My research among teens suggests that emails are becoming passé and text messaging is their latest fad. I say “fad” because youth are fickle and are into the latest trends, especially if they are in the forefront of using novel technologies that adults are ignorant of or find uncomfortable to use. I am specifically talking about the majority of the under 18 crowd. This change has become apparent to me when the emails I’ve been sending out – often with important info that the kids want to have – are not read or answered in a week’s time. Frustrated, I would call and if I got through, they would say “we tried to send you text messages” but I would apologize and say that I don’t have “it.” Am I out of the loop or what?
Okay, okay… I know what you are thinking. Maybe they just don’t want to talk with Dr. John. But in the last two years, I have discovered there has been a seismic shift in teen communication. They now rely on texting to send quick messages to touch base with friends throughout the day.
So why have emails fallen out of favor so fast with the younger set?
Well, you have to be online, usually at a computer, to have access to the internet. Some hand held devices like Blackberries and iPhones can give you access to your emails but you are paying a lot extra for that service. And sometimes when you open an email, the sender receives notification that you have seen it, so…
A few teens suggested that they see emails as being more adult-oriented. Their parents use them for work; schools send out official messages; and there’s way too much spam geared to older audiences. One mentioned she’s gets regular emails from her grandmother who expect newsy answers back in well-written English -- syntax, spelling et al. Ugh!
Which brings us to another point – texting uses a short-hand version of teen talk. At YAMI-U, the organizers passed out 2 pages of simplified text talk with the well-known “lol” for “laugh out loud,” but also including brb (be right back) and g2g (got to go). They favor lower case type “to save time.” Simplifying wordy sentences to express yourself succinctly is a key reason why text is so popular. Importantly, it only takes seconds, not minutes.
And it can be done in class under the teacher’s nose – literally. A number of students hide it under the desktop or a notebook and text away. Oh, did I mention text messaging is a widespread way of cheating? I’ve yet to hear a teen say they don’t think it exists in their school. I see more youth in a darkened movie theater sending out messages on faint-lit screens like lighters at a concert – except now audiences hold up their cell phones like they once held up candles and flashlights at Woodstock.
How much is text messaging used? At one high school, I was interviewing a Senior about this subject. Within the space of a few minutes, she answered three messages. When I asked how many she normally received in a day, she smirked and said she had already had 371. And it was only 11 am! Her boyfriend said he gets about 200 or so but that since he played baseball, he didn’t have as much time to text. I have heard other numbers but none were less than 75 daily (I think I am productive when I can answer 30-40 emails and send out 40-50). Email messaging it appears, is going the way of the dinosaur at least when young. In short, texting allows for very quick and snappy exchanges -- until they get older and need to communicate more complicated thoughts and feelings.
So how does this mode affect boyfriend/girlfriend relationships? Texting is used for love talk: <3 (heart) and 143 (I love you). As of this moment, there exists no way to text “I wanna have sex with you” but give that another couple of months. I was surprised to learn that even intimate phoning among lovers and sex partners has been surpassed by texting. A number of teens say they find open-ended calls problematic because “Who hangs up first?” One guy said he didn’t like being put on the spot by girls who insist he tells them, “I love you.” Yet he admitted that he does like talking to his gfs (girlfriends) on his cell in bed to get off before sleeping. That is pretty hard to do with acronym-based text but it is probably the way of the future. How soon before enterprising entrepreneurs with an eye to the youth market will come out with an online handbook for text talk? (Some cell phones are providing shortcuts like“T9,” etc.).
In a future blog, I’ll discuss teens communicating by Facebook, MySpace, Twittering and IM.
I’m going to buy a Blackberry and learn how to text proficiently if I can get my thumbs to hit the right keys. Over the next six months, TeenAIDS will be moving more into this sphere with a better interactive website that will increase our texting ability to stay in touch with PeerCorps teens and promoting global and local activism. Stay tuned.
OMG! I meant to type tbc (to be continued).
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Washington and YAMI U
It’s Saturday and the rain is starting. I am in Washington, D.C. for the Youth AIDS Media Institute (YAMI) pilot program to train young people in novel technological approaches. This amazing event relies on significant input from each participant in designing a national AIDS awareness program. I am chaperoning four of our PeerCorps youth, Megan Benevides, Peter Keto, Matt Hawkins and Chris Downs, all communications students from Fitchburg State College (you can view their pics and bios under "Weekly Volunteers"). The innovative training sessions are sponsored by Motorola Foundation and our funding partners in our 2007 and 2008 PSAs, Cable Positive and its Tony Cox Community Foundation.
Seventeen youth from New England, New York and Washington have come together three days ago for the week-long production workshop. Separated into four teams, our TeenAIDS volunteers are assigned to handle major tasks including writing, research, production and filming. As I write this blog, they are appearing in the PSA shoot that will air on cable stations later this year.
The youngest participant is 16 years old; the oldest is 24. The group is evenly divided among females/males with a few more high school students than college age. Racially and ethnically, it is a mixed group as well. After a getting-to-know-each-other period, they settled down to flush out the theme based on "There's no LOL in HIV" as the tag line to the campaign. But how to hook youth?
Eventually, they chose to use a graduation idea where youth are shown as typical yearbook entries. For example, "Best Dressed... except when it comes to wearing a condom" (featuring Matt); "Most Popular... until her partners found out they were infected" (Megan); and "Most Valued Player... too bad his helmut was his only protection" (Chris). Peter "starred" as the Emoticon (emote-icon) symbol with his legs in red tights!
