How can we help our brothers with aids in malawi

game · Guru

How can we help our brothers with aids in malawi

Njiba · Veteran Member

Hello Game, first of all the use of the word " should " in your question suggests that you feel that Malawians abroad have the responsibility to help brothers and sisters with AIDS back home. Just like some other wealthy people in Malawi they are not responsible for this. Now i do agree that collectively people abroad are in a better position to help, the problem is through which channels. Lets say one donates to the government, specifically the health department and specifically for ARV's. With the level of corruption in Malawi , one wouldn't know whether someone just took the money or used it properly. With the lack of governance in Malawi one wouldnt know if the money was instead used to by furniture or to pay off allowances at a silly workshop.

Now Game, if you can suggest proper channels through the right organizations i for one would be willing to contribute on a "ndilinazo basis" ( not all the time ) because i think the dollar translation into Malawi kwacha is huge enough that if i were to forgo a twelve pack of Heineken in a month it would help one malaiwan brother or sister out for a month. You know what, e-mail me.

Njiba.

-- Edited by Njiba at 09:40, 2004-12-16

phoebs · Member

i might be wrong but i think there is no treatment for AIDS yet, just these drugs that help out to prolong the power of your body soldiers.

actually the government is helping out to subdise the cost of ARVs and they are not very difficult to acquire as before. However you are right there are some areas where people don't have access to these medicay.But the groups that are spreading the "AIDS" message are getting more in numbers and i think the message is being preached. so thumbs up to that, in this part of the world, where access to drugs is so little, the most effective way is to help spread the word so that everybody knows about the disease, how you can get it and most importantly how you can avoid getting it. if anyone is to support a cause in line with AIDs let it be that.

Njiba · Veteran Member

You are right Phoebs, there is no treatment - as in cure - for AIDS. I still find it really hard to believe that some people do not know about how the virus spreads, especially after plays like "Samu". Since there is another generation making it into adulthood i guess lack of knowledge on the issue is possible since talking about a condom can hush a market into silence in some parts of the country.

I just do not believe in many of the mechanisms of message spreading especially when high level govt. officials are having meetings ( meetings for what?) and seminars whose allowances are bleeding the funding. Bingu touched on this issue and i think what he said was that if you call him to open a seminar on AIDS he will come, only to close it because he considers it a waste of resources.

Njiba.

TJ · Member

quote:
Originally posted by: Njiba
"You are right Phoebs, there is no treatment - as in cure - for AIDS......I still find it really hard to believe that some people do not know about how the virus spreads, especially after plays like "Samu".... if you call him(Bingu) to open a seminar on AIDS he will come, only to close it because he considers it a waste of resources. Njiba. "

While I agree that there is no cure for AIDS, I disagree that their is no treatment for AIDS. AIDS is not a disease like Malaria which can be cured it is rather an almagamation of different infections that come about through the weakening of the body's defences. These infections can be treated but cannot be stopped from reappearing hence no cure. So the treatment is there.

I am also not surprised that some people in Malawi do not know how the virus spreads. Everyone knows Malawi is a poor country yet the majority of mass AIDS prevention communication has either been print or electronic. How many people have access to radios in the villages of Malawi, even if they have, how many of those can afford the batteries? How many of these can read and write?

I am not saying that govt or NGOs have not done much on the grassroots level but their efforts have been stifled by other factors as well. There is things like miyambo yamakolo that in this day and age( of AIDS) should not be allowed to proceed yet they go on.

Lastly, much as I have admiration for Bingu's few months in govt I disagree with his views on HIV/AIDS seminars. He of all people should know that these seminars are budgetted for long before they take place. My understanding is that there is a separate budget for seminars and operations. I may have had the wrong end f the stick here, but these seminars are necessary since they encourage networking among the different agencies working in AIDS.

These seminars should go on, they are fundamental in the fight against AIDS, however, there is need to change the way their budgetting is conducted. Anthu amanyanya ku sainira. Now everyone is being given a bad name.

GWAN · Member

You don't have to think too big. For instance, you may want to assist your own relatives or friends who may be HIV+ but can not afford ARVs at say LIGHTHOUSE in Lilongwe where they have a monthly "subscription" of MWK2,500 (the last time I checked). A lot of folks here cannot afford MWK2500 for ARVs.

Otherwise I am not aware of any local initiative accepting donations in cash or kind towards acessibility of ARVs.

Of course Govt is implementing its own programs under the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS.But that's a different ball game all together.

So...I would say keep it simple.Assist family and friends until some credible conduit for donations emerges locally. Once it does emerge Malawiana will be notified. Or I could be mistaken ? Someone else in the know kuno ku Malawi ?

-- Edited by GWAN at 13:35, 2004-12-16

Mbili_Ku_Njanji · Member

This HIV thing is very complicated. There is a saying that goes, "If I give you fish, you are going to eat it in one day, but If I teach you how to fish then you are going to eat fish all year long". I do not think money is the solution coz it could fall in wrong hands, but If one donates medicine plus education then that would help more people.

game · Guru

RE: How can we help our brothers with aids in mala

logo · Newbie

RE: How can we help our brothers with aids in malawi

logo · Newbie

Hmm... I understand the ARV'S have side effects as well - liver inflammation,rashes etc? And the most scary **** is that once an individual has started takin them there's no goin buck, ceasing takin them would risk death.

