The word HIV/AIDS is so threatening that it had created a fear in the mind of the people. This is a deadly disease where the people are knowingly or unknowingly getting addicted to it. Many innocent people are becoming victims to this disease.

The medications which are curable with no harm and side effects that is the dietary supplements. So ultimately you have chosen a right place for your medications which are tried, tested and the proven ones with no side effects and no harm.

When we see the stats of the chronic diseases like aids, cancer and others are increasing in number than decreasing. This happens due to these main things that are improper diet, lack of nutrition, breathing impure air, having junk foods, getting addicted to the bad habits and many more. The people are really not thinking of the healthy living they just want to lead the life of their wish. And this is the main reason why the man is getting affected with such chronic diseases.

More information meets: dr jack

HIV AIDS is an infectious disease which causes lots of death in the world wide. This is deadly disease where the person battles with the life and death. He fights for the survival and getting rid of the disease. But this fatal disease does not allow them to lead a life. It goes on killing the person with depression or any with other reasons.

What is HIV and AIDS?

The word HIV stands for Human Immune Deficiency Virus and AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Virus. The HIV is a viral that uses the nutrients and energy provided by the human cells to grow and reproduces to infect the human cells. AIDS is the next final stage of HIV which makes breakdowns the immune system of the human body and makes unable to fight against infections or the other illness. But sometimes it takes decade or two to turn out from HIV to AIDS if the person has started to undergo the medical care. The symptoms may not be seen for years together to some they may get it later also.

This disease can be seen even in man, woman or even children. According to the estimates of the United Nations HIV/ AIDS says that there are approximately 40 million of HIV/AIDS sufferers. But this is not getting an end at all. Day by day this disease is increasing in the people. They are getting affected with it in one or the other way. This disease has killed millions of people and have left millions of the children as orphans away from the love of parents. It has made its wide by conquering the place of the deadly diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. The wide spread of this disease in the world has made it to stand in the fourth position for the more death causes in the present generation.

The transmission of this disease is as follows:

Unprotected sexual intercourse with the positive person either vaginal or anal

Unprotected oral sex with the someone who has HIV

Sharing needles and syringes with someone who has HIV without sterilizing it

Infection during pregnancy

Mother to child in the womb

Breast feeding to the baby

From a blood transfusion from positive person to healthy person

How to prevent the disease from

Not sharing the needles and syringes which are used to inject drugs after used by a person either he may be a positive or not

Not to have sexual intercourse with many and if you have then their is an urge to use the protection condom during it

Not to have the sexual relationship with the person who has been positive.

Have a test over the blood before its transfusion

Use the sterilized or new needles

Educate yourself and try to spread about this to the people who are vulnerable about it

The utmost and bottom line is that you should treat someone with HIV or AIDS the same as anyone else. In fact, they need your friendship and support more than ever. Just think how you would feel in their place. Now a man can survive for years together after getting HIV infection. This can happen when the man starts to have medical care before they begin to get sick. Knowing that you are HIV positive you will take precautions to prevent others being affected from it. But yet the HIV is scary stuff as it has no cure, no medicine, and no vaccine to prevent AIDS. But we have to be thankfully that the virus doesn’t easily enter the body from person to person. And Aids Is surely cure by herbal and natural products these are the effective and safe treatment for HIV aids

culosis creeps ?nto Eastern Europe – A danger for an ep?demy ?s apparent.

Tuberculosis, or TB, was once considered to be on track for global eradication, along with smallpox. By the late 1980s, however, a disturbing upswing in the number of new cases was detected worldwide. A report by the World Health Organization released in March 2005 shows the number of new TB cases stabilizing or even declining in most regions of the world, but not in Africa or Eastern Europe. Today:

Every second, a person is newly infected with TB. Around 1/3 of the world’s population—nearly 2 billion people—have TB. An active, untreated TB case can infect up to 15 more people each year.

In Ukraine many factors fuel the TB epidemic. The number of TB strains that are resistant to multiple drugs is higher in parts of Eastern Europe than almost anywhere else, making treatment difficult. The rising rates of HIV infection also are beginning to influence the number of new TB cases (TB is the most common opportunistic infection and the leading cause of death among AIDS patients). In addition, the country’s health systems suffered a setback during years of political, social, and economic transition. As a result, TB detection in Ukraine is based on an outdated screening technique—miniature chest x-rays instead of simpler, less expensive lab tests. Finally, infected individuals who do not get treated may pass the disease to others.

There ?s a need for accurate information to health care providers, patients, the public, and policy- and decision-makers. Ukra?n?an author?t?es need to onduct surveys and focus group discussions with these groups to help better understand their knowledge and attitudes ?n order to g?ve information they need.

Many individuals with TB experience discrimination because TB is considered a disease of poverty, associated with the homeless, drug users, alcoholics, and prisoners. Infected individuals fear that if they are officially diagnosed, they may lose their job. Some women are afraid that their husbands will abandon them. Many also wrongly believe that TB is incurable or that treatment is expensive.

Doctors feel hampered by poor diagnostic equipment, supply shortages, and lack of funding. They also have trouble finding up-to-date information in their native language. Many of them do not have all the information they need about DOTS, a strategy for TB control recommended by the World Health Organization.

 

Data from Wikipedia are from 2003 ?llustrates the ?ncrease ?n numbers and ?t has become worse s?nce th?s stat?st?cs was revealed to the publ?c.

22 August 2006 ( ranked by 137 nations ) the percentage of adults (aged 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS. The adult prevalence rate is calculated by dividing the estimated number of adults living with HIV/AIDS at year end by the total adult population at year end.

- rank 50 : Ukraine 1.4%

- rank 55 : Estonia 1.1%

- rank 57 : Russia 1.1%

- rank 69 : Latvia 0.6%

- rank 71 : USA 0.6%

- rank 84 : Belarus 0.3%

- rank 94 : Kazahstan 0.2%

- rank 96 : Moldova 0.2%

- rank 100 : Belgium 0.2%

However, it is certainly true that diagnosed cases of AIDS are increasing throughout the FSU. The Russian figures are almost certainly swelled by the high genuine incidence of TB. TB is known to generate large numbers of false positives for HIV tests and is one of the illnesses which is used as a part of the diagnosis of AIDS. (It is almost as simple as stating that if you have TB, you lose weight and show a tendency toward an immune deficiency then one has AIDS. At that point all the symptoms are listed as being AIDS and not the underlying and genuine illnesses. This is the real economic value of AIDS to health systems and why many health services are not unhappy to be told by UNAids that prevalence is high and rising.)

Don’t forget that HIV and AIDS are different things. HIV is a retrovirus that can be detected and AIDS is a cluster of symptoms that is usually, but not always associated with a high count of HIV in the blood.

All the above noted, a concern that we have in Estonia is that up until recently HIV has been almost totally confined to injecting drug users from the very poorest strata of society and also to have been geographically confined. Recently, for the first time ever, the number of cases of HIV/Aids diagnosed in Tallinn was the same as Narva. This may be a serious development. What I do not yet know is whether the geographical change accompanies a socio/economic change as well. If it does, then no matter what the real incidence of HIV, we do have a problem, if one accepts the hypothesis that HIV is a causaton of the symptoms called AIDS.

 

USAID has Ukraine as one of ?ts top-priority countries in Europe for improved tuberculosis (TB) control. Ukraine’s estimated TB case rate of 106 cases per 100,000 population is the eighth highest in Europe and Eurasia. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Global Tuberculosis Control Report 2008, Ukraine had an estimated 49,308 TB cases in 2006, an increase of 4.6 percent from the previous year. Of these, about 44 percent were cases of sputum smear-positive (SS+) TB.

