic converters that are inserted in cars to reduce pollution, complying with South Africa 's auto environmental emissions standards.
When we arrived by bus at the 
Now, thanks to the work of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit launched by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organziations (AFL-CIO) to empower workers around the world by helping them form unions, and Uganda's Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (ATGWU), which has about 3,500 members in
Right after arriving, we visited the Mukono District, about an hour outside of Kampala, Uganda, where we met up with 
Other things we want to quickly note
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