A typical day starts with a group buffet breakfast and notices from the staffers. Then the teams break into small and intense discussions on these components: print; webcast; texting: and video. The work continues through evening with lunch and dinner breaks and plenty of laughs. it is no exaggeration to say these seventeen youth have bonded and will be texting for many months to come.
When asked what he thought about YAMI, Peter exclaimed, "Boss!" Megan described it as "... bringing AIDS education to a new technological level." Matt called it "An incredible experience." Chris said it was "An amazing opportunity." I am very proud of their contributions to the group effort.
Cable Positive’s Thomas Henning, Jennifer Medina Matsuki, Max Johnson, Patrice Armour and Parita Patel have done an incredible job putting together this major logistical event with the help of Motorola; “the watsons” (creative team); Look Alikes (filmmakers) and many other professionals.
Motorola Foundation donated $250,000 to fund the program and gave each youth a Krave ZN4, a multi-purpose phone to use and we have just learned, to keep! Zunita Henderson, Senior Manager, Account Marketing, made the announcement official. Together with Tavius Jackson, the two Motorola reps made sure that YAMI-U was given everything it needed to succeed. The students have been texting, shooting, accessing the internet and finding new ways to use these handheld devices. I wrote a White Paper for the Conference training manual that talks about how new, emerging technologies is rapidly replacing the old, tried and true communication modes (see link to YAMI).
I would like to thank the wait staff that served our meals and snacks at the Hilton Garden Inn: Denise Delaney and Gennaro Scotto di Luzio, both friendly and gracious people (note: their supervisor George Hummel should be proud).
Postscript: We had a brief sit-down meeting with Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in the ornate Senate Russell Building on Capital Hill. He was interested in their work and was most gracious to have the Senate photographer take our group photo. Before the meeting, we visited the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials. We also conducted interviews and outreach with scores of youth on the subject of teen thinking on AIDS vulnerability and how they communicate with friends (see my following blog for answers).
Seventeen youth from New England, New York and Washington have come together three days ago for the week-long production workshop. Separated into four teams, our TeenAIDS volunteers are assigned to handle major tasks including writing, research, production and filming. As I write this blog, they are appearing in the PSA shoot that will air on cable stations later this year.
The youngest participant is 16 years old; the oldest is 24. The group is evenly divided among females/males with a few more high school students than college age. Racially and ethnically, it is a mixed group as well. After a getting-to-know-each-other period, they settled down to flush out the theme based on "There's no LOL in HIV" as the tag line to the campaign. But how to hook youth?
Eventually, they chose to use a graduation idea where youth are shown as typical yearbook entries. For example, "Best Dressed... except when it comes to wearing a condom" (featuring Matt); "Most Popular... until her partners found out they were infected" (Megan); and "Most Valued Player... too bad his helmut was his only protection" (Chris). Peter "starred" as the Emoticon (emote-icon) symbol with his legs in red tights!
A typical day starts with a group buffet breakfast and notices from the staffers. Then the teams break into small and intense discussions on these components: print; webcast; texting: and video. The work continues through evening with lunch and dinner breaks and plenty of laughs. it is no exaggeration to say these seventeen youth have bonded and will be texting for many months to come.
When asked what he thought about YAMI, Peter exclaimed, "Boss!" Megan described it as "... bringing AIDS education to a new technological level." Matt called it "An incredible experience." Chris said it was "An amazing opportunity." I am very proud of their contributions to the group effort.
Cable Positive’s Thomas Henning, Jennifer Medina Matsuki, Max Johnson, Patrice Armour and Parita Patel have done an incredible job putting together this major logistical event with the help of Motorola; “the watsons” (creative team); Look Alikes (filmmakers) and many other professionals.
Motorola Foundation donated $250,000 to fund the program and gave each youth a Krave ZN4, a multi-purpose phone to use and we have just learned, to keep! Zunita Henderson, Senior Manager, Account Marketing, made the announcement official. Together with Tavius Jackson, the two Motorola reps made sure that YAMI-U was given everything it needed to succeed. The students have been texting, shooting, accessing the internet and finding new ways to use these handheld devices. I wrote a White Paper for the Conference training manual that talks about how new, emerging technologies is rapidly replacing the old, tried and true communication modes (see link to YAMI).
I would like to thank the wait staff that served our meals and snacks at the Hilton Garden Inn: Denise Delaney and Gennaro Scotto di Luzio, both friendly and gracious people (note: their supervisor George Hummel should be proud).
Postscript: We had a brief sit-down meeting with Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in the ornate Senate Russell Building on Capital Hill. He was interested in their work and was most gracious to have the Senate photographer take our group photo. Before the meeting, we visited the Lincoln and Vietnam Memorials. We also conducted interviews and outreach with scores of youth on the subject of teen thinking on AIDS vulnerability and how they communicate with friends (see my following blog for answers).
Friday, February 20, 2009
Once a PeerCorps, Always a...
Former PeerCorps Youth Stay Involved.