In 2005, WHO called for redoubled efforts to scale up effective TB control using DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course) throughout the European region. In November 2005, the Ministry of Health (MOH) issued an order adopting DOTS as the basis for national TB control policy. The new National TB Control Program (NTCP) for 2007–2011 now supports rapid expansion of DOTS coverage, with the goal of moving from 29 percent in the USAID-supported pilot regions in 2007 to 100 percent by 2011. Although Ukraine currently reports 100 percent DOTS coverage, the quality of DOTS services requires significant improvement in many areas; at present, only approximately 50 percent of the population has access to quality DOTS.

Intensified measures are needed to contain Ukraine’s growing TB problem, which is exacerbated by increasing cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and one of the fastest-growing HIV epidemics in the world. According to WHO, nearly 16 percent of new TB patients have MDR-TB, the third highest proportion in the world. ¹ By the beginning of 2008, extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB was also reported in Ukraine. Both TB and HIV are concentrated in the southern and eastern oblasts (provinces) of the country, and TB-HIV co-infection is a growing challenge. Results of surveillance in 2006 in Donetsk Oblast indicate that 16 percent of TB patients in the civil sector are co-infected with HIV. Among prisoners, nearly 24 percent of TB patients are co-infected. More than 60 percent of AIDS deaths are attributable to TB. While outdated practices still exist, recent policy changes indicate a growing government commitment to improved TB treatment standards and coordination with HIV services.

Key USAID partners include PATH, WHO, the World Bank, the MOH, the F.G. Yanovsky Institute of Tuberculosis and Pulmonology of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, oblast and city authorities in the target regions, the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Futures Group International, and numerous local nongovernmental organizations.

City hall deals with all kind of different problems regarding the entire community, and it’s surrounding, from habitat for the needy, to road maintenance, reforestation, education, health, construction and maintenance of roads, play yards, and play court for the youth. If a major disaster happens in the community city hall is the first response for whatever problem the community might face. We also deal with social problems, by preventing youths at risk, to fall into the habit of drug addiction, prostitution, or any other problem that might arise, we offer seminars, and provide the facilities for culture and sport, creating the bases for a healthy life style. In health and medicine, we work hand on hand with the communities, to prevent infectious disease, or any other that can be prevent just by handing out the right information to the population, we have been successful at doing so, and we have manage to decrease many diseases, like cholera, malaria, hepatitis, dengue etc. And we are trying to deepen in HIV awareness and sexually transmitted diseases in the past years, but we would like our population, specially the young to assist to seminar and listen first hand information, from a first world country. Volunteers must be of age 22 or above with minimum education of undergraduation.

 Volunteers can assist by doing following tasks:-

It all depends on the program the volunteer would sign up to, but we would welcome medical students and doctors, who are experienced in HIV and sexual reproductive health training. Visiting the various schools,facilitating health and hygiene training, and assisting in sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS training to prevent these disease among our population.

Volunteers with the following special skills are preferred for the placement:-

Doctor Nurse Medical Student Pre-Med Student Wilderness First Responder First Responder Standard First-Aid Health & Hygiene Training HIV/AIDS Awareness Training Public Health Physiotherapy Sexual & Reproductive Health Training Wilderness First-Aid Natural Medicine Massage

Basecamp International Centers welcomes all the interested volunteers from around the world to volunteer and make a difference. If you are interested in this placement then please contact us for the details: Email: info@basecampcenters.com Website: www.basecampcenters.com Mailing Address 298 Bagot Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7K 3B4 Phone: 613.541.7862 Toll Free : 866.646.4693 Fax: 613.541.1604

Uganda is one of the most beautiful bastions of the African wilderness and has everything for a global tourist or even a backpacker. From trekking opportunities in the volcanic Great Rift Valley to exploring the Gorilla hideouts deep in the mountains; from sunbathing at the isolated and magnificent beaches on the Ssese Islands that seem to be floating in Lake Victoria to being captivated by the mystic Jinja, the source point for the great river Nile, Uganda has just about anything.

Why Volunteer In Uganda

Uganda has a wealth of natural resources but at the same time, it is also a poverty stricken country that has been through civil wars, a cannibalistic dictator and also comes under the AIDS/HIV radar. Volunteering in Uganda will not only open you mind to different cultures and a society that has existed since the early civilizations but also to the depravation that people in Africa have learnt to carry in their stride for too long.

Types Of Projects Available.

As a part of volunteering in Uganda, you will get to choose the kind of project you are interested in. The different types if projects available include:

Working with Ugandan orphanages: You will get to work with the hundreds and thousands of orphans who have either lost their parents in a war or who have been left homeless by famines. These orphaned children would probably die due to malnutrition but with a little care can grow up to be the future of the country.

Teaching: There are different languages that you can teach in Uganda but the most prominent being English. There are projects for teaching English to elementary school children and even orphans in a small village called Niyakasiru.

Community Development: In Uganda, there are no communities but groups of villages get together to support each other through all the strife and disasters that have struck the country in the recent past. As a part of the community development project, you can contribute a lot towards creating health awareness, take care of various problems being faced in the day-to-day life by Ugandans and work at temporary teachers in their schools, which are not even sub-standard.

HIV/AIDS Project: Africa is believed to have the maximum number of HIV/AIDS affected people. Hence this is the first place to start. In a world where scientists are trying every method possible to develop a miracle medicine for AIDS, the only way to fight it right now is by making people aware of the consequences.

As a part of the AIDS/HIV program, you will get to take care of people who are already suffering from it and also at the same time, work with community programs to offer more information on how to prevent it in the first place.

Community Work with the tribal: There are different types of tribes in Uganda and as a volunteer in Uganda, you will get to concentrate your efforts towards helping the tribal children and women.

Health Projects: There are several health projects that you can contribute to. The medical infrastructure in Uganda is not strong enough and you assistance in developing one can do a lot of good to the country’s future.

- Conservation Projects: There are different types of conservation projects in Uganda that vary from water conservation to Gorilla and Chimpanzee conservations. These are interesting projects and will help in keeping the African Wilderness alive

Volunteer Requirements

Age: The minimum age for volunteering in Uganda should be 16 or older. Experience: There is no experience required for most of the programs.

But if you are volunteering for specialized programs in clinical operation or in HIV/AIDS programs then you will need to have some amount of experience or certification to assist in medical treatments etc.

Application process: You will need to provide a resume to start with. All volunteer programs in Uganda are open to participants from all over the world and to individuals, families and couples.

Fee and Other details

There is a fee attached to each of the projects that you volunteer for. The fee is charged in advance and is charged for the following:

1. Housing

2. Food/meals

3. In-country training

4. Transportation within the region

5. Staff support

Conclusion

There is so much that you can contribute to in Uganda and to its people. Africa is considered to be the cradle of civilization and it’s high time everyone started looking at it as one and treating the people out there with equal respect.

POSSIBLE CAUSE OF HELPER T CELL DEPLETION

IN AIDS-THE LYMPHOCYTE WEAKENING FACTOR

HYPOTHESIS.

Enoh Nkongho Kingsly(MBBS)

Dept. of Neurosurgery,

Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.

