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.
No comments:
Post a Comment