Now.. the Global AIDS fund is only funding the programme for 5yrs (according to Malawi News) How the ARV'S are goin to be sustained after that - I don't know.

Please people read this article, it's worth reading...

www.pcusa.org/health/international/aids/malawi01.htm

logo · Newbie

Sorry people abt that link,hope this will work

http://www.pcusa.org/health/international/aids/malawi01.htm

Njiba · Veteran Member

Nice article Logo,

The article also reveals another aspect of the AIDS situation back home which is that the lack of a bolstered and far reaching health system inflates the AIDS crisis. The health system is ill equiped to face the situation. I also applaud the creation of village meetings however i would be more convinced if i saw these meetings in progress because knowing the extent to which people speak indirectly about issues and beat arround the bush only to never really hit the nail on the head it would surprise me if the meetings directly address the AIDS issue. All these little factors here and there combinme to provide an almost ideal environment for the spread of HIV.

Its not all that bad though since i understand that in the towns people are now talking freely about their HIV status, which used to be denied even when one was at the brink of death. As for Game thanks for raising a concious issue.

Njiba.

logo · Newbie

quote:
Originally posted by: Njiba
"I also applaud the creation of village meetings however i would be more convinced if i saw these meetings in progress because knowing the extent to which people speak indirectly about issues and beat arround the bush only to never really hit the nail on the head it would surprise me if the meetings directly address the AIDS issue. All these little factors here and there combinme to provide an almost ideal environment for the spread of HIV. "

Hey Njiba I feel u on that one,it reminds some few yrs back when I was doing some research on AIDS with the University of Malawi.We had to conduct focus group discussions in the villages and it was noted that the villagers were not comfortable havin the discussion in the presence of members of the opposite sex, but when it was like women alone then eeh ! amamasuka!! It's not easy to make these people talk and be more open but anyway it's all abt encouraging them to talk makin them feel that everyones contribution is important and then ukaponya ka lido it unleashes the tension.

eetchef · Senior Member

Let me share something here, honestly behavior is not changed by knowledge alone. Young Malawians need skills to be able to use what they know about HIV/AIDS to keep themselves safe. Some of the most important skills for HIV/AIDS prevention are ¡§Life skills¡¨ ¡V skills in negotiation, communication, decision-making, handling disagreements (conflict resolution) and critical thinking. Life skills can help Malawian youth -girls and boys learn to relate to one another as equals, build self-esteem and resist both peer and adults¡¦ pressure to take unnecessary risks. Life skills can be taught in many creative and innovative ways, both in and out of school. Participation, literacy, research, Livelihood (employment), advocacy and media skills are other important skills that can help young people find out how to keep themselves and put this knowledge into practice.

Our(Foreign based Malawians) key challenge for the future is therefore to establish strong links between positive research, policy and implementation. All research proposals should include plans for dissemination of research results to policy makers. And policy makers in turn must show commitment and willingness to listen to researchers and use research results in the design of projects and programmes.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Every five seconds someone somewhere is infected with HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS (UNAIDS, Dec. 2000). That means that during the course of an hours discussion within this Malawiana forum another 720 people will have become infected. The UNAIDS programme estimates that more than 5.3 million people became infected with HIV during the year 2002, and that more than 40 million people worldwide are now living with HIV and AIDS out of which more than two-thirds of total infected people are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

BIGFUT

Njiba · Veteran Member

Hello Eetchef,

Your point is interesting and my response might digress from the AIDS issue at hand. I feel that trying to teach life skills among teenagers and young adults in Malawi is like trying to bend a tree which is already set in its direction. The culture in which we grow in is adult focused (if you are young,you dont really count - umadziwa chani ) and therefore most of us learn critical thinking and appreciation of self at a later stage in life than as for example the American individual . This applies across economic conditions because ukagwira remote control, somebody older - your mom, brother, dad - will yell at at you " TASIYA CHIMINECHO!" , When you get too much dirt on your shirt when you were out to play you will hear " UMATANI? FUMBI CHONCHO!". How many times have you seen a mother slap their kid when their kid was just asking a question to satisfy his curiosity regarding his surroundings? "CHETE!" PHWA!!

Now after years of that crap you can not expect children to think for themselves, they have been punished in some way every time they have tried to speak and think for themselves. They obey and follow and yes they will succumb to peer pressure. Anthu amati a Malawi are peacefull and quiet, i disagree , i think they are introverts.

So to get people to participate, negotiate , Analyse, Initiate is not as easy as it sounds but i agree it is well worth the effort.

Njiba.

Chancy · Newbie

Game,

As at the moment the world over except those at Mars have accepted that ther is no cure for nkulu ameneyu,then why more millions waisting for akuti seminar za AIDS?

Lets use this money for purchasing ARV`S,hence we would be able to assist the needy in our country.

I have used the word needy as in our hospitals also registers foraign patients.

Malawi has well to do people and I disagree to vest this responsibility to anzathu okhala kunja okha.

Malawi should reduce formation of more NGO`s for the same mission but all that money should

go for ARV`s