INTRODUCTION

Albert Lyons while concluding the introductory page of his book on the history of medicine wrote, ‘To which erroneous doctrines do we in the twentieth century still cling? If we knew with certainty that they were wrong, we would discard them. Instead, we search and wait and hope’. (2) Although this question was directed at scientists in the twentieth century, it still applies to us today. A capital example of an erroneous doctrine today may be the HIV/AIDS hypothesis.

Since its birth at press conference in Washington DC on April 23 1984, (2) the hypothesis has been published in books, taught in schools, supported by the media and praised in international forums (17, 18) . Tons of dollars have been and are still being spent on HIV/AIDS research (12,16). Yet, no cure or vaccine against the disease has been developed. One wonders why scientists are still tenaciously clinging to this hypothesis. Whether it is because of their own selfish interests and personal gains (1, 4) or because they are genuinely ignorant of the true pathogenesis of AIDS remains a mystery.

It is important that the mechanism of helper T cell depletion in AIDS be closely looked into by the rational scientific world and alternative hypotheses on the disease (rather than the HIV/AIDS hypothesis) be encouraged for the benefit of millions (7) habouring the causative agent, those having full blown AIDS and mankind as a whole.

A hypothesis on the mechanism of helper T cell depletion is presented here, by looking at the controversies surrounding the popular HIV/AIDS hypothesis.

THE HYPOTHESIS.

Since the HIV has never been isolated, following internationally accepted procedures for the isolation of retroviruses and only proteins/glycoproteins particles have been isolated(13,14,15) these could be fragments of secreted substances from the causative agent of AIDS itself, whatever it may be. These substances which the author will call Lymphocyte Weakening Factors (LWF’s) when secreted, attach themselves to the cell surfaces of helper T cells, rendering them “weakened “and “confused”. This activates a cascade of confusion involving the whole immune system.

It should be recalled that in the presence of an antigen, helper T cells initiate an immune response, mediate antigen-specific effector responses and regulate the activity of leucocytes (cytotoxic T cells, Natural Killer cells, suppressor T cells, macrophages, etc) by secreting soluble substances (cytokines and interleukins) (8).

When LWF’s bind to the cell membrane of a helper T cell, they alter the proteins, lipids and carbohydrates in it. The helper T cell then sends confused signals to B cells which in turn secrete “useless antibodies” against the LWF’s and not the attacking organism/causative agent. Thus, the causative agent of AIDS stays unharmed, producing more LWF”s and the cycle of events continues. Other cells of the immune system are confused as well, producing an ineffective immune response.

Due to their reduced life span, weakened helper T cells decline in number and are eventually depleted leading to immune deficiency and the symptoms of AIDS. RNA viruses also invade a very few number of susceptible weakened helper T cells for their replication, with little or no harmful effect to the cells (10).

Incidental findings of these viruses on some of the weakened helper T cells may have led to the possibly erroneous HIV/AIDS hypothesis. Also some antibodies have been identified in AIDS patients (for example, by Robert Gallo and his team, who designed and patented their HIV tests) during research and may be the “useless” antibodies against secreted LWF’s (11). ‘Viral particles’ ‘markers’, etc, have also been observed by reseachers (, 13, 14, 15) and could be LWF’s themselves.

Therefore, consideration must be taken of other microorganisms as the probable cause of AIDS during research , apart from the “HIV”. Following this line of thinking, it is hoped that more fruitful results will be achieved.

EVALUATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS.

The fact the some researchers believe AIDS is not caused by a virus(5,9,13,14,15) and HIV has never been isolated following internationally accepted procedures for the isolation of retroviral particles seem to buttress the LWF Hypothesis. Retroviral particles are supposed to be located in the sediment bands at 1.16g/ml sucrose. An attempt by some researchers to isolate the virus had failed .Proteins/glycoproteins isolated from stimulated cultures form the basis of serological tests for ‘HIV’. Such proteins as gp160/150, gp120, gp41/45, p34/32, p24; said to be unique to ‘HIV’ could be fragments of LWF’s! (14, 15, 16, 17)

Other researchers believe that AIDS may be caused by a TB-type bacterium (6) and some, by a toxin. (13,14,15).This also supports the fact that helper T cell depletion may be caused by other mechanisms such as the LWF hypothesis, other than the HIV/AIDS hypothesis.

Therefore, during research, a closer look should be taken at antibody-antigen interactions for more insight into the mystery surrounding AIDS.

Also, all patients tested positive for LWF’s (the so called positive ‘HIV’ test) should have a thorough biopsy examination of a palpable groin node or any other accessible lymph nodes for possible presence of other causative agents of the disease apart from ‘HIV’.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE HYPOTHESIS AND DISCUSSION

From the foregoing discussion, it can be concluded that:

- AIDS may be caused by other micro-organisms other than the ‘HIV’ and helper T cell depletion may be caused by substances (LWF’s) secreted by the unknown causative agent.

-The presence of the asymptomatic or symptomatic stages (AIDS) can be detected by serological methods such as the Determine strips developed by Abbott Laboratories .The so called ‘viral antigens’ incorporated into the test strips could be fragments of LWF’s and the strips could be actually detecting the presence in blood of useless antibodies against LWF’s and not antibodies against a virus.

-Other hypotheses such as the LWF hypothesis should be considered during AIDS research in order for positive results to be yielded.

If one wishes to follow the example of ‘the seven wonders of the ancient world’ to name ‘the seven mysterious diseases of the world’ one is sure to put the AIDS topmost on the

REFERENCES.

1. Albert B, Shine K. Scientists and integrity of research. Science 1994; 226:1660-1661

2. Albert SL, Joseph RP. Medicine- An Illustrated History. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc; 1987: 8-9

3. Altman LK. “Researchers believe AIDS virus is found”. The New York Times 1984 April 24:C1 and C3

4. Bell R. Impure science: Fraud, compromise and political influence in scientific research. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1992: 301

5. Broxmeyer L. Is AIDS really caused by a virus? Med Hypotheses.2003 May;60 (50):671-688

6. Cantwell AR: Do TB-type bacteria cause AIDS?JOIMR 2007; 5:1-7

7. CDC. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.1999

8. Daniel PS, Abba IT. Basic Human Immunology. London: Appleton & Lange; 1991: 61-65

9. De Harvin E. Pioneer deplores “HIV” “maintaining errors is evil”. Continuum. London.1997-1998; 5(2): 24

10. Fauci AS. Immunopatogenesis of HIV infection. J Acq Immunodeficiency Syndromes 1993; 6; 655-662

11. Gallo, et al. United States Patent No. 4520113, 1985

12. Mitchell D. Clinton Foundation targets health systems combating AIDS pandemic. Reuters Health Information, February 19, 2003

13. Papadopulos-Eleopulos E, Turner VF, Papadimitrion JM & Causer D. The Isolation of HIV: has it really been achieved; The case against. Continuum (London) 1996:4(6):S1-S24

14. Papadopulos-Eleopulos E, Turner VF, Papadimitrion JM & Causer D. HIV antibodies: further questions and plea for clarification. Curr Med Res Opin 1997; 13:627-634

15. Papadopulos-Eleopulos E, Turner VF, Papadimitrion JM, el al. Why no whole virus? Continuum(London) 1997; 4(5):27-30

16. Strom S. Grant will support development of topical HIV medications. The New York Times 2003; April 1

17. “The Durban Declaration”. Nature July 6, 2000; 406:15-16

18. “The New York Times Declaration”. HIV causes AIDS. To argue otherwise costs lives. The New York Times, July 9, 2000: L-11

HIV/AIDS is the global issue of new era of science and technology and we should know that the problem of widespread AIDS is challenge for human survival. Children and young people need to be equipped with the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills that will help them face these challenges and assist them in making healthy life-style choices as they grow. Education delivered through schools is one of the ways through which children can be helped to face these challenges and make such choices.