It is thrilling for me to hear from former PeerCorps volunteers whom I trained years ago. Out of the clear blue, an email will arrive from once-teens but now young adults asking if I remember them. Of course I do, yet, sometimes I need to check my rolodex to be sure as many youth share similar-looking names and I have my Senior moments (hey, I am 61 years old next week). I am so happy that they remember me and TeenAIDS’ mission. I am also pleased when I am told that there is a new baby “John” somewhere -- although one former Cambodian volunteer Nareach named his son “Jhon.” Close enough…
I have a few godchildren. There’s James (son of volunteer Hung and his wife, My Hanh). And John (son of my Vietnamese volunteer Tai). Recently, I was asked to be godfather to Sharon Achieng and Christine Akiny, daughters of former Kenyan volunteer Joshua Omondi. And there are others in other countries. I wish I was financially able to make their lives better but their parents understand that is not possible.
But back to the subject of hearing from former volunteers – many of whom want to know when I will be walking again in their countries. Unfortunately, I rarely return because money is tight and I have made a commitment to spreading the PeerCorps model far and wide to 83 countries so far. However, there are exceptions.
Mashinani PeerCorps is now set up in Kenya (see previous blogs).
On my Heart of Africa Walk in late 2008, I had planned on visiting four troubled nations where AIDS and recent civil strife have impacted young lives, namely, Sudan, Rwanda, Congo DRC and Angola. For a number of reasons, Angola just wasn’t in the cards and so plans changed. Yet traveling to the three others meant taking a regional carrier and I chose Air Kenya (I really liked their staff). This required going through Nairobi four times during the course of my trip and I am glad I did. Intra-continental travel is such that flights are not always frequent.
On my way to Sudan, we had to stay over night to catch the late afternoon flight. A former volunteer from 2000, Maximilla Okello had emailed me on numerous occasions telling me about her AIDS work with students and how she used theater to teach HIV prevention, a method close to my heart (“Stop Action Theater”). I told her I would meet her again at Nyumbani AIDS Orphanage.
The very first day, we traveled to the Nyumbani. While waiting for Maximilla to arrive from the country (six hours by bus), I toured the grounds and met many new HIV-positive teens. I also met some who remembered me when I stayed there for three weeks almost eight years previously. I would say, “Are you sure?” One teen said, “I remember your flower shirts and smile.”
I was surprised when I ran into Joshua Michael Omondi who was working on the grounds. I didn’t know he was still at Nyumbani. Another volunteer met me there too. From this core group and adding new ones, Mashinani PeerCorps was formed in January, 2009. You can hear more about this new group and how these twenty-somethings (most former volunteers trained by me) are planning to reach out to youth across Kenya. They are doing this on a very poor budget because none of these young people have the means to support the new start-up. I am sending a little money but I really don’t have enough myself.
They could use a PC laptop. Sending it into Kenya can be problematic but if a reader of this blog is traveling to Kenya, they would be overjoyed to meet you and receive a gift from you. I don’t want to get their hopes up but life often works in mysterious ways. Contact me for more information.
It is thrilling for me to hear from former PeerCorps volunteers whom I trained years ago. Out of the clear blue, an email will arrive from once-teens but now young adults asking if I remember them. Of course I do, yet, sometimes I need to check my rolodex to be sure as many youth share similar-looking names and I have my Senior moments (hey, I am 61 years old next week). I am so happy that they remember me and TeenAIDS’ mission. I am also pleased when I am told that there is a new baby “John” somewhere -- although one former Cambodian volunteer Nareach named his son “Jhon.” Close enough…
I have a few godchildren. There’s James (son of volunteer Hung and his wife, My Hanh). And John (son of my Vietnamese volunteer Tai). Recently, I was asked to be godfather to Sharon Achieng and Christine Akiny, daughters of former Kenyan volunteer Joshua Omondi. And there are others in other countries. I wish I was financially able to make their lives better but their parents understand that is not possible.
But back to the subject of hearing from former volunteers – many of whom want to know when I will be walking again in their countries. Unfortunately, I rarely return because money is tight and I have made a commitment to spreading the PeerCorps model far and wide to 83 countries so far. However, there are exceptions.
Mashinani PeerCorps is now set up in Kenya (see previous blogs).
On my Heart of Africa Walk in late 2008, I had planned on visiting four troubled nations where AIDS and recent civil strife have impacted young lives, namely, Sudan, Rwanda, Congo DRC and Angola. For a number of reasons, Angola just wasn’t in the cards and so plans changed. Yet traveling to the three others meant taking a regional carrier and I chose Air Kenya (I really liked their staff). This required going through Nairobi four times during the course of my trip and I am glad I did. Intra-continental travel is such that flights are not always frequent.
On my way to Sudan, we had to stay over night to catch the late afternoon flight. A former volunteer from 2000, Maximilla Okello had emailed me on numerous occasions telling me about her AIDS work with students and how she used theater to teach HIV prevention, a method close to my heart (“Stop Action Theater”). I told her I would meet her again at Nyumbani AIDS Orphanage.
The very first day, we traveled to the Nyumbani. While waiting for Maximilla to arrive from the country (six hours by bus), I toured the grounds and met many new HIV-positive teens. I also met some who remembered me when I stayed there for three weeks almost eight years previously. I would say, “Are you sure?” One teen said, “I remember your flower shirts and smile.”
I was surprised when I ran into Joshua Michael Omondi who was working on the grounds. I didn’t know he was still at Nyumbani. Another volunteer met me there too. From this core group and adding new ones, Mashinani PeerCorps was formed in January, 2009. You can hear more about this new group and how these twenty-somethings (most former volunteers trained by me) are planning to reach out to youth across Kenya. They are doing this on a very poor budget because none of these young people have the means to support the new start-up. I am sending a little money but I really don’t have enough myself.
