Not your average pet....

WARNING!!! NOT FOR ANIMAL LOVERS OR FOR THE FAINT!!!!!!!! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!!!

For the past couple of weeks, one of my friends has been complaining about having sleep disturbances. Every night he hears the pitter-patter of little feet scurrying from one side of his one-room to another. His pets, he says, are being naughty and not obeying him when they were expressly told to stay outside. On Monday, he decided that his little pets were just too naughty and something needed to be done to let them know their place. A mixture of pap and galephirimi (translated from Setswana to English: "You won't see the morning") was placed in strategic locations around the room. All that was left to do was wait until the the next day. Somewhere between Monday night and Tuesday morning, my friend reported hearing things in his room shifting and falling from the only table in the room. "Surely", he said, "they [his pets] were dizzy"!

After work on Tuesday, I arrived at his house to bear witness to the specticle of my friend and his cousins turning the one-room upside down in search of what remained of his beloved pets. Both women and children gathered around as the number of mice was announced and bodies were displayed. His younger counsin found amuzement in chasing us around the courtyard with mice carcases. In total, eight mice were found. Yuck!

It's a girl!

Charlene & Lele


There's been an addition to my family. It's a girl. She just arrived a week ago, weighing in at about 5 pounds and some change. She is: sweet, soft, playful, smart, loving, and most of all, cute! Guess what?! She can already talk and is almost potty trained! The first time I even heard about her, I knew that I would love her, cause she's just perfect like that. Oh, you wanna know her name? Well, she's got two: an American and Setswana name, plus several pet names. Her American and Setswana names are Aisha and Boruku bo botelele (long pants), respectively. Congrats are in order to my Setswana Sister for life! Setswana to Setswana! Don't worry mom, I'm just the aunt!

I am HIV/AIDS Affected

I grew up in the 1980's when HIV was first diagnosed amongst gay, white, American men. At that point in my life, I was unconcerned about HIV and AIDS. I was too young and the people effected by the diesase didn't look like me. Why should I have been concerned? For a number of years, my mother worked at the Southeast AIDS Training and Education Center, which is an orgainzation that provides HIV/AIDS information and training to health care professionals. I was exposed to and surrounded by HIV/AIDS information and HIV effected/affected people all of the time. I still wasn't too concerned about HIV/AIDS. It was a theoretical disease to me, something that happened to other people...gay people, IV drug users, people who practiced risky sexual behaviors, sex workers, white people, poor people, older people, them...

The face of HIV/AIDS, the picture of who I thought was at an increased risk for contracting the disease has now started to look too familiar. The face is starting to look like me: A heterosexual, female of African decent. In America, African American women residing in the south are at an increased risk for contracting HIV than women living in any other part of the country. Eighty-three percent of all HIV/AIDS cases are reported amongst women. Forty-five percent of new HIV diagnosis were transmitted through unprotected, heterosexual intercourse. African Amercan women are 19 times more likely than white women to recieve an HIV diagnosis.

In South Africa, the situation is even more grave, and the face of HIV/AIDS still looks like me: young, female, heterosexual, black. Within a four block radius around my office, there are no less than 6 functioning funeral homes. You must ask yourself: How is it that there can be so many, and all of them are still in business? Basic economics: Supply in demand. There are about 1500 new HIV infections occuring each day. It is estimated that half of South African 15 year olds will not live to collect retirement, and individuals in this same cohort have a 56% chance of dying before the age of 60. There are approximately 5.4 million people infected with HIV in South Africa. That represents 11% of the population. One third of women between the ages of 25 and 29 are infected with the virus, and 19% of the work-age population (20-64) is HIV positive.

I am HIV/AIDS Affect.

I now ask: Are you HIV/AIDS Affected too?

World AIDS Day

Mail & Guardian: AIDS report paints bleak picture of youth

Mail & Guardian: Missing childhood, Missing Parents

BBC Report- Case Study: South Africa

Alternative Information and Development Centre

CDC: 2005 HIV Surveillance Report