WHERE IS
AFRICA NOW? HIV/AIDS, RWANDA, CONGO
BP
CAMPUS
INSIDE:
MINI ISSUE | WINTER ‘10
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BATTLING HIV/AIDS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD RAPE IN THE CONGO WHEN MEDIA FUELS GENOCIDE HIV/AIDS POLICY
BluePrint CAMPUS
acknowledgements erin becker editor-in-chief sally fry creative director
troy homesley, molly hrudka, rachel myrick, chelsea phipps writers
david gilmore, chelsea phipps photographers
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MINI ISSUE | WINTER ‘10
BATTLING HIV/AIDS in the devloping world BY CHELSEA PHIPPS
I
t took a harrowing trek on a motorbike to get there. I was wearing a suspicious-smelling helmet with a skull painted on it and an oversized wind suit that I guarantee had never been washed. When I committed to doing a summer of volunteering for an AIDS organization in Masaka, Uganda, I didn’t envision gripping the driver of a motorbike for dear life, while zipping down pot-hole riddled, orange roads. Getting off that bike was an incredible relief, as was pulling off the wind suit and black helmet. Paul, the driver and a counselor for The Aids Support Organization (TASO), motioned for me to leave my effects with the bike and then walked off wordlessly, perhaps assuming I would just follow him. Paul was my supervisor for the duration of my time as a Foundation for Sustainable Development Intern working at TASO. We parked the bike on the roadside in front of a row of stores plastered with advertisements for Coca-Cola and cell phone service providers. I followed Paul through a narrow alley between stores into a sloped dirt courtyard. Sheets flapped in doorways that were surrounded by women washing laundry in buckets with babies strapped to their backs. I was greeted by the usual stares and children’s squeals of “muzungu!” Paul stopped in front of one doorway and mumbled some Luganda. A young woman peered from behind the cloth hanging before ushering us inside. She kneeled to Paul in the customary way that females greet males in the Buganda Kingdom. I was struck by how beautiful she was. I had expected her youthful beauty to be lost to the battle against AIDS that raged inside of her body. As the counseling session began, I learned from Paul’s translations that she was my age, only nineteen years old. Her story was remarkable. Her father had gotten angry when he’d learned that she was HIVpositive and had kicked her out of his home, promising that he would kill her if she came back. The girl was completely abandoned by her boyfriend, the one who had infected her with HIV in the first place. She found a menial job that barely covered the rent for the place we sat in as we spoke. Eventually, her condition deteriorated to the point where she was diagnosed with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. The combination of that, a CD4 count of 12 (this count of a white blood cell type in the body should be between 500 and 1600 in a healthy person), and the opportunistic infections that she had contracted, she became so weak that she was unable to work. Because she no longer had any income, she would soon have to relinquish her pathetically small living space. Her home only had enough room for Paul and me to squat on stools while she sat across from us on the floor, with her moldy mattress pad tucked behind the Spiderman sheet that acted as a curtain partitioning the space. Going home was not an option for her. Her father had threatened her life, and her mother held such a subordinate position in the family that there was nothing she could do. Her father often prevented her mother from collecting food from their own garden for their family to eat because he wanted to sell it in the market for personal profit. Although she was able to get ARVs (antiretroviral medications) from TASO for vir-
PHOTO BY CHELSEA PHIPPS
tually no cost, without food to nourish her wasted body or a place to live, she would be unlikely to live much longer. It is possible for someone with HIV to lead a relatively normal, fully functional life thanks to the increased availability of antiretroviral treatments. TASO is one of the largest NGOs in Africa and manages to give out immense amounts of free drugs to the large population of HIV infected Ugandans. However, barriers to living a healthy life exist that are beyond TASO’s jurisdiction. These include the stigma against the disease that exists in full force in Uganda and often prevents people from going to get tested; the poverty that cripples the ability of parents to feed their children, let alone themselves; and the ignorance that leads to poor decisionmaking, which causes further infections. Another barrier that is preventing Ugandans from properly battling HIV/AIDS is the significant disparity between the male and female situation in Ugandan culture and society. Gender roles force women into a subordinate position, which proliferates the spread of HIV through common situations where men refuse to have sex with a condom, or want more kids even though they are HIV positive because it is a status symbol, or take more wives or mistresses despite being HIV positive. All development issues in third world countries are inescapably interconnected. Just as women’s empowerment is essential for improving the health of the people of Uganda, so is health education, the alleviation of poverty to enable families to afford to live in adequate conditions and improved nutrition and water access. My sister, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chinandega, Nicaragua working with AIDS issues, has also learned the necessity of a more integrative approach to development. As unbelievable as it sounds, a lot of children and young adults in her village have sex just because there is nothing else to do. To prevent the transmission of HIV amongst the youth, she promotes community development through youth dance and fitness groups, health education workshops, and building a community center where kids can go to in their free time to participate in more positive and constructive activities. The developing world is plagued with a multitude of complex social, political, environmental, and fiscal issues that require a holistic approach if there is any hope of alleviating any of them. Because each issue inevitably perpetuates the next, any single-issue solution will not be sustainable. I spent the bike ride back to the TASO center contemplating the irony of how giving life-saving drugs alone could not possibly be enough to save the life of that beautiful young girl. •