They could use a PC laptop. Sending it into Kenya can be problematic but if a reader of this blog is traveling to Kenya, they would be overjoyed to meet you and receive a gift from you. I don’t want to get their hopes up but life often works in mysterious ways. Contact me for more information.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A very unusual Blog – reader beware!
This blog has been percolating in my head like a finely brewing cup of coffee that is in imminent danger of burning. With as little melodrama as I can avoid, let me lay IT out because there’s nothing more to lose. Essentially, I have lost everything I own by volunteering the last twelve years of my life to the cause of warning teens about the unseen danger of HIV/AIDS. I have never been able to take a salary – nothing – since TeenAIDS became a 501 c 3 in 1997 because donations always went to fund our ambitious programs, not overhead expenses. And now the result is clear.
The bank is ready to foreclose on my home that houses TeenAIDS; I am selling off my possessions to pay the utilities and necessities; and my car was towed away today because it was totaled in a bad December ice storm that ravaged central Massachusetts while I was in the Congo. An intern had left it parked outside the garage when a tree demolished it. I had some insurance but you know how that business runs. After the deduction, I was left with a check that is enough to pay off a few months of past mortgage payments. I now live below the poverty line.
With the economy in a nose-dive, charitable contributions have all but dried up. I don’t want sympathy because there are many people I know suffering much more. My emails are filled with pleas from youth around the world asking for financial help after they took up my call to get involved in peer-led volunteerism to fight HIV. No longer can I send them modest donations of support. The PeerCorps model is still the most effective method to persuade adolescents to take responsibility for their high-risk behaviors. But I am a realist. My global outreach is now over. I am proud that 330,000 young people have been personally trained in the 83 countries that I have walked in. Yet, the well has just about dried up in these financially troubled times.
A few months ago, a major donor asked me to admit my mistake – namely, that it was my fault that I didn’t insist on taking even partial pay. Heck, I am willing to list many failings but at that time, I was still the optimist. As one dear friend constantly reminds me, “John, every time things look bleak, something always happens that keeps TeenAIDS going.” And she was right. Operating TeenAIDS on a small budget provided by loyal donors has been like a rickety roller coaster ride, exhilarating on the climb and scary on the turns.
Truth be told, I am a purist. I didn’t want to compromise our medically accurate teachings to gain the favor of government or religious support. If we had been willing to preach “Abstinence-only-before-marriage” dogma and not tell the whole truth to teens, we could have received grants and I could have been paid a modest amount to survive on.
I am writing the book that I should have written years ago but perhaps the time is right now. It will tell the whole story about making a commitment to take the AIDS prevention campaign to the streets of the world – the many ups and downs and successes along the way – with no holds barred.
Let me make this clear - we are each responsible for making our own beds and nothing comes from whining. At this point, the PeerCorps legacy will survive. How, I am not quite sure. All options are on the table. Certainly, a manuscript that details the rising youth HIV epidemic and tells the stories of young heroes in communities worldwide will serve as a beacon for proactive volunteer efforts.
I believe in this humanitarian cause with passion and the dedication of my life.
The bank is ready to foreclose on my home that houses TeenAIDS; I am selling off my possessions to pay the utilities and necessities; and my car was towed away today because it was totaled in a bad December ice storm that ravaged central Massachusetts while I was in the Congo. An intern had left it parked outside the garage when a tree demolished it. I had some insurance but you know how that business runs. After the deduction, I was left with a check that is enough to pay off a few months of past mortgage payments. I now live below the poverty line.
With the economy in a nose-dive, charitable contributions have all but dried up. I don’t want sympathy because there are many people I know suffering much more. My emails are filled with pleas from youth around the world asking for financial help after they took up my call to get involved in peer-led volunteerism to fight HIV. No longer can I send them modest donations of support. The PeerCorps model is still the most effective method to persuade adolescents to take responsibility for their high-risk behaviors. But I am a realist. My global outreach is now over. I am proud that 330,000 young people have been personally trained in the 83 countries that I have walked in. Yet, the well has just about dried up in these financially troubled times.
A few months ago, a major donor asked me to admit my mistake – namely, that it was my fault that I didn’t insist on taking even partial pay. Heck, I am willing to list many failings but at that time, I was still the optimist. As one dear friend constantly reminds me, “John, every time things look bleak, something always happens that keeps TeenAIDS going.” And she was right. Operating TeenAIDS on a small budget provided by loyal donors has been like a rickety roller coaster ride, exhilarating on the climb and scary on the turns.
Truth be told, I am a purist. I didn’t want to compromise our medically accurate teachings to gain the favor of government or religious support. If we had been willing to preach “Abstinence-only-before-marriage” dogma and not tell the whole truth to teens, we could have received grants and I could have been paid a modest amount to survive on.
I am writing the book that I should have written years ago but perhaps the time is right now. It will tell the whole story about making a commitment to take the AIDS prevention campaign to the streets of the world – the many ups and downs and successes along the way – with no holds barred.
Let me make this clear - we are each responsible for making our own beds and nothing comes from whining. At this point, the PeerCorps legacy will survive. How, I am not quite sure. All options are on the table. Certainly, a manuscript that details the rising youth HIV epidemic and tells the stories of young heroes in communities worldwide will serve as a beacon for proactive volunteer efforts.
I believe in this humanitarian cause with passion and the dedication of my life.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Bits and Pieces #2: "Mashinani," Kenya and Maggiore dies.
