Pre-Departure Notes

This blog will be used to document my time in Eastern Africa as an intern with "Western Heads East" (WHE). I discovered the project during "Volunteer Week" at in the University Community Center at Western back in September of this year. A poster board caught my eye and I spoke with a past intern who had just returned from Oyugis, Kenya. I was eager to join the Fundraising and Education Committee and attended meetings to learn more about the project and help out with various events held on campus. These events, like the Amazing Race, the Code Red concert, Yoga for Yogurt etc, raise funds for the yogurt production and educate the Western Community about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. I also got a chance to help out at a booth to raise awareness for the Give A Day to World AIDS campaign for WHE. This initiative was conceived by Dr. Jane Philpott who has challenged colleagues to donate one day's pay on December 1st, World AIDS Day.

History of WHE Interns
1) The first site was initiated in Mwanza, Tanzania and has become the regional headquarters of the project. This past summer, WHE interns Ashley Motran, Jon Giles, and Missy Whaling traveled to Mwanza to support the project by volunteering their expertise to different aspects of the project.

2) The second site was established in Oyugis, Kenya this past summer. Interns Rani Suleman, Jennifer Eldridge and Amanda Armstrong traveled to Oyugis to start up the probiotic yoghurt project and to train the Orande Women's Group on how to run the kitchen sustainably.

3) A third site will soon be established in Kigali, Rwanda. Interns Nilmi Senaratna, Silvia Marroqu, and Helen Aawaii worked there this past summer, exploring the readiness for the yogurt project to begin.

4) We hope to do an exploratory visit to Uganda in the upcoming year of 2011.

Along with, Stephanie Varriano, I will be traveling to Mwanza, Tanzania and Kigali, Rwanda this semester to continue the project's goals and purposes. I will mainly be stationed in Mwanza, Tanzania, at least for the first couple of months, and then will be treveling to Rwanda to link ideas with the interns there. My hope is that this blog will be a useful place to record my activities performed in the communities each day. These posts will outline main goals, overall accomplishments, bonds that have been made with individuals, and daily progress. I hope to enlighten, inspire, and spread awareness about the HIV/AIDS crisis.

I know it's difficult to always feel that our world is in a state of emergency when our day-to-day lives are often so sheltered and we can so easily "carry on business as usual". I know am going to be witnessing first-hand poverty and devastation and I know I am going to feel guilty for all that I possess, both objects and opportunities. But I also know that we, as a rich and developed nation, have the money,the technology, and the HOPE to find a cure! I'm really hoping that in these next five months I will gain some valuable perspectives for my career path. When I return home, I hope to continue educating myself and the Western community (and hopefully eventually the global community!) about the conditions in Africa and assisting with the fundraising campaign to fight HIV/AIDS.

It hurts me to report that as each day passes, thousands are dying from AIDS-related illnesses that are both preventable and treatable by use of antiretroviral medication. I can feel it, we are so close to beating this, but how many casualties will have suffered in the meantime?

Devastating Facts/Statistics:
-AIDS is one of the primary causes of global mortality and remains the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa.
-There are 33 million people living with HIV, and 22 million in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
-Nearly 90% of all HIV-positive children live in sub-Saharan Africa.
-Last year, 1.5 million people died due to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
-It is estimated that since the beginning of the epidemic more than 15 million Africans have died from AIDS.

Some Background Information on the WHE project:
In 2004, Stephen Lewis made an inspiring presentation for the Ontario Association of College and University Housing Officers hosted by the University of Western Ontario's Housing Department. His heart-rending speech moved a group of staff, students, and faculty to initiate a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. Western Heads East (WHE) was created to launch a probiotic yogurt project in Africa. WHE works alongside Lawson Health Research Institute, Brescia University College, Kivulini Women's Rights Organization, and the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR). Student Interns have been sent to assist the Tukwamuane Women's Group (TWG) in the sustainability of the project. The TWG is a group of women, otherwise known as "Yogurt Mamas", who sell the yogurt to people in the community. WHE subsidizes the costs for the yogurt production and giving some of the yogurt to people living with AIDS (PLAs) for free. This way, WHE strives to empower the local women of the communities by providing them an opportunity to make a sustainable income, while at the same time increasing the quality of life for people affected by HIV/AIDS. The TWG has become a non-governmental organization (NGO) and the women have become leaders in their community and represent the driving force behind the entire project.

