Feb 24th

Went home teaching today. It took 4 hours and we only taught 2 people. People are so spread out and hard to contact.

So I've been thinking about AIDS a lot lately. I have decided that one reason AIDS is running rampant in Uganda is the lack of healthy child-parent relationships. Having solid relationships with your kids helps you steer them in the right direction and is specifically vital in sex education. Too many Ugandan parents send their children to boarding school from an early age (six or seven), adhering to the common misconception that children learn better in a family-deprived environment. When I asked one father about his soon-to-be engaged daughter, he said he didn't know that she had a boyfriend. I have had many other experiences akin to this one.

So besides bringing down the deeply ingrained boarding school culture, how do we stop AIDS? Although other African nations strive to emulate Uganda's highly successful anti-AIDS's campaign in the nineties, HIV in Uganda is currently on the rise. Why? Some think it's because kids are seeing people with HIV live long, symptom-free lives on the expensive Anti-retroviral medication (ARV). They say that the widespread use of this drug is changing HIV from an instant death sentence to a "curable" disease. One nurse said she heard kids say, "if I test HIV positive it's not a big deal; I'll just use the medication." Problem: in order to prevent drug-resistant strains, it's vital that you take the drugs for the rest of your life. Oh ya, don't forget that funding for this drug in Uganda is 90% external. So what do you think? Pulling financial support of ARV's forces people, too many times chaste, to suffer a prolonged death, while sustaining it's funding perpetuates complacency. Unfortunately there's no way to differentiate between someone who has, in fear of contracting HIV, been completely chaste (only to become HIV+ via blood) and someone who has lived immorally for years. Right now the use of ARV's is eliminating a consequence that seems necessary for the eradication of AIDS.

I have also wondered about the ABC program used in Uganda's successful campaign 18 years ago. Teaching (in order of importance) "Abstain, Be faithful, Condoms" the country dropped it's HIV+ rate by more than 10 percent. Since then, American NGO's started teaching an A only curriculum and now HIV is on the rise. Cause and effect? The government thinks so. I will be handing out thousands of government funded condoms on my upcoming tour of the islands. Now the question is if I agree with such an approach. It seems to me like supplying condoms is begging people to be immoral, no matter how strong your emphasis on A or B. I would love to hear some comments on this dilemma.

You can add to that question that of how one would elevate Uganda to self-sufficiency. Recently I have had some insight on the matter. I think Uganda has been fed, via media, the western hierarchy of education and needs to accept that vocational training is the key to economic stability here. Holistic economic development starts at the micro level: the employed. People may boast about being accepted into the finest Ugandan university only to watch their vocationally-trained peers exceed them in income and economic security. I am not saying that an Ugandan studying philosophy is sinning, I'm just saying that as a whole this country needs to change it's mindset.

Then again would that really change anything? A diploma guarantees literally nothing, while having the right friends ensures financial stability. On the job training can usually take the place of even the best vocational school. As I expounded on in August, jobs are rewarded to family members and close friends rather than the most qualified. This form of corruption hurts Uganda in two ways: it hinders motivation towards education and fills jobs with the incapable.

So many questions, so few answers.

I thought up the most interesting connection. The incumbent for last weeks elections, beefed up the military presence at the polls in unprecedented fashion. Undoubtedly, Libya and Egypt played a role in this decision, but I have thought of another motivating factor. All of Uganda is crying for jobs. Building up the military does just that. So as people headed to the heavily guarded polls last week, the army served as a subtle reminder to vote for the man in power. Tricky.

By the way, I visited the most destitute school this week. The place had classrooms 11 ft. square teaching 15-20 kids in a room. There were gaping wholes in the walls of the building. The boarding section had 2 kids per mattress at 8 beds per small room. I could tell from the surroundings that the malaria rates were through the roof. So sad! Especially when you realize that these kids could be sponsored to go to a better school for something like $20 a month. I videoed one boy saying he wanted to be a lawyer someday and attend Makerere (the best university in Uganda). No offense to that kid, but he needs a miracle.

On a more joyful note, I am loving teaching piano to the boys in our ward. They are gobbling up my teaching and now want me to teach twice a week. We also found out that the on campus cathedral is left open all day so our family will have lots of opportunities to practice the piano.

I am also reading The Social Contract, by Rousseau and loving it to pieces. Although the effects of the SC (the French Revolution) are less than honorable, I have no doubt the Rousseau was inspired. He has one chapter in which he proves that a government with out God is doomed to failure. The charged emotional aspect of the book (found in it's subtitle, "Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.") is intertwined with deep philosophy. It's also interesting finding ways Robespierre deviated from Rousseau. Recommend this to anyone who likes philosophy.