Any single-issue solution will not be sustainable
MINI ISSUE | WINTER ‘10
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DEADLY
DISCONNECT
BY MOLLY HRUDKA
T
he use of rape to accomplish strategic objectives in war is not a new phenomenon. In fact, written documentation of rape as a weapon of warfare dates back to the time times of the Greeks and the Romans. It was prevalent in the Middle Ages, the World Wars and Vietnam, and it continues to persist in wartorn nations today. In a period of four days, from July 30th to August 2nd, 2010, over 500 women were raped in and around the village of Luvungi in the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A contingency of UN peacekeepers was stationed less than 30 kilometers away but failed to protect the Congolese people from the militant rebel groups that plague the North Kivu province. According the United Nations Security Council, rape in wartime is a pressing problem that evokes worldwide concern. So why is it that women living in the North Kivu province, fearing subsequent attacks from rebel militia, still flock to the forest to sleep at night? Atrocious acts of sexual violence have occurred in the Congo for years. Why are they infiltrating the news now? Global policy makers and advocacy workers are working furiously to stop the terror that comes with the armed conflict, but they haven’t made much progress. Establishing peace doesn’t sound so unattainable. So where is the disconnect? U.N. officials and advocacy groups are up against more than they think. The conflict in the Congo isn’t just an issue of wartime rape. Also involved are extra-state exchange systems, lingering effects of colonialism and international disputes, refugees, war profiteering, disrupted productivity and the implications of a weak, borderline failed state. Because all of these problems are so complexly interwoven, the rest of the world is left baffled on how to stop mass rapes in the Congo and establish peace. The current conflict in the Congo has its roots in the colonial period. The Belgian conquest of the Congo was a horrifying process, with the Europeans committing atrocious acts of violence against the natives. Bowing to international pressure, King Leopold II allowed the Belgian Parliament to take over and in 1960, the nation gained independence. This marked the beginning of a long string of instable, corrupt leaders that would rule the country. After the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, two million people (mostly Hutus fearing a retaliatory genocide) fled across the Rwanda-Congo border to live in refugee camps. Among the refugees were leaders of the Interahamwe, the militia group that was responsible for the Genocide. When they began attacking Rwandan and Congolese Tutsis, the First Congo War began. Though the war ended less than six months later when the Congolese president was overthrown, the Second Congo War was not far behind. It began in 1998 over the same issue as the first, and formally ended in 2003, though atrocities, including mass rape, still continue. Claiming over 5.4 million lives, it was the most deadly conflict since World War II. This number doesn’t include the 3.4 million refugees displaced in the conflict. According to Amnesty International, over 40,000 cases of rape were reported during the conflict. This number is much higher in actuality
because “very often women hesitate to come forward to report these types of crimes. They feel ashamed,” according to U.N. special envoy on sexual violence Margot Wallstrom. The ethnic divide is not the only issue driving the conflict in the DRC. According to The Guardian Online, “Militia groups and the Congolese army now fight over access to mining areas… where they exploit gold, coltan, and cassiterite” used to produce electronics. Most of the mineral trading is conducted in the informal market. In fact, in her Shadows of War, Carolyn Nordstrom claims that, “The resource wealth of… the DRC… is not merely “useful” to cosmopolitan centers; it is critical. It is not the periphery of the economic system; it is central to it. The combination of formal and extra-state economies in these countries is, in fact, the “breadbasket” of cosmopolitan industrial centers.” The money that rebel groups receive in exporting conflict minerals directly funds their weapons purchases. These goods, too, are part of the extra-state economy described by Nordstrom. In Shadows of War, she described meeting private pilots that were “waiting for clearance to fly into the DRC.” The militant groups, in conflict with the Congolese government, have no other choice than to conduct its deals in the shadows. To humiliate and control local populations who may be used as slave labor in the mining of conflict minerals, the rebel groups employ the tactic of mass rape. In a YouTube video of interviews with Congolese soldiers, one Mai Mai rebel soldier explained that “It’s all about control.” Another said, “We know it’s not a good thing but what do you expect? We spend a long time in the bush and when we meet a woman and she will not accept us then we must take her by force.” This reflects the two types of rape outlined by Maria Erikssoon Baaz in her article Why Do Soldiers Rape? Masculinity, Violence, and Sexuality in the Congo (DRC): lust rape and evil rape. According to Baaz, the first soldier demonstrates the mentality