The project mission statement:
To engage staff, students, faculty, and the broader community in teaching, research, and service targeting the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. This will raise awareness and funds to support the exchange of learning experiences while making a sustainable difference to communities in Africa.

The goal of the Western Heads East project:
To establish disease-fighting probiotic yogurt programs in Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. (Research on the healthy bacteria found in the yogurt are known to kill pathogenic bacteria and viruses)

Some Background Information on the Probiotic Yogurt:
Let's start with the basics: Yogurt is basically milk that has been naturally fermented by adding bacteria. These bacteria mostly all die in the stomach when we eat the yogurt. The benefit of yogurt is that it is highly nutritious- containing vitamins, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates!
Probiotics are different because they are live bacteria that survive in the stomach and can confer health benefits on the host (individual). WHE developed a probiotic yogurt based on the research of Dr. Gregor Reid (Lawson Health Research Institute) and Dr. Sharareh Hekmat (Brescia University College). Dr. Reid developed the bacterial strain (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1) used for Fiti, WHE's probiotic yogurt. Research has proven that yogurt containing probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 can increase the immune system response in people living with HIV/AIDS (by increasing CD4 count), decrease morbidity from diarrhoeal disease (which affects nearly 90% of untreated HIV+ people), prevent bacterial vaginosis (a common infection that increases a woman's susceptibility to HIV and other sexually trasmitted infections), and reduce transmission of HIV/AIDS during childbirth.
The yogurt is NOT a substitute for antiretroviral treatment or a cure for HIV/AIDS, however it provides nutrition that is required for the drugs to work to their greatest potential and helps alleviate some side effects of HIV/AIDS. HIV researchers have known since the early days of the pandemic that HIV can wreak havoc on the gut, which is home to an abundance of CD4 cells. Nutrient deficiencies are also a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in Africa, and the probiotic yogurt contains nutrients and microbes that aid in a healthy and nutrient-rich diet.

Some Basic Facts about HIV and AIDS:
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus
AIDS: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
HIV is a virus that attacks your immune system. Once the virus enters the body you may not feel sick or look sick for years, but still able to infect others. Over time, the immune system may grow weak and you can become sick with different illnesses. If left untreated, the immune system will no longer be able to defend the body from infection, diseases, and cancers, which can be fatal. This stage is referred to as "full-blown" AIDS. ANYONE can be infected, despite your age, gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity.

In order to become infected, the HIV virus must enter the BLOODSTREAM. There are several ways this can occur:
-Vaginal or anal sex without a condom with an infected partner
-Oral sex without a condom (If tiny sores/ulcers in the mouth come in contact with semen)
-Sharing needles/syringes with an infected person (to inject drugs, get a tattoo or piercing, or for acupuncture)
-Mother to child transmission during child birth (pregnancy, labor, delivery, or breast-feeding stages included)

HIV MYTHS BUSTED: A lot of STIGMA exists in poor, developing counties because of the confusion about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted between hosts!!!! Many people are simply ignorant of how HIV is transmitted, and so they essentially treat all those who are infected as "lepers".

You CANNOT get HIV from:
-Talking, shaking hands, working, or eating with someone
-Hugging and kissing
-Coughs/Sneezes
-Swimming pools
-Toilet seats and water fountains
-Bed sheets/Towels
-Forks, spoons, cups, food
-Insects and animals

To protect yourself:
At present, there is NO CURE for HIV/AIDS. There is no vaccination against HIV yet, but there are billions of dollars donated to research and there is evidence that a vaccination may be possible in the near future!
The most important social approach to protecting yourself from infection is to practice SAFE SEX by using a condom every time you have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
Unfortunately, in developing countries, condoms are not as easily accessible, or men refuse to wear them, or they do not use them properly.
There are Antiretroviral drugs that can SLOW the disease to allow infected people to stay healthier for longer, but the drugs CANNOT RID of HIV, nor cure AIDS. These drugs are becoming more accessible in sub-Saharan African countries, but there is still an overwhelming need to scale-up this treatment. In Africa, when the CD4 count (a measure of certain white blood cells) of an infected person falls below 200, that person requires treatment. There are people living with CD4 counts of 100, 50, 30, and even 20 (on the verge of death) who are STILL not receiving treatment! Stephen Lewis reports that he even once witnessed "a woman with a CD4 count of ONE", barely alive, who was put on treatment and, despite all odds of a grim prognosis, miraculously was still alive three months later.