Mashinani PeerCorps.
On my Heart of Africa Walk, I had tickets to three destinations that all required that I transit through Nairobi, Kenya. That was alright with me because I wanted to meet again with some wonderful young people that I had first met in 2000 following my attendance at the International AIDS Conference that was held in Durban, South Africa. I had stayed at Father D’Agostino’s remarkable Nyumbani Orphanage for babies and children living with AIDS. While there, I worked with students from high schools and universities that volunteered to assist the children. We formed a partnership: TeenAIDS, the students and Nyumbani teens living with AIDS to do street outreach in some of the poorest slums in the city.
On my way through Nairobi in November 2008, I met up with Maximilla Okello and Joshua Omondi, former PeerCorps helpers and now grown with young children of their own. From these meetings, a new group has formed to carry on TeenAIDS’ work educating teens. One thing I was most concerned about: making sure that all maturing youth were educated in the medical facts to avoid HIV -- no matter their gender, religion or importantly, tribal allegiance. Obviously, trying to discuss the sexual transmission of HIV is difficult in conservative cultures. Gender and religious factors complicate the process. However, in Kenya, tribalism is a very strong influence on most peoples’ lives. Just a year ago, hundreds were killed following a bitterly-disputed presidential election with tribalism being the key factor. One of my group told me the harrowing tale of how he only had minutes to spirit his wife and two daughters away by taxi before the killers would arrive at his home.
In mid-December ‘08, a small and dedicated team came together to form a new group “Mashinani PeerCorps” that included Joshua Omondi, Maximilla Okello, Muktar Adan, Michael Musango and John Ndika. They represent different tribes, genders and religions but are committed to fighting HIV. Additionally, Denis Buluma who was one of my best Nyumbani volunteers as a young teen in 2000 is going to join the nucleus of this new outreach group. Using theater, dance and song, a traveling cadre will visit different parts of Kenya to spread the stop-AIDS message. We will post pictures of the group. They need donations to help them organize in different areas.
Shocking Statistics from Kenya:
According to new research from the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey 2007, being married is considered a high-risk population for HIV. Can this be true? The findings show that married women who stay monogamous during marriage are at higher risk than unmarried women -- even unmarried men -- because it is culturally accepted (in many quarters) for Kenyan husbands to have mistresses or visit prostitutes, before bringing HIV back home.
About two-thirds of HIV-infected adults report currently being in a “union” (defined as marriage or a long term relationship). The study showed that most new infections occur within unions, the opposite of what we AIDS prevention educators advise youth. The extensive survey also found that among sexually active men, those who have never been in a heterosexual union have a prevalence of 2.8%, compared to 7.4% among men currently living in union with a female partner.
A leading expert, Gilbert Iyiera from Ecology Covenant Centre said, “The rampant spread of HIV in marriage is the failure of parents to discuss sex with their children. Sex is a taboo topic when they are growing up: and so when these children mature and get married, sex continues to be a taboo subject.”
I couldn’t have said it better.
Christine Maggiore is Dead.
A friend called me a month ago after hearing on the news that an Anti-AIDS activist had just died. Fifty-three year old Christine Maggiore strongly denied that she was infected by AIDS although all tests said it was so. Christine fervently believed there was no such virus as HIV so she never accepted that she could be dying of something that didn’t exist. A follower of Professor Peter Duesberg of UCLA, she campaigned in the press and a book that HIV/AIDS was a figment of most people’s imagination (I had interviewed Duesberg for my Harvard thesis).
Christine and I actually “debated” the topic in historic Concord, Massachusetts at Orchard House, part of the 19th century School of Philosophy. In a cold meeting room where Emerson, Thoreau and the Alcott sisters discussed topics ranging from philosophy to war, Christine and I put forth our ideas. When I accepted the invitation to speak, I had told Stuart Weeks, the organizer of the three-day event, that my main interest was only to promote the need to educate teens about how to avoid infection – not try to prove it’s real (98% of all scientists and medical authorities accept that HIV as the cause of AIDS). With the assurance that we could use our time at the forum to discuss our work, I agreed to participate.
Before the evening talk, Christine and I shared a vegan dinner at an event sponsor’s home. We started off amicably enough when she showed me a gift she had bought for her child in Boston (a board game) and we talked about family. Then she challenged my work on behalf of a non-existent danger and argued the Duesberg line. Over green beans and rice cakes, Christine and I agreed to disagree. I spoke first in the drafty, old building that had seen some of America's first literati speak. I said that I accepted the view that the HIV virus caused the AIDS diseases and talked about my work convincing youth to tell friends how to avoid HIV. Christine spoke about how my ideas teaching teens were counter-productive and launched into a full-frontal attack on medical authorities and institutions for the AIDS scam.
In a LA Times article of 2005, the paper reported, “Maggiore claimed to be in excellent health without taking anti-retroviral treatment. Maggiore's husband and partner, filmmaker Robin Scovill, has repeatedly tested negative despite what Maggiore describes as a decade of normal, latex-free relations." However, Christine had given birth to a child who tested positive and later died of AIDS-related causes. She had also admitted breast-feeding the baby.
To the very end, Christine Maggiore denied she was dying of AIDS caused by HIV. I liked Christine while respectfully disagreeing with her beliefs. I send my condolences to her husband and family.
