Chapter 2: Sustainable Development

     The second part of my involvement with Botswana is dealing with sustainable development. Sustainable Development (SD) is a special way of using our resources to satisfy us in the present, the future, and keeping our environment in a great shape at the same time.  The next part of this class is researching ways in which Botswana saves energy while still providing for its people. Botswana is one of the richest countries in Africa, and it is also one of the only Democratically stable countries. Its government is similar to the USA and it is going to have similar ways of dealing with this issue. One the other hand, there will also be many differences as well, as the countries have different view point and geographical locations.

     Perhaps the most shocking things I read in some articles are the statistics on this issue. In the past three decades, one third of the planet's resources (natural wealth) has been consumed. We will lose seventy percent of the world's coral reefs in our lifetime (host to twenty five percent of marine life). In the USA, which contains five percent of the world's population, consumes twenty five percent of the fossil energy supplies. Besides the draw dropping effects that these statistics are giving us, we are also seeing that we are using up our resources fast, and that not everyone is sharing them equally.

HIV in the D

It really is not as easy as ABC

     I will continue my discussing about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana but in new terms. There are many topics to think about when it comes to the HIV/AIDS problem. Some of these topics include gender, sexuality, youth, and economic instability. When we think about the ABC prevention methods that were used in Botswana, we often times forget these topics.

     To start off, gender is a major issue and it ties into economic instability and youth. Most males in Botswana are expected to have girlfriends at a young age and those who do not are often looked down up. So the initial door to sexual activities is usually opened at a very young age. As the teenage boy pays for the dates and other things for his girlfriend, the boy expects to be rewarded for his gifts as time goes on. The gift that teenage boys expect from their girlfriends is sex. In Botswana, the gift the male receives for indulging his girlfriend with money is sex. Teenage boys who do not receive sex from their girlfriend are often made fun of and are not as respected as boys who do have sex with their girlfriends. Females are expected to play along with this game and in some cases can lead to emotional or physical abuse is not. The male is always the dominant figure in the relationship and the female is expected to follow along and listen to the male. She usually has not say in anything.

     In Botswana, there is a greater number of females with HIV/AIDS than males. This is partly due to unequal economic oppertunities between males and females. Many females do not receive the same wage for their labor as men do. This is similar to the situation in the USA. This, along with many other problems leads females to be at a lower economic status than males. In order to help support their families and themselves, females in Botswana often have sex with men for money. This activity increases the likely hood of women getting HIV/AIDS more than men, and hence why the number of infected females is higher than males.

     Sexuality is very important when we discuss the HIV/AIDS problem. Most of Africa has been heteronormalized because many people in Africa believe that all men and women prefer sex with the opposite gender. This is considered the normal practice in the continent. Parents in Botswana want their children to have children, so everyone, even non-heterosexual people, are expected to bring offspring. MSM and WSW are used in reference to men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women. Heteronormativity has lead to discrimination when it comes to determining the actual methods of HIV/AIDS transmission. When research is done to determine ways to prevent the spread of HIV, almost no research is put into how HIV is spread amongst the MSM and WSW community. Unlike the USA, the majority of HIV/AIDS in Botswana lies amongst the heterosexual population. Nonetheless, it is still important to think about how MSM and WSW are contributing to the spread of HIV. A majority of MSM and WSW also have sex with the opposite gender. This is a great way that HIV can further spread amongst all different sexual practicing types of people so it is important to think about MSM and WSW when it comes to HIV transmission.

     The spread of HIV/AIDS is a complicated process, but what we do know is that it is not as easy as ABC. ABC was the method previously used in Botswana to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Abstain, Be faithful, and Condomise, does not take into consideration the many factors that are involved in the spread of the HIV virus. Factors like gender, sexuality, youth, and economic instability, are not mentioned in the ABC prevention method and therefore make the ABC approach almost ineffective. Unless a new approach comes along where it takes into account these multiple factors, HIV prevention will be very challenging, and mostly likely unstoppable.

ABC its easy as 123

     As I go on each week, I will add more information regarding what I have been learning about HIV/AIDS and sustainable development in my Botswana Democracy course. This week we covered material involving how and why the HIV is continuing to spread throughout Botswana. Even with the free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, stable political conditions, and wealth, Botswana still continues to have one of the highest HIV infected population in the world.

     One of the most interesting articles I read involved qualitative research on five ethnic groups in Botswana. The five ethnic groups, Bakalanga, Bangwato, Basarwa, Baherero, and Barolong were chosen to be included in the research because of their unique cultural sexual practices. The number of people in each group ranges from 20,000 to 900,000 people. Although these groups do not represent all of Botswana, it still gives you insight into the sexual practices and mentalities in Botswana. After reading the article I gained a great understanding of how sex in Botswana deals much with the culture, and economic stability of the people there. Although each ethnic group has it a little different, each group does believe that sex is pro-creational. This means that the youth are expected to focus on getting children. In return for giving the females children, the men expect their wifes to be "good" at having sex and the only way to be good at anything is to practice. Therefore, many girls have sex starting at a very young age with multiple different partners. Nearly half of the female student at the University of Botswana (where my fellow classmates and I will be staying at for two weeks) are pregnant or have a child. This would not be a problem if protection was used while having sex. However, the majority of males-and even females, for that matter-do not believe in using condoms. There are many reasons for this and it differs with every ethnic group. However, common beliefs are that it is not looked good upon the male to use a condom or that the condom is the actual the carrier of the HIV virus. Another belief is that the condom symbolizes the Western world, and the people of Botswana prefer to handle their problems on their own, without the help of the West.