associated with evil rape, that of wanting to humiliate the dignity of the victims. The second soldier exhibits the mentality of lust rape: the soldier hasn’t seen a woman in a while. The mass rape in the Congo is typically an example of evil rape. Armed groups use mass rape to control populations and secure control of mines, trading routes, and other strategic areas. The regulation of trading routes was a significant factor in the mass rape in Luvungi this summer. Because rebel groups blocked the routes into and out of the village, women were not able to seek protection or medical help. As long as an international market for conflict minerals exists, the rebel groups will continue to operate. There must be a coordinated, worldwide effort to stop purchasing products that contain conflict materials. Without a source of income, rebel groups that control the mines will either be driven out or forced to use humane mining methods. In addition, there is the issue of the shadow economy that fuels the ongoing conflict. As long as the rebels are making a profit from the sale of minerals, they will buy weapons. In order to stop the rape, this market must be changed. Finally, there is the issue of peacekeeping. Obviously the number of peacekeepers currently employed in the North Kivu province is not satisfactory. There must be an increase in the number of trained peacekeepers, or else all other efforts to end the ongoing epidemic will be fruitless. Without addressing the many issues that have combined to form this deadly disconnect, strategic rape will continue to plague the Democratic Republic of Congo. •
To humiliate and control local populations who may be used as slave labor in the mining of conflict minerals, the rebel groups employ the tactic of mass rape.
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MINI ISSUE | WINTER ‘10
Media bias in a warning for RWANDA everyone BY TROY HOMESLEY
I
Remains of massacred Tutsis. n a recent research paper, I examined the connection between the Rwandan media and the eventual Rwandan genocide. I found that the outcome in Rwanda was a limitation on freedom of speech, because in Rwanda freedom of speech led to genocide. Though Rwanda and the U.S. are certainly different nations, it is important to analyze the effects of irresponsible speech, especially by the media. In order to preserve our right to free speech here, it is important that we understand its power and act to check its use by powerful news organizations. The media has always had a large influence on the outcome of the elections, but during this year’s midterms its impact was especially acute. Much of the Tea Party’s success can be attributed to the extensive media coverage it got all year. This is increasingly worrisome given that the Tea Party is one of the most right-wing groups to ever enter mainstream American politics. And here is the parallel to Rwanda. An extreme group has risen to power, and political polarization becomes worse with each day. There is no easy half-way point. This leads to decreased discussion and collaboration between the parties, causing more gridlock in Congress. Large news networks feed this polarization by bolstering both right- and left-leaning extremists. polarizing in and of itself. There is no better example of this than Fox News. Media Matters, a Even within Fox News itself, there have been quibbles media watchdog group, reported that in the first nine months of 2010, about the recent turn away from a true news source. According Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, John Bolton, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santo Media Matters, many within Fox News believe that the chantorum appeared on Fox News a total of at least 269 times. Despite its nel has been moving toward more of an entertainment source claims to be an unbiased news source, Fox News has than news source. Yet the channel continues to use the slogan become highly "Fair and Balanced." This move towards more of an entertainment channel is perhaps evidenced by the network’s viewing rates in the first quarter of 2009: Fox News was the second most watched channel on prime-time cable, behind the entertainment giant USA Network. Partisan news channels and biased media are not a good sign. And it’s not just on the conservative end. After the recent suspension of Keith Olbermann for his contributions to Democratic candidates, an onslaught of other accusations were made. A recent report found that more than thirty Fox News anchors and contributors made contributions to conservative politicians. This is reminiscent of the political dichotomization that occurred in Rwanda due to the increasingly poor access toneutral news sources for accurate information. By no means do I contend that we are headed towards genocide. Nevertheless, it is the time to realize the bias that is beginning to slip into our mainstream media. It is important that Americans draw the line between entertainment and news and that the media be held accountable for biased accounts and unsupported claims. •
These are the clothes of Tutsis herded into a church and massacred. PHOTOS BY DAVID GILMORE
MINI ISSUE | WINTER ‘10
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Policy Analyst Asserts;
Colonial Intervention Set Foundation for African HIV/AIDS Epidemic BY RACHEL MYRICK
A
s the current global economic crisis causes some developed nations to consider cutting back foreign aid, academics are taking a stand by revisiting third world problems through a fresh perspective. One of the most notable health issues of recent decades is the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa, referenced so frequently that African HIV/AIDS treatment is often misconstrued as a trite humanitarian cause. Randy Cheek, AIDS