Providing information about HIV (transmission, risk factors, how to avoid infection) is necessary, but not sufficient, to lead to healthy behavioral change. Programs that provide accurate information, to counteract the myths and misinformation, frequently report improvements in knowledge and attitudes, but this is poorly correlated with behavioral change related to risk taking and desirable behavioral outcomes. Education can be effective in the more difficult task of achieving and sustaining behavior change about HIV/AIDS. The schools can either be a place that practices discrimination, prejudice and undue fear or one that demonstrates society’s commitment to equity.School policies need to ensure that every child and adolescent has the right to life education; particularly when that education is necessary for survival and avoidance of HIV infection.

HIV infection is one of the major problems facing school-age children today. They face fear if they are ignorant, discrimination if they or a family member or friend is infected, and suffering and death if they are not able to protect themselves from this preventable disease.

It is estimated that 40 million people, worldwide, are living with HIV or have AIDS, at least a third of these are young people aged 15-24. In 1998 more than 3 million young people worldwide became infected including 590,000 children under 15. More than 8,500 children and young people become infected with HIV each day. In many countries over 50% of all infections are among 15-24 years old, who will likely develop AIDS in a period ranging from several months to more than 10 years.

Studies have shown the enormous impact HIV and AIDS have on the education sector and the quality of education provided, particularly in certain regions of the world such as Sub Saharan Africa. Consequences of the AIDS epidemic include a probable decrease in the demand for education, coupled with absenteeism and an increase in the number of orphans and school drop out, especially among girls. Girls are socially and economically more vulnerable to conditions that force people to accept risk of HIV infection in order to survive. A decrease in education for girls will have serious negative effects on progress made over the past decade toward providing an adequate education for girls and women. Reduced numbers of classes or schools, a shortage of teachers and other personnel, and shrinking resources for educational systems all impair the prospects for education.

Effective HIV/AIDS education and prevention is needed in all schools for all children so that no one is left ignorant. Yet in many places schools are apprehensive about providing sex education or discussions of sexuality because of cultural demands to protect adolescents from sexual experience. Women often lack skills needed to communicate their concerns with their sexual partners and to practice behaviors that reduce their risk of infection, such as condom use, which is often controlled by men.

The school can either be a place that practices discrimination, prejudice and undue fear or one that demonstrates society’s commitment to equity. School policies need to ensure that every child and adolescent has the right to HIV/AIDS education; particularly when that education is necessary for survival and avoidance of HIV infection.

A UNAIDS review (1997) of 53 studies which assessed the effectiveness of programs to prevent HIV infection and related health problems among young people concluded that sex education programs do not lead to earlier or increased sexual activity among young people, in fact the opposite seems to be true. 22 reported that HIV and/or sexual health education either delayed the onset of sexual activity, reduced the number of sexual partners or reduced unplanned pregnancies and STD rates. 27 studies reported that HIV/AIDS and sexual health neither increased nor decreased sexual activity, pregnancy or STD.

The review concluded that school based interventions are an effective way to reduce risk behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS/STD among children and adolescents.

There are three main objectives for this paper to integrate the education effectively with the HIV/AIDS preventions and other health aspects related with it.

These are as follows:

Objectives:

1) Health education focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention.

2) Raising awareness about HIV/AIDS among educators and learners.

3) Stimulate peer support and HIV/AIDS counseling in schools.

The main focus of the paper is to give the importance to the HIV/AIDS precaution with the health education raising the awareness about it among all the students as well as their teachers also and provide the supportive environment for the HIV/AIDS education for all.

Need of HIV/AIDS education:

In area such as HIV/AIDS prevention individual behavior, social and peer pressure, cultural norms and abusive relationships may all contribute to the health and lifestyle problems of children and adolescents. There is now increasing evidence that in tackling these issues and health problems, a healthy approach to HIV/AIDS and sex education works, and is more effective than teaching knowledge alone. T

here are numerous studies indicating that providing information about issues such as sex, STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) and HIV (transmission, risk factors, how to avoid infection) is necessary, but not sufficient, to lead to healthy behavioral change (Hubley, 2000). Programs that provide accurate information, to counteract the myths and misinformation, frequently report improvements in knowledge and attitudes, but this is poorly correlated with behavioral change related to risk taking and desirable behavioral outcomes (Gatawa 1995, UNAIDS 1997a). HIV/AIDS with health education can be effective in the more difficult task of achieving and sustaining behavior change.

Health education with HIV/AIDS is widely applicable:

This problems largely affecting men and women as well as older children and adolescents, both this age group and younger children also face a wider range of health problems where education can play a vital role in sustainable prevention and management. Health education with HIV/AIDS programs plays a vital role in preventing infections. This is done through promoting knowledge of areas such as symptoms, transmission, and behaviors that are specifically relevant to many infection in each community; attitudes such as responsibility for personal, family and community health, confidence to change unhealthy habits; skills such as avoiding behaviors that are likely to cause infection, encourage others to change unhealthy habits, communicate messages about infection to families, peers and members of the community (WHO, 1996).

 This kind of health education with HIV/AIDS prevention focuses upon the development of Knowledge, Attitudes, Values, and Skills (including life skills such as inter-personal skills, critical and creative thinking, decision making and self awareness) needed to make and act on the most appropriate and positive health-related decisions. Health in this context extends beyond physical health to include psycho-social and environmental health issues.

This approach utilizes student centered and participatory methodologies, giving participants the opportunity to explore and acquire health promoting knowledge, attitudes and values and to practice the skills they need to avoid risky and unhealthy situations and adopt and sustain healthier life styles.

HIV/AIDS – a critical need for health education:

HIV/AIDS is an area where the scale and impact of the problem is such that the urgency of implementing preventative measures, including health education, is critical. Health education programs are being increasingly adopted as means of reaching children and young people to help halt the spread of this crippling epidemic. Studies from African countries show that children between the ages of 5 and 14 have the lowest prevalence of HIV infection. Below the age of 5 they are susceptible to mother to child transmission and after they become sexually active, the rate of infection increases rapidly – especially for girls (Kelly, 2000). Children aged 5-14 need to be reached at this critical stage in their lives and offer the ‘window of hope’ in stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS.

 Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention Does Change Behavior:

There is now strong evidence from an increasing number of studies that health education HIV/AIDS prevention applied in an appropriate context, changes behavior – including behavior in sensitive and difficult areas where knowledge based health education has failed.

For example: Sexuality and HIV education –USA:

This study was implemented in 4 schools in New York City with 9th and 11th grade students (867 students), in intervention (AIDS prevention program) and control classes (no AIDS prevention program). The program focused on correcting facts about AIDS, teaching cognitive skills to appraise risk of transmission, increasing knowledge of AIDS-prevention resources, changing perceptions of risk-taking behavior, clarifying personal values, understanding external influences and teaching skills to delay intercourse and/or consistently use condoms. An evaluation carried out three months after the end of the program found that the intervention group showed the following positive behavioral outcomes when compared with the control group: decrease in intercourse with high risk partners, increase in monogamous relationships and an increase in consistent condom use. (Walter & Vaughan, 1993).