On my Heart of Africa Walk, I had tickets to three destinations that all required that I transit through Nairobi, Kenya. That was alright with me because I wanted to meet again with some wonderful young people that I had first met in 2000 following my attendance at the International AIDS Conference that was held in Durban, South Africa. I had stayed at Father D’Agostino’s remarkable Nyumbani Orphanage for babies and children living with AIDS. While there, I worked with students from high schools and universities that volunteered to assist the children. We formed a partnership: TeenAIDS, the students and Nyumbani teens living with AIDS to do street outreach in some of the poorest slums in the city.
On my way through Nairobi in November 2008, I met up with Maximilla Okello and Joshua Omondi, former PeerCorps helpers and now grown with young children of their own. From these meetings, a new group has formed to carry on TeenAIDS’ work educating teens. One thing I was most concerned about: making sure that all maturing youth were educated in the medical facts to avoid HIV -- no matter their gender, religion or importantly, tribal allegiance. Obviously, trying to discuss the sexual transmission of HIV is difficult in conservative cultures. Gender and religious factors complicate the process. However, in Kenya, tribalism is a very strong influence on most peoples’ lives. Just a year ago, hundreds were killed following a bitterly-disputed presidential election with tribalism being the key factor. One of my group told me the harrowing tale of how he only had minutes to spirit his wife and two daughters away by taxi before the killers would arrive at his home.
In mid-December ‘08, a small and dedicated team came together to form a new group “Mashinani PeerCorps” that included Joshua Omondi, Maximilla Okello, Muktar Adan, Michael Musango and John Ndika. They represent different tribes, genders and religions but are committed to fighting HIV. Additionally, Denis Buluma who was one of my best Nyumbani volunteers as a young teen in 2000 is going to join the nucleus of this new outreach group. Using theater, dance and song, a traveling cadre will visit different parts of Kenya to spread the stop-AIDS message. We will post pictures of the group. They need donations to help them organize in different areas.
Shocking Statistics from Kenya:
According to new research from the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey 2007, being married is considered a high-risk population for HIV. Can this be true? The findings show that married women who stay monogamous during marriage are at higher risk than unmarried women -- even unmarried men -- because it is culturally accepted (in many quarters) for Kenyan husbands to have mistresses or visit prostitutes, before bringing HIV back home.
About two-thirds of HIV-infected adults report currently being in a “union” (defined as marriage or a long term relationship). The study showed that most new infections occur within unions, the opposite of what we AIDS prevention educators advise youth. The extensive survey also found that among sexually active men, those who have never been in a heterosexual union have a prevalence of 2.8%, compared to 7.4% among men currently living in union with a female partner.
A leading expert, Gilbert Iyiera from Ecology Covenant Centre said, “The rampant spread of HIV in marriage is the failure of parents to discuss sex with their children. Sex is a taboo topic when they are growing up: and so when these children mature and get married, sex continues to be a taboo subject.”
I couldn’t have said it better.
Christine Maggiore is Dead.
A friend called me a month ago after hearing on the news that an Anti-AIDS activist had just died. Fifty-three year old Christine Maggiore strongly denied that she was infected by AIDS although all tests said it was so. Christine fervently believed there was no such virus as HIV so she never accepted that she could be dying of something that didn’t exist. A follower of Professor Peter Duesberg of UCLA, she campaigned in the press and a book that HIV/AIDS was a figment of most people’s imagination (I had interviewed Duesberg for my Harvard thesis).
Christine and I actually “debated” the topic in historic Concord, Massachusetts at Orchard House, part of the 19th century School of Philosophy. In a cold meeting room where Emerson, Thoreau and the Alcott sisters discussed topics ranging from philosophy to war, Christine and I put forth our ideas. When I accepted the invitation to speak, I had told Stuart Weeks, the organizer of the three-day event, that my main interest was only to promote the need to educate teens about how to avoid infection – not try to prove it’s real (98% of all scientists and medical authorities accept that HIV as the cause of AIDS). With the assurance that we could use our time at the forum to discuss our work, I agreed to participate.
Before the evening talk, Christine and I shared a vegan dinner at an event sponsor’s home. We started off amicably enough when she showed me a gift she had bought for her child in Boston (a board game) and we talked about family. Then she challenged my work on behalf of a non-existent danger and argued the Duesberg line. Over green beans and rice cakes, Christine and I agreed to disagree. I spoke first in the drafty, old building that had seen some of America's first literati speak. I said that I accepted the view that the HIV virus caused the AIDS diseases and talked about my work convincing youth to tell friends how to avoid HIV. Christine spoke about how my ideas teaching teens were counter-productive and launched into a full-frontal attack on medical authorities and institutions for the AIDS scam.
In a LA Times article of 2005, the paper reported, “Maggiore claimed to be in excellent health without taking anti-retroviral treatment. Maggiore's husband and partner, filmmaker Robin Scovill, has repeatedly tested negative despite what Maggiore describes as a decade of normal, latex-free relations." However, Christine had given birth to a child who tested positive and later died of AIDS-related causes. She had also admitted breast-feeding the baby.
To the very end, Christine Maggiore denied she was dying of AIDS caused by HIV. I liked Christine while respectfully disagreeing with her beliefs. I send my condolences to her husband and family.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Bits and Pieces #1: Congo. A Cure for AIDS?