social structures. If family units had remained intact, the virus would have been contained within the unit. “During this time period, family structures associated around villages were destroyed and large cities started to emerge,” Cheek said. Cheek cites Leopoldville, now known as Kinshasa, the Congolese capital, as an example of a large urban center built up as a result of the imposition of a cash economy. “Men left their families to go earn money in the city or on plantations. As a result, women [in urban areas], also trying to make ends meet, were setting up a commercial sex industry within cities,” Cheek said. The AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa, however, can be traced back even farther to the economic structure imposed by colonizing powers. Countries like Botswana and South Africa were pushed by European colonizers to create extraction economies. “For example, during the apartheid regime, men were brought in all over Southern Africa to extract diamonds. They lived in single sex dormitories, and pretty soon brothels started to spring up outside of the expert and Senior Policy Analyst at the dormitories,” Cheek said. National Defense University, suggests Another contribution to the spread of “It used to be said that if otherwise. He re-frames the HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS was the transit system put in problem in Africa not as a humanitarian place by colonial powers. there was a security risk and mission but rather a means to fix third “Ports on the coast were connected you couldn’t blow it up or kill world problems perpetuated by former to the interior by North-South truck and colonial powers. train routes. These routes ran straight it, it wasn’t a security risk,” Cheek guest lectured at the UNC on through Botswana, which later became November 11. His lecture highlighted the Cheek said. These perceptions an epicenter of HIV,” Cheek said. reasons that health conditions promote The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern Afabout AIDS and other healthinstability. More importantly, Cheek emrica began to spread like wildfire in the phasized the obligation of developed related population problems 1980s. During this decade, many counworld to address these issues in subtries in the region were in the midst of a have since changed. Saharan Africa, especially when considtransition phase. South Africa was in disering that the current HIV/AIDS crisis in cord under the policy of apartheid, and Africa has its roots in many colonial-era policies. the regime in power spent money directed at the health of the wealth Within the National Defense University, Cheek described that tradi- population rather than the black or coloured communities. Angola and tional teaching methods never incorporated health issues under the Mozambique were in similar disarray, emerging from post-colonial, bruumbrella of global security threats. tal civil wars. “It used to be said that if there was a security risk and you couldn’t “These factors resulted in a lot of internally displaced persons and blow it up or kill it, it wasn’t a security risk,” Cheek said. These percep- contributed to mobility and chaos,” Cheek said. tions about AIDS and other health-related population problems have When put in the context, health issues in the developing world seem since changed. propagated by historical actions taken by Western powers. This is why “We need to start thinking of health as a societal and stability issue. treatment programs sponsored by the developed world are critical. They Pandemic and fundamental health threats decrease social economic, address current instability issues within Africa but also rectify much of and political stability,” Cheek said. the damage done during the colonial era. Cheek pointed to many examples on the African continent where a “On the ground, developed countries need to focus on three things: high prevalence of HIV/AIDS both reflects and contributes to political Prevention, Care, and Treatment,” Cheek said. He equated the three asinstability. pects of solutions to the AIDS crisis to “three legs on a stool.” Without In order to understand these examples, Cheek first gave a brief over- any single leg, the stool would not stand. view of the historical context of HIV/AIDS. Cheek identified four major Considering the economic situation and domestic push within the characteristics of AIDS: a high fatality rate, a long term virus and a “re- U.S. to reduce expenditures, many politicians have proposed cutting comb” ability for the virus to replicate itself and recombine. foreign aid programs. One such program is the President’s Emergency In 1980, experts identified a “new disease” emerging in the U.S. and Fund for AIDS Relief, which was started in 2003 and provided $35 bilwestern Europe that seemed to cripple the immune system. Initially as- lion in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. Cheek believes in a practical sociated with homosexual men, the virus was referred to as GRIDS (gay and a moral imperative to continue providing foreign aid to counter the related immunodeficiency syndrome). This acronym was later changed African HIV/AIDS epidemic. to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency system) by 1983, once experts had “Once you start someone on ARV's, you enter into a contract with isolated the disease’s cause, HIV (human immune deficiency virus). them to treat them every day for the rest of their life,” Cheek said. “We AIDS is a zoonotic virus, meaning that it originated in animals (mon- can’t just cut PEPFAR. We can’t just stop treating the people we made keys) and spread to humans. The first recorded sample of AIDS is a fro- promises to.” • zen tissue sample from 1903 in Belgium of someone from the Congo who showed evidence of having HIV. The disease steadily began to spread throughout the beginning of the 1900s. Why did this occur at the turn of the twentieth century? At the beginning of the 1900s, following the 1886 partition of Africa, colonial powers began to encroach on African traditional values and disrupt existing
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MINI ISSUE | WINTER ‘10