 HIV/AIDS prevention-Nigeria:

Health education programs are being implemented in many schools in Nigeria to increase levels of knowledge, influence attitudes and encourage safe sexual practices among secondary school students. A study to evaluate one such program was conducted comparing 223 students who received comprehensive sexual health education with 217 controls. Students in the intervention group received 6 weekly sessions lasting 2-6 hours, with activities including lectures, film shows, role-play stories, songs, debates, essays and a demonstration of the correct use of condoms. Following the intervention, students in the intervention group showed a greater knowledge and increased tolerance of people with AIDS compared to the control. The mean number of sexual partners also decreased in the intervention group, while the control group showed a slight increase. The program was also successful in increasing condom use (Fawole et al., 1999) Above mentioned studies shows that health education with HIV/AIDS prevention does change the behavior of students especially adolescents.

 Method for implementing Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention:

Although there is strong evidence that HIV/AIDS prevention is effective when properly applied and supported, implementing this approach and achieving this success on a larger, countrywide scale is one of the greatest challenges to be faced.

To be effective, HIV/AIDS prevention programs must address the following areas:

•Reassure stakeholders that these messages are beneficial:

Talking and teaching about reproductive health and HIV/AIDS issues does not result in earlier initiation of sex or promiscuity. The evidence suggests that well implemented skills-based programs, conducted in an atmosphere of free discussion of all the issues, is likely to lead to young people delaying the initiation of intercourse and reducing the frequency of intercourse and number of sexual partners (Kirby et al. 1994, UNAIDS 1997a).

•Provide support to teachers: The lack of support for implementation of new programs is one of the most important factors affecting success. For most teachers both the content and methods of HIV/AIDS prevention programs are new and perhaps sensitive, and yet the approach has great potential to assist teachers both in their work and also their personal lives since HIV/AIDS is, of course, also affecting teachers. Sufficient support, training, practice and time needs to be available to teachers, in both pre- and in-service training sessions and workshops, to facilitate reflection and development of their own attitudes, and to motivate them to apply their new knowledge and skills, rather than continue with the more didactic, traditional teaching methods, which are often focused on information alone (Gatawa 1995, Gachuhi 1999). In addition, sufficient time and an appropriate place must also be given in the curriculum so that all students have access to HIV/AIDS prevention.

•Start early: As well as targeting adolescents, programs need to be targeted at children at an early age, with developmentally appropriate messages, before they leave school (Gachuhi 1999, Partnership for Child Development 1998). Because younger children are generally not sexually active, these programs will address the building blocks for healthy living and avoiding risk, rather than the very specific issues related to sexual relationships and HIV/AIDS which are progressively introduced to programs for older ages. However, the large number and diverse age range of children within primary schools is an enduring challenge, especially when addressing sensitive issues. Active and self-directed learning methods which are commonly used in education can be helpful in overcoming these classroom management issues to some extent.

•Provide a supportive environment: Schools need to have strong policies and a healthy supportive environment in terms of behavior of students towards each other, teachers and school personnel. Sexual abuse can occur in schools, with both boys and girls reporting abuse by school staff (Kinsman et al. 1999, Lowensen et al. 1996). Programs need to address this potential problem by training and supporting teachers, so that they can become role models rather than neutral or adverse figures in relation to sexual behavior.

•Respond to local needs: Many of the models for HIV/AIDS prevention have been developed in western, developed countries. The available evidence from developing countries, although more limited in scope than the studies from non-developing countries, supports skills-based health education for HIV/AIDS and reproductive health (Hubley, 2000). The main issue is that wherever programs are to be implemented they must be shaped to meet the local socio-cultural norms, values and religious beliefs, and need to include ongoing monitoring (Kirby et al 1994, UNAIDS 1999, Kinsman et al.1999).

Elements of a Health Education for HIV/AIDS prevention:

Reviews of school-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs (23 studies in the USA (Kirby et al. 1994), 37 other countries (reported in UNAIDS 1999) and 53 studies in USA, Europe and elsewhere (UNAIDS 1997a) have identified the following common characteristics of successful programs:

1.Focus on a few specific behavioral goals, (such as delaying initiation of intercourse or using protection), which requires knowledge, attitude and skill objectives.

2.Provision of basic, accurate information that is relevant to behavior change, especially the risks of unprotected intercourse and methods of avoiding unprotected intercourse. 3.Reinforcement of clear and appropriate values to strengthen individual values and group norms against unprotected sex.

4.Modeling and practice in communication and negotiation skills particularly, as well as other related “life skills”.

5.Use of Social Learning theories as a foundation for program development.

6.Addressing social influences on sexual behaviors, including the important role of media and peers.

7.Use of participatory activities (games, role playing, group discussions etc.) to achieve the objectives of personalizing information, exploring attitudes and values, and practicing skills.

8.Extensive training for teachers/implementers to allow them to master the basic information about HIV/AIDS and to practice and become confident with life skills training methods.

9.Support for reproductive health and HIV/STD prevention programs by school authorities, decision and policy makers, as well as the wider community.

10.Evaluation (e.g. of outcomes, design, implementation, sustainability, school, student and community support) so that programs can be improved and successful practices encouraged.

11.Age-appropriateness, targeting students in different age groups and developmental stages with appropriate messages that are relevant to young people. For example one goal of targeting younger students, who are not yet sexually active, might be to delay the initiation of intercourse, whereas for sexually active students the emphasis might be to reduce the number of sexual partners and use condoms.

12.Gender sensitive, for both boys and girls.

 Conclusions:

 Health Education with HIV/AIDS prevention offers an effective approach to equipping children and young people with the knowledge, attitudes and skills that they need to help them avoid risk taking behavior and adopt healthier life styles. The scope of health education means that it can be applied to a wide range of areas, especially STDs and HIV/AIDS prevention, but also including violence, substance abuse, unwanted situations such as early pregnancy and all areas where knowledge and attitudes play a critical role in promoting a healthy lifestyle for children and young people growing up in the 21st century. We can sum it in following points- •The constitutional rights of learners and educators must be protected equally.

•There should not be compulsory disclosure of HIV/AIDS status.

•No HIV positive learner or educator may be discriminated against.

 •Learners must receive education about HIV/AIDS and abstinence in the context of life- skills education as part of the integrated curriculum.

•Educational institutions should ensure that learners acquire age and context appropriate knowledge and skills to enable them to behave in ways that will protect them from infection.

•Educators need more knowledge of, and skills to deal with HIV/AIDS and should be trained to give guidance on HIV/AIDS.

Suggestions for implications for policies and programmes:

•Male and female condom promotion efforts need to recognize, identify and address gender issues including sexual and other forms of violence, that inhibit condom use.

•HIV/AIDS, peer education, and sex education programmes for adolescents that incorporate gender equality issues into their framework should be fostered. Such programmes should enable a better understanding of how norms related to masculinity and femininity may increase risky sexual behaviour, and help young people begin thinking about how to work towards equal and responsible relationships.

•Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services should take into account the risk of violence and other adverse consequences when evaluating different approaches to disclosure. For example, patients can be given the choice of counsellor-mediated disclosure if that would help minimise adverse consequences.

•Both men and women should be involved in Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMtCT) programmes. Antenatal services can educate men about sexuality, fertility and HIV prevalence to raise their awareness and sense of responsibility. This would avoid reinforcing the belief that women alone are responsible for pregnancy and for HIV transmission to the infant.

•Community Home Based Care (CBBC) approaches need to include a special effort to promote the role of men as care-givers in the family and community, and to provide adequate support and guidance to enable male participation. At the very least, such programmes should acknowledge that reliance on “home care” is, at present, largely reliance on “women’s care”.