Congo Revisited & Some Really Good People
Civil wars and fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have decimated the infrastructure and hurt the populace since the advent of colonialism. Under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and since then, over 5 million Congolese have been killed, making the civilian death toll the worse since the end of World War II. The poor people of this country have suffered greatly. Despite being one of the richest countries in the developing world with its gold, minerals, ore and timber, its riches have gone to a privileged few with almost nothing trickling down to the masses. In all parts of the world (including in the U.S.), travelers are used to panhandlers with their hands out but in the DRC, people came up to me begging for water and food – it was very sad.
Not all privileged Congolese are to blame for the laissez faire attitude toward corruption. Some foreign businessmen, acting together with duplicitous neighboring countries and diverse rebel factions, are involved in robbing the natural resources for their own gain. They “see” what I see but they choose not to recognize what they are doing because as one put it: “I’m here to make money… It’s just the way here.” I met some incredibly nice ex-pats but also a few shady characters. I can only imagine how improved the lot of the population would be if the true profits from taking the DRC’s resources were accounted for, taxed and government funds made it back to help these impoverished people.
Can you imagine how the AIDS problem could be better handled if more government resources were made available?
The positive news is the dedication and contribution of young Congolese who are helping their country fight HIV/AIDS. Our Congo trip was the result of a lot of hard work by Joel Vengo, a graduate exchange student living near Portland, Maine. When I sent out notices in the late spring that I was planning on visiting countries in Africa, Joel heard about it and e-mailed me that he could assist me. He was involved with a non-profit organization called RACOJ-SIDA. He made repeated phone calls and e-mails to colleagues in the DRC. Literally, without his help and expertise, the trip would not have been as productive.
The only way to get into the Congo is with permission of the government based on written invitations from respected organizations or businesses. Joel was able to get me an official invitation from Tresor Kasia, the head of RACOJ. Without it, the expensive visas would have been nearly impossible. As I look back on our work there, I am indebted to Joel for his dedication to both TeenAIDS and his countrymen.
However, I met some truly incredible people who deserve recognition. One young man, Herve, whom we called “Kevin” was 18 and heard me speak at his English language school. When he volunteered, I sent him over to Samuel, a University of Kinshasa student who was helping me through RACOJ. The two of them helped tremendously. Both of them spoke very good English, as did our great RACOJ helpers, Princess and Dandy. In the next few months, they will be recognized as “Volunteers of the Week.”
Cure Coming?
For most all professionals that accept that HIV is the cause for AIDS, little hope has existed that a cure would soon be found. After nearly a billion dollars spent and thousands of doctors and scientists working on AIDS research for over 25 years, we have some important medicines and treatments but no cure. We don’t have a vaccine for HIV that is now negatively affecting sexually active youth who do not use condoms.
Over a month ago, a startling headline appeared in the Wall Street Journal: “A Doctor, a Mutation and a Potential Cure for AIDS.” The story tells the story of a man who appears to have been "functionally cured" of AIDS. He is off all anti-HIV meds, has a normal T-cell count, and exhibits no evidence of the virus.
Top AIDS experts are intrigued that something important might be happening. The highly respected foundation “amfAR” of Dr. Mathilde Krim decided that there is a possibility of finding a possible cure at last. Their senior scientific consultant Dr. Jeffrey Laurence has prepared a brief, easy-to-understand summary of the case that you can read by going to:
http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/programs/resrch/record.html?record=71
If this single case can be replicated, it could be the wish come true of every person helping to stop the spread of HIV.
In my travels, I have come across promises of cures for sale on the streets. I have been shown jars filled with jelly-like slime floating in milky looking fluids above a bed of something like rotting seaweed. Unfortunately, desperate people will buy any hope – even a charlatan’s cure.
It is sad to think of all those who will die before the cure is discovered. It is sadder to think about the teens today that will be exposed to the virus and be hurt for years to come.
Civil wars and fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have decimated the infrastructure and hurt the populace since the advent of colonialism. Under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and since then, over 5 million Congolese have been killed, making the civilian death toll the worse since the end of World War II. The poor people of this country have suffered greatly. Despite being one of the richest countries in the developing world with its gold, minerals, ore and timber, its riches have gone to a privileged few with almost nothing trickling down to the masses. In all parts of the world (including in the U.S.), travelers are used to panhandlers with their hands out but in the DRC, people came up to me begging for water and food – it was very sad.
Not all privileged Congolese are to blame for the laissez faire attitude toward corruption. Some foreign businessmen, acting together with duplicitous neighboring countries and diverse rebel factions, are involved in robbing the natural resources for their own gain. They “see” what I see but they choose not to recognize what they are doing because as one put it: “I’m here to make money… It’s just the way here.” I met some incredibly nice ex-pats but also a few shady characters. I can only imagine how improved the lot of the population would be if the true profits from taking the DRC’s resources were accounted for, taxed and government funds made it back to help these impoverished people.
Can you imagine how the AIDS problem could be better handled if more government resources were made available?
The positive news is the dedication and contribution of young Congolese who are helping their country fight HIV/AIDS. Our Congo trip was the result of a lot of hard work by Joel Vengo, a graduate exchange student living near Portland, Maine. When I sent out notices in the late spring that I was planning on visiting countries in Africa, Joel heard about it and e-mailed me that he could assist me. He was involved with a non-profit organization called RACOJ-SIDA. He made repeated phone calls and e-mails to colleagues in the DRC. Literally, without his help and expertise, the trip would not have been as productive.
The only way to get into the Congo is with permission of the government based on written invitations from respected organizations or businesses. Joel was able to get me an official invitation from Tresor Kasia, the head of RACOJ. Without it, the expensive visas would have been nearly impossible. As I look back on our work there, I am indebted to Joel for his dedication to both TeenAIDS and his countrymen.
