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How many of you sit around the bar drinking your beer, soda, etc. talking about what you can possibly do to help your friends that are dying of AIDS?

At a recent training of trainers where volunteers brought their Zambian counterparts for training - they offered free and confidential training - every counterpart did it. Of the 15 that tested - 6 tested positive. Over 1/3 of them....

And how often Washington directly influences things.... A group of volunteers was working really hard to put together a camp for girls that would include a large section of HIV/AIDS education. The girls were most excited about the mobile video unit that was coming. This unit is run by an NGO here in Zambia and brings a movie screen and all the equipment out to the village so the villagers can learn about HIV/AIDS in a fun and engaging way. But the video unit couldn't come... why? Because the NGO received funds from President Bush's 15 million HIV helping money and there is a stipulation on those funds that no NGO receiving them can teach condom use to people under 18. The NGOs, per OUR government's requirement, may teach only abstinence to "children". The video unit could not guarantee that it would not be teaching condom use and so - no funding - no coming - no video unit for the village, no fun exciting HIV/AIDS training.

In the village - by 18, most girls have been married awhile and already have several children. How can we determine what is right or wrong for a completely different culture? Esp. w/o any cross-cultural research?

red tape politics and meanwhile - education is interrupted, people are continuing their behavior, people are infecting others, people are dieing...needlessly

(Original Post)

Irritated