References:

1.Fawole, I.O., Asuzu, M.C., Oduntan, S.O., Brieger, W.R. (1999). A school-based AIDS education program for secondary school students in Nigeria: a review of effectiveness. Health Education Research – Theory & Practice, 14: 675-683.

 2.Gachuhi, D. (1999). The impact of HIV/AIDS on education systems in the Eastern and Southern Africa region and the response of education systems to HIV/AIDS: Life Skills Programs.

3.Gatawa, B.G. (1995). Zimbabwe: AIDS Education for schools. Case Study. UNICEF Harare Zimbabwe.

4.Hubley, J. (2000). Interventions targeted at youth aimed at influencing sexual behavior and AIDS/STDs. Leeds Health Education Database, April 2000.

5.Kelly, M.J. (2000). Standing education on its head: Aspects of schooling in a world with HIV/AIDS. Current Issues in Comparative Education. 3(1).

6.Kinsman, J., Harrison, S., Kengeya-Kayondo, J., Kanyesigye, E., Musoke, S. & Whitworth, J. (1999). Implementation of a comprehensive AIDS education program for schools in Masaka District, Uganda. AIDS CARE, 11(5): 591-601.

7.Kirby, D., Short, L., Collins, J., Rugg, D. et al. (1994). School-based programs to reduce sexual risk behaviors: a review of effectiveness. Public Health Reports, 109(3): 339-361.

8.Lowensen, R., Edwards, L. & Ndlovu-Hove, P. (1996). Reproductive health rights in Zimbabwe. Training and Research Support Centre (TARSC).

9.UNAIDS (1997a). Impact of HIV and sexual health education on the sexual behavior of young people: a review update.

10.UNAIDS (1997b). Learning and teaching about AIDS at school. UNAIDS technical update, October 1997.

11.Walter, H. & Vaughan, R. (1993). AIDS risk reduction among a multiethnic sample of urban high school students. JAMA, 270(6): 725-730.

12.WHO (1996). Preventing HIV/AIDS/STI and related discrimination: an important responsibility of health promoting schools. WHO series on school health, document six.

City hall deals with all kind of different problems regarding the entire community, and it’s surrounding, from habitat for the needy, to road maintenance, reforestation, education, health, construction and maintenance of roads, play yards, and play court for the youth. If a major disaster happens in the community city hall is the first response for whatever problem the community might face. We also deal with social problems, by preventing youths at risk, to fall into the habit of drug addiction, prostitution, or any other problem that might arise, we offer seminars, and provide the facilities for culture and sport, creating the bases for a healthy life style. In health and medicine, we work hand on hand with the communities, to prevent infectious disease, or any other that can be prevent just by handing out the right information to the population, we have been successful at doing so, and we have manage to decrease many diseases, like cholera, malaria, hepatitis, dengue etc. And we are trying to deepen in HIV awareness and sexually transmitted diseases in the past years, but we would like our population, specially the young to assist to seminar and listen first hand information, from a first world country. And if a medical brigade can sign up to volunteer, we can take them to the most remote areas in our department each day, to offer medical assistance to these families. This placement needs volunteers as medical assistance for health clinics, and community base clinics, in order to prevent, restore and provide attention to patients, in urban and rural areas as well. Our job is mostly preventive.

Volunteers can assist by doing the following tasks:

It all depends on the program the volunteer would sign up to, but we would welcome medical students and doctors, who are experienced in HIV and sexual reproductive health training. Visiting the various schools,facilitating health and hygiene training, and assisting in sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS training to prevent these disease among our population.

Volunteers must be of age 22 or above with minimum education of undergraduation. Volunteers with the following special skills are preferred for the placement:- Doctor Nurse Medical Student Pre-Med Student Wilderness First Responder First Responder Standard First-Aid Health & Hygiene Training HIV/AIDS Awareness Training Public Health Physiotherapy Sexual & Reproductive Health Training Wilderness First-Aid Natural Medicine Massage

Basecamp International Centers welcomes all the interested volunteers from around the world to volunteer and make a difference. If you are interested in this placement then please contact us for the details: Email: info@basecampcenters.com Website: www.basecampcenters.com Mailing Address 298 Bagot Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7K 3B4 Phone: 613.541.7862 Toll Free : 866.646.4693 Fax: 613.541.1604

Joseph is 26 years old and lives in Windhoek, Namibia. At the age of 21, he has unexpectedly become the father and mother of his 4 young brothers and 2 sisters, when his most loving mother, Hileni, a school teacher and city councilwoman, the only provider of the family, unexpectedly died from the HIV disease.

Their father, Samuels had died a year before. The youngest child at the time was just less than 4 years old. Fortunately, when Hileni passed away, Joseph has already graduated from high school, and he was planning on going to college, but he could never go, as he had to find a job to support his young brothers and sisters.

Joseph has a brother, Fritz, who is 23 years old and is defying the gravity of their hardship by going to college. He wants to go to Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, and then transfer to UCLA to complete his degree education, so he can one day find a good paying job to help his brothers and sisters.

And by the time Fritz completes his degree education, Joseph would be in his 30s, but Joseph also plans on going to college as soon as Fritz finishes and gets a job to help take over the family load. However for Fritz to find the money he needs to pay for his tuition and fees at SMC is another dream that needs to come true for him, which is almost impossible, his mother and father have died and they have no relatives who can afford to send them to college. With stringent bureaucracy, who and how can anyone even ask the government to help fund their education?

In Columbus, Ohio, Timothy is 20 years old and a second year student at the Ohio State University majoring in Computer Science Engineering. His mother was gunned down in a drug related accident when Timothy was just three years old. His father has had unfortunately fallen a victim of drugs and alcohol since Timothy was little, so he has never been in any place to help raise Timothy and his young brother.

Luckily, Timothy has an aunt who helped raise him and his young brother. And at the age of 14, Timothy was forced to find a job in Richmond, Virginia, at a local McDonald’s restaurant, but because he was just too young to work, he had to lie on his job application that he was in fact 16 years old. He had to work in order to support himself and his young brother.

Timothy calls himself the ‘definition’, the definition of overcoming hardship, struggle, and growing up without any proper supervision and parental love. His favorite word is ‘focus’.

Whenever you talk to Timothy, you would hear that word ‘focus’ lamenting in his tone more than a dozen times. It’s his vocabulary and his reminder to staying focus on what he has always wanted to do, reaching his goal and realizing his potential. He has already defied that by finishing high school no matter what he had faced in his early years of life and by enrolling in college to achieving his dream.

Timothy works more hours each week, more than the hours he needs to study. He has to work in order to pay for his rent and housing expenses, for him and his young brother. However, he’s at least fortunate that he has financial aid and student loans from the U.S. Department of Education to pay for his tuition and fees at the Ohio State University.

Zanelle is a 16 years old from Soweto, South Africa. She has three sisters and one brother. Her father died of AIDS when she was just 12 years old and her mother died of the same disease when she was 14 years old. At 16, Zanelle is the mother and father, provider and bread-winner of her siblings. She dropped out of school in order to work as a brick layer in order to earn money to help and support her brother and sisters.

Her relatives, aunts and uncles have also died of AIDS and the few remaining relatives are also HIV positive. Her 79 years old grandmother is the only one left to help out at home, but what can she really do at her age, except to look after the kids when Zanelle goes to work?