     Each of these ethnic groups has received much access to national HIV/AIDS education which brings me to the next point. The ABC method of tackling the HIV/AIDS problem in Botswana has not worked. To Abstain, Be faithful, and Condomise (ABC) was a method the West proposed to solve the problem of HIV/AIDS in Botswana. However, it fails to recognize the cultural and social issues when it comes to sex. Every ethnic group in Botswana has different cultural beliefs and social expectations when it comes to sex but what the West has failed to realize is that most of the ethnic groups in Botswana do not follow the A, B, or C. People in Botswana are not abstaining from sex, but rather starting during the teenage years in order to prepare for the future. Being faithful is difficult when it is expected to be more experienced. Using a condom is against most of men's beliefs and not widely used. Therefore it is extremely difficult to go into a country as Botswana and expect them to implicate the ABC methodology into their sexual practices and expect it to work.

     As I conclude this blog I just want to mention a couple of things. Since the ABC method has not worked so far, we must come up with a better solution to the HIV/AIDS problem in Botswana. This solution is going to have to focus around the cultural and social factors that tie into the spread of the disease. If we close our eyes to the reality and expect that the people of Botswana will simply follow the ABC method, we will not see any progress with HIV/AIDS in Botswana.

Saturdays Should Not Be For Funerals Anymore

     After reading Unity Dow's and Max Essex's Saturday is for Funerals I was shocked to learn about individual stories of people in Botswana who have suffered directly or indirectly from the HIV/AIDS disease. Botswana is a country in the south of Africa right above the country of South Africa. It is currently going through one of the most severe HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world having the national HIV prevalence rate among adults aged 15 to 49 being 24.1 percent, the highest in the world. In order to figure out how to stop this ongoing epidemic in Botswana, we must focus on the people of Botswana on the individual level, and determine how people live their lives in Botswana, and how their lifestyles cause the spread of the infection. These personal stories can be read in Saturday is for Funerals.

     Right off in the first chapter of the book, Unity Dow talks about how almost every Saturday there is a funeral in Botswana because of the number of family and friends that are passing away due to AIDS. This led me to ask the questions, if the people of Botswana are being reminded every Saturday about the consequences of HIV/AIDS, why is it still such a problem, and why are the people of Botswana not protecting themselves from it? The answers to my questions were quickly answered as I continued to read the rest of the book. There are tons of reasons why the HIV virus is so successful, and the book mentions some of the most important reasons.

     One of the many reasons why HIV is so successful is because the virus is sneaky. It hides itself inside the human genome without any signs of infection. HIV can also be passed down from the mother to the child during pregnancy, birth, or breast feeding. Treatment for HIV with Anti-Retroviral Drug (ARVs) can become useless at times because the virus can inherit resistance if an infected person stops taking the medication. Luckily, Botswana is one of the African countries that provide free ARVs to its people. However, one of the biggest reasons why the HIV virus is so successful is because it is feared by the people of Botswana. In the book, Unity Dow mention at multiple times about how it was not accepted for the people of Botswana to talk about the HIV virus. The people of Botswana are afraid to even mention the virus, and usually deny the fact they may have the virus. People will not go to get tested because "everyone will die anyway, so why should anyone know their status?"

     As I am writing this blog, on a Saturday, I wonder how my life would be like if I had to attend a funeral of a family member or friend every Saturday. As my Grandmother passed away a month ago, at the start of my involvement with HIV/AIDS and sustainable development in Botswana, I really understood what it was like to be at a funeral of a loved one, and how much it takes out of you. My family and I spent a whole week going to church, the funeral site, and the house of my Grandmother to remember and reflect on the life of my Grandmother. Roughly a hundred people attended to each event, ranging from family members and friends. It was a hard week, and the way the people of Botswana deal with the passing of a loved one is roughly the same way my family does. So I could relate to what the people of Botswana were going through, but not nearly to the scale at which they have it. It struck me to believe that the people of Botswana must be very worn out and broken down by the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is happening in Botswana. After all, how do you think you would feel going to a funeral every Saturday? Hopefully as we go to Botswana, we can learn the ways the people of Botswana deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and bring back those ideas to our city of Detroit and make an impact on the HIV/AIDS issue here. Also, as we learn new ways of preventing the spread of HIV, who is to say my classmates and I will not go back to Botswana in the future to help out with this ongoing problem. Hopefully the day will come when Botswana will look back on the HIV/AIDS epidemic as only a problem in the past and look forward to reclaiming Saturdays so that Saturdays are not for funerals anymore.