Unanswered Questions

Today was the last day of teaching this group of students at Integrity School.  Next week two sets of GSC volunteers and counterparts will return to Integrity to teach another group of students while two other sets, of which I am a part of, will travel to Maasai villages and teach adults the same materials.  Training students this week as helped to prepare me for next week's teaching.  As the week progressed the students asked us many difficult questions about HIV transmission, nutrient deficiencies, Maasai traditions, and religious perspectives of AIDS and other diseases.  Being only students ourselves, we left many of these questions unanswered.  After a lesson on the importance of educating people about the 'ABCs' of HIV prevention one student asked, “But how can we change the behaviors of the wealthy and educated who still engage in risky behavior and become infected with or further spread HIV?”  I stole a moment to let it sink in that this young man was thinking about HIV on a much different level- a level reached by living in a country where HIV affects one in sixteen adults and about two million children have lost one or both parents who were infected.  It is ironic that HIV does not discriminate against age, sex, education level, or economic status while those that HIV infects face stigma and discrimination from family, friends, employers, and entire communities.  The student's question reflects a need to motivate society to bring about a change in culture that improves life and acknowledges the dignity of every person by changing dangerous habits and behaviors that increase the spread of HIV.  I am finishing a book by Helen Epstein called The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West, and the Fight Against AIDS.  Epstein is an anthropologist who spent many of her African years in Uganda where she studied why the country was able to dramatically reduce the number of HIV infections, while HIV rates sharply increased in other countries around the world.  HIV reduction was successful in Uganda because of a focus on the 'B' in the HIV prevention teaching method: 'ABCs' (Abstinence, Be Faithful, Correct and consistent condom use).  Epstein suggests that stressing the importance of 'B' in any society may be the key to curing this disease that has taken so many lives. 

Returning to the student's question: how can we...how can I teach people to change harmful behaviors? 

This week was my first experience ever with teaching in front of a class  Standing in front of the room with chalk in my hand I scanned the sets of eyes staring back, watching every movement I made, thinking about the thoughts that were repeating back every word spoken (by the Swahili translator counterpart).  From the front of the classroom there is a different perspective of education.  It becomes more than a means or an interest, it becomes a revelation of power and thus a force that empowers.  My understanding of Tanzanian culture has only just begun, and reaching conclusions about the root causes of the poverty and corruption that exists here will take the weeks ahead for me to reach.  Providing solutions to these problems and answers to the student's questions will take much longer and cannot be answered by myself alone.  These questions about the world's problems normally bring me much distress.  At last, I have found a new peace with myself by doing the small bit of educating I can here in Tanzania to empower others, even if many of the questions remain unanswered.