In the rural areas of India, there’s a place well known as Destiny Village (http://www.destinyvillage.org), with children, mostly orphanage, some of whom were abandoned by their families. This same Destiny Village has also been setup in Haiti to help house the same type of children. These two houses have been generously setup and sponsored by members of The Potter’s House Church of God (http://www.pottershouse.org) in Columbus, Ohio, under the leadership of the anointed, Pastor Tim Oldfield.

Some or all of the children in the Destiny Village housing projects, if it was not for the Potter’s House initiatives to help them by providing them with adequate housing, food, and education, God only knows where these kids would be today, most of them would probably be dead, or staying homeless as they once were prior to the Potter’s House initiatives to help them.

In the rural areas of Lundazi in Zambia, Mathias Zimba, director of Rising Fountain Development Program (http://www.risingfountains.org) is trying his utmost best to help families; grandparents, children and HIV positive victims in the whole rural area of Lundazi to have access to medical facilities and education.

Lundazi is one of the largest Districts in the Eastern part of Zambia, with a total population of 296,560, of which the majority live in the Lundazi rural area, while only a small part of the population lives in the city district.

Most of the population of the Lundazi area is HIV positive for those who are still living, while the majority of the parents have died of HIV and only the grandparents are left to raise and look after the orphanage kids.

When only the grandparents, most of them are in their late 70s and 80s, they cannot really provide the children with the care they need and cannot also help them with their educational work, as what normal parents would do. Because most of the grandparents were born during the colonialism and did not have opportunity to get an education. Thus now, the cycle of illiteracy continuous to repeat itself.

“There are a number of policies that have been put in place and slowly being implemented by the Zambian government, though the challenge is that, most of these policies are really only effective in urban areas and trickle at a snail rate into rural areas” said Zimba.

Among some of the notable policies in place by the Zambian government include:

Education Policy – free education for all at Basic Education. However the challenge is that despite being a policy, school authorities still charge a fee ‘user fee’ for students to pay.

“This money is used for operational costs for the school to cover the deficit they have from their lean budgets. Now, in rural areas, where on earth can a family with almost no income meet these costs? The end solution is that in rural areas, some children, particularly girls are left out from school and are forced into early marriages and so forth” said Mr. Zimba.

Healthcare Policy – free HIV/AIDS drugs to people infected with the disease. Zimba said that this is a wonderful policy to allow people who are HIV positive to have access to life saving drugs.

“The challenge is that most of the rural area clinics are centralized near the urban areas and sick people need to walk by foot almost 120 km (about 75 miles) to access the help they desperately need. There is no reliable transportation, despite the community efforts to put up good feeder roads and in the end; people are just dying in the rural areas” said Mr. Zimba.

“What are the consequences? HIV is increasingly being spread throughout the country and grandmothers are now taking over, looking after their grandchildren as due to the death of their own children” Said Zimba.

Agricultural Policy – a good policy has been put in place relating to marketing of farm produce to allow local farmers to sell their produce through a liberalized system in order to earn a few monies to support their families.

“The challenge is that despite all of these wonderful policies for Agriculture, in rural areas, we are only seeing a few “unscrupulous” traders who come and rip off poor farmers and buy their produce at extremely low prices” states Zimba.

“Our main goal really is to help children and women in these areas of Zambia to have a future and fulfill their dreams. But to do that, we need advocacy on our work so that people who have power and resources can help us meet our objectives. We need to help children to have food on the table, medical, clothes and most importantly, a good health system” cries Zimba.

One of the projects that are currently helping and working with the Rising Fountain Development Program is The Pencil Project (http://www.thepencilproject.com) led by Maria Vick and is based in South Carolina, USA.

“I lived in Swaziland as a child and was able to witness poverty firsthand. As you know, a trip to Africa will change anyone forever. I was always struck by the joy and gratefulness that I found in the African people despite the fact that so many had so little” states Mrs. Vick.

“As I’ve matured, now at 36 years of age, I have come to believe that education is the only real way out of poverty and that all the world’s children should have access to the tools they need. A pack of one dozen pencils, something that people in well developed countries take for granted, could help 12 children” states Mrs. Vick.

“In just a short time, my project has gotten a pencil into the hands of over 10,000 needy children. The pencil, though a simple thing, symbolizes education and the promise that I would like every child to feel” Says Maria Vick.

Mrs. Vick says that she acts as a ‘matchmaker’ between a donor school and a needy school. People come to her website who are looking for an easy way to help children in need. The donor school will collect pencils and then ship them to the needy school that she has found for them. And that’s how her organization started working with Mathias Zimba and the Rising Fountain Development Program.

“I believe that Mathias first contacted me, I can’t remember, and we sent an initial shipment of pencils to his students. He responded so beautifully by sending me many photos of the children receiving the pencils. They were so grateful! Their photo is on my homepage. Simon, I cried for days” sadly states Mrs. Vick.

“I have helped numerous needy schools around the world since my project’s inception but something about this program, about Mathias Zimba, and about these students have touched me as they have touched you. I have pledged to personally collect supplies for their school and am currently sending two additional parcels a month of paper, books, etc. all on my own dime” cries Mrs. Vick.

“The children have nothing, no shoes, and no blankets, nothing…and yet they try to come to school every day with a smile on their face. I don’t believe that the UN or any government for that matter is doing much to help the world’s children. There are children that are forgotten all over the world. Even in my state of South Carolina, we have school districts that are terribly underfunded (http://www.corridorofshame.com). I personally feel that we cannot wait for the government to come through for these children. They need materials now and every day that goes by is another lost opportunity for them. I won’t wait for the government. I just want to put the materials into their hands” states Mrs. Vick.

“As far as the children left homeless by AIDS, it is devastating. But it’s all part of a much larger problem which comes back to education. Knowledge is power, Simon. I know that you understand that. It is often difficult to recruit people to help in these efforts if they have never been to Africa or have only ’seen’ poverty through the television screen in their warm, comfortable living room. That’s why I am focused on the younger generation—the children who email me every day to help. They are so eager and so willing to help build their generation. It encourages me that my small idea has blossomed into something that I never could have imagined” states Mrs. Vick.

Mathias Zimba states that his organization’s main goal is to help children and women in these areas of Zambia to have a future and fulfill their dreams. “But to do that, we need advocacy for our work so that people who have power and resources can help us meet our objectives. We need to help children to have food on the table, medical, clothes and most importantly, a good health system” cries Mr. Zimba.

“Our current urgent need is to allocate funding to help pay teachers at our rural community school, which is US$150 a month in salary for a qualified teacher to work in the rural areas. We need to recruit two qualified teachers to help out. Currently we are only working with volunteers and there is no consistency” Says Zimba.

“Rehabilitation of water wells. Water borne diseases thrive in the rural areas and we want to help them rehabilitate and maintain by forming a water committee. It costs around US$400 to rehabilitate a well and we need to help them rehab approximately 5 wells that will serve 300 members” states Mathias Zimba.

The most important problem currently facing Mr. Zimba is to find someone who may be willing to help them through donations or grants to buy a vehicle that they can use for an ambulance which will help people in his communities be able to go to healthcare clinics and receive medical care they so desperately need.

Most sick people when they walk the long distance to go to collect their daily HIV dozes of medicines, most of them don’t even make it back. They die on the way to the clinics because it takes them up to 3 days to get there by foot.

And when they don’t return home, the kids ask, who’s taking away all of our parents? Who’s killing our parents? Doesn’t God love us anymore? Why has God forsaken us?

The grandparents have no answers to any of these questions, they simply look at the kids and tell them that it’s God’s will that He’s taking them away.