However, I met some truly incredible people who deserve recognition. One young man, Herve, whom we called “Kevin” was 18 and heard me speak at his English language school. When he volunteered, I sent him over to Samuel, a University of Kinshasa student who was helping me through RACOJ. The two of them helped tremendously. Both of them spoke very good English, as did our great RACOJ helpers, Princess and Dandy. In the next few months, they will be recognized as “Volunteers of the Week.”
Cure Coming?
For most all professionals that accept that HIV is the cause for AIDS, little hope has existed that a cure would soon be found. After nearly a billion dollars spent and thousands of doctors and scientists working on AIDS research for over 25 years, we have some important medicines and treatments but no cure. We don’t have a vaccine for HIV that is now negatively affecting sexually active youth who do not use condoms.
Over a month ago, a startling headline appeared in the Wall Street Journal: “A Doctor, a Mutation and a Potential Cure for AIDS.” The story tells the story of a man who appears to have been "functionally cured" of AIDS. He is off all anti-HIV meds, has a normal T-cell count, and exhibits no evidence of the virus.
Top AIDS experts are intrigued that something important might be happening. The highly respected foundation “amfAR” of Dr. Mathilde Krim decided that there is a possibility of finding a possible cure at last. Their senior scientific consultant Dr. Jeffrey Laurence has prepared a brief, easy-to-understand summary of the case that you can read by going to:
http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/programs/resrch/record.html?record=71
If this single case can be replicated, it could be the wish come true of every person helping to stop the spread of HIV.
In my travels, I have come across promises of cures for sale on the streets. I have been shown jars filled with jelly-like slime floating in milky looking fluids above a bed of something like rotting seaweed. Unfortunately, desperate people will buy any hope – even a charlatan’s cure.
It is sad to think of all those who will die before the cure is discovered. It is sadder to think about the teens today that will be exposed to the virus and be hurt for years to come.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Potpourri: Serendipity, Jimmy and the GOP
This chance meeting will blow you away. It did me. On November 25, two days before Thanksgiving, I was in Rwanda preparing for our World AIDS Day Webcast less than six days away. We couldn’t find any way to get our videos and photo materials to the Fitchburg office in time for inclusion for the World AIDS Day Webcast on December 1st from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Webcast’s producers Erik Weikert and Peter Keto kept waiting for my assistant Jimmy Kircher to send the downloads via the internet but all attempts failed in a region of the world where technology is not up to speed.
Trying to send a package to the U.S. from landlocked Rwanda in a timely fashion and at a reasonable price proved impossible. Fed Ex, DHL and others couldn’t do it. I had planned on hosting our 3rd Annual Webcast from Kinshasa in the DRC because I felt it would give a developing nation the opportunity to be part of a major global experience. And it would let worried youth in hard-hit areas know that we were concerned about their lives too.
Frustrated and dejected, I used our Iridium satellite phone to call Erik and Peter in the U.S. and gave them the bad news. Yet we were upbeat that the global webcast would still begin at 9 AM on the 1st. After the call, I sat down at the Novotel Hotel restaurant for a soup and a sandwich before the kitchen closed. This was at 9:30 at night, a time when I am never sitting in a restaurant. As I was typing the next day’s blog, a voice exclaimed, “John! Is that you, John Chittick?”
I looked up expecting to see one of our Rwandan contacts. Imagine my surprise, utter shock, in fact, that it was an “old” American friend, Matt Hodges, from my Harvard days in the early 1980s. We hadn’t seen each other in decades and he joined me for a drink. He said he was at the restaurant to meet business friends. Matt knows about my work so he wasn’t completely surprised that I was in Africa but had no idea I was going to be in Rwanda at the same time as him.
It turns out he is involved in the coffee export business and Rwanda has some of the finest coffee anywhere. He travels there on a regular basis and is involved in a new business called Bourbon Coffee (watch out Starbucks) but with an unique twist: the bar code on each package can be used on an internet search to find the exact GPS location where the coffee is picked and shows a video of the villagers preparing it (www.geomotion.com).
The meeting was a chance happening but here was the incredibly, serendipitous moment: Matt was flying back to Boston the next day! Yippee!!! I broke out in the widest grin possible on my elastic face. I told him of my predicament with the video materials and he agreed to bring them with him on the plane. Jimmy got the package together and I called Erik who said he would pick up the package from Matt’s house near Boston on Thanksgiving day (in enough time to do the edits).
Our Global Webcast, sponsored in part by Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Fund, was a big success due in large part to this major bit of serendipidity.
Jimmy Kircher in Africa
See Jimmy’s own blog click here
This trip was the first time in my global travels that I have been accompanied by a U.S. volunteer. This occurred due to a wonderful Board members, Jim Dunning, who donated two round trip tickets to and through Africa. Because TeenAIDS has very little spare cash, it was necessary for me to put the word out that I was looking for a college age student who could assist me and help raise funds to pay for his share of the trip.
I mentioned the extra ticket to another of my Board members, Gig Faux and he suggested he knew a talented young student from his former fraternity Phi Delt at Dartmouth College (both Gig and I attended Dartmouth but a generation apart – as well as Deerfield Academy). In a matter of a day, Dartmouth Junior Jimmy Kircher emailed that he was game. So barely 4 weeks before we were set to leave, Jimmy and I were exchanging e-mails and daily phone