Some of the people, who can afford, use donkey carts to go to and back from the clinics. Zimba believes that finding someone to help them with a van that they can use as a vehicle will tremendously help them solve one of the most critical problems of getting the sick to the healthcare.

The week of October 16, 2007, Jennie who is one of the volunteers from Ireland who arrived last week to volunteer at the Rising Fountain Development Program, brought Mr. Zimba and his team an award, presented to them by Mayor Edwin Stevenson of Limavady City, Ireland, who awarded Mathias Zimba and his group as a recognition for their outstanding community work.

“This is great news for all of us. It’s a great daily challenge being faced with so many problems in our community, and this award encourages us to work relentlessly and help people in our community as much as we can. We just need help, more resources and supports in order to enable us to carry on with our tasks, even a small contribution can help make a difference in a big way” states Mr. Zimba.

In the near future, Mathias Zimba and his organization want to initiate a cooperative program to help farmers sell their produce at economic prices and raise income for their savings.

“There are many other organizations such as WVI, Global Fund, and others that are working for the same cause in Zambia, but most of these organizations are centralized in large cities and towns and don’t really reach people in rural areas” says Mr. Zimba.

There are many Josephs, Timothys, Zanelles, Destiny Villages and Lundazis out there, all around us, everywhere in the world, and the question is, what are you doing to help out?

If you would like to learn more or find out how you can help Mathias Zimba and his organization, The Rising Fountain Development Program, please visit their web site at http://www.risingfountains.org.

Uganda is one of the most beautiful bastions of the African wilderness and has everything for a global tourist or even a backpacker. From trekking opportunities in the volcanic Great Rift Valley to exploring the Gorilla hideouts deep in the mountains; from sunbathing at the isolated and magnificent beaches on the Ssese Islands that seem to be floating in Lake Victoria to being captivated by the mystic Jinja, the source point

for the great river Nile, Uganda has just about anything.

Why Volunteer In Uganda

Uganda has a wealth of natural resources but at the same time, it is also a poverty stricken country that has been through civil wars, a cannibalistic dictator and also comes under the AIDS/HIV radar. Volunteering in Uganda will not only open you mind to different cultures and a society that has existed since the early civilizations but also to the depravation that people in Africa have learnt to carry in their stride for too long.

Types Of Projects Available

As a part of volunteering in Uganda, you will get to choose the kind of project you are interested in. The different types if projects available include:

• Working with Ugandan orphanages: You will get to work with the hundreds and thousands of orphans who have either lost their parents in a war or who have been left homeless by famines. These orphaned children would probably die due to malnutrition but with a little care can grow up to be the future of the country.

• Teaching: There are different languages that you can teach in Uganda but the most prominent being English. There are projects for teaching English to elementary school children and even orphans in a small village called Niyakasiru.

• Community Development: In Uganda, there are no communities but groups of villages get together to support each other through all the strife and disasters that have struck the country in the recent past. As a part of the community development project, you can contribute a lot towards creating health awareness, take care of various problems being faced in the day-to-day life by Ugandans and work at temporary teachers in their schools, which are not even sub-standard.

• HIV/AIDS Project: Africa is believed to have the maximum number of HIV/AIDS affected people. Hence this is the first place to start. In a world where scientists are trying every method possible to develop a miracle medicine for AIDS, the only way to fight it right now is by making people aware of the consequences. As a part of the AIDS/HIV program, you will get to take care of people who are already suffering from it and also at the same time, work with community programs to offer more information on how to prevent it in the first place.

• Community Work with the tribal: There are different types of tribes in Thailand and as a volunteer in Thailand, you will get to concentrate your efforts towards helping the tribal children and women.

• Health Projects: There are several health projects that you can contribute to. The medical infrastructure in Uganda is not strong enough and you assistance in developing one can do a lot of good to the country’s future.

• Conservation Projects: There are different types of conservation projects in Uganda that vary from water conservation to Gorilla and Chimpanzee conservations. These are interesting projects and will help in keeping the African Wilderness alive

Volunteer Requirements

Age: The minimum age for volunteering in Uganda should be 16 or older.

Experience: There is no experience required for most of the programs. But if you are volunteering for specialized programs in clinical operation or in HIV/AIDS programs then you will need to have some amount of experience or certification to assist in medical treatments etc.

Application process: You will need to provide a resume to start with

All volunteer programs in Thailand are open to participants from all over the world and to individuals, families and couples.

Fee and Other details

There is a fee attached to each of the projects that you volunteer for. The fee is charged in advance and is charged for the following:

1. Housing

2. Food/meals

3. In-country training

4. Transportation within the region

5. Staff support

Conclusion

There is so much that you can contribute to in Uganda and to its people. Africa is considered to be the cradle of civilization and it’s high time everyone started looking at it as one and treating the people out there with equal respect.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a condition that gradually destroys the body’s immune defense system and makes the body vulnerable to opportunistic diseases. It is caused by infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). After HIV invades the body, it lives and multiplies in the white blood cells, which are the cells that protect the body from disease. As the virus multiplies, it damages or kills these and other cells, and the body becomes prey to a wide range of disease-causing microbes. When HIV has destroyed enough white blood cells, the body is no longer able to fight off many infections, and a person begins to get sick. If a person with HIV infection has not had many white cells die, that person feels fine and looks fine.

Wash eyes and skin immediately with running water should they be splashed with blood or body fluids.

Disinfect body with sodium hypochlorite solution. Wash with a germicidal soap and rinse thoroughly. Keep water pressure low to avoid splashing.

Use electric aspirator to aspirate body fluids. Cover draining port to avoid flashback.

Biological safety cabinets (Class I or II) and other primary containment devices (e.g., centrifuge safety cups) are advised whenever procedures are conducted that have a high potential for creating aerosols or infectious droplets. These include centrifuging, blending, sonicating, vigorous mixing, and harvesting infected tissues from animals or embryonated eggs. Fluorescent activated cell sorters generate droplets that could potentially result in infectious aerosols.

Avoid sex with individuals who are in a ‘high risk’ group such as – male and female prostitutes, homosexuals, bisexuals, people with multiple partners, individuals who have had sexual contact with an AIDS patient, hemophiliacs, patients on renal dialysis, intravenous drug abusers etc.

To manage HIV infection requires, as a starting point, identification of those who are infected in a non-discriminating and non-threatening way. The ANC-led government is therefore increasing access to counseling and voluntary testing at health facilities and non-medical sites. It is promoting the use of rapid tests that have proven to be accessible, and cost-effective.

Married men and women. Among married people in every country surveyed, the most common reported change in sexual behavior in response to AIDS is to restrict sex to the person’s spouse Other changes that married respondents mention include using condoms, asking the spouse to be faithful, having fewer sex partners, stopping sex entirely, avoiding sex with prostitutes, and not using unspecialized needles for injections.   

Condoms have an 85 percent (annual) success rate in protecting against pregnancy. That’s a 15 percent failure rate. But a woman can get pregnant only about six days per month. HIV can infect a person 31 days per month. Latex rubber, from which latex gloves and condoms are made, has tiny, naturally occurring voids or capillaries measuring on the order of one micron in diameter. Pores or holes 5 microns in diameter have been detected in cross sections of latex gloves. (A micron is one-thou-sandth of a millimeter.) Latex condoms will generally block the human sperm, which is much larger than the HIV virus.

Since it includes heterosexual males and females with multiple sex partners, hemophiliacs, and habitual intravenous drug users , therefore , only safe sex is the first and foremost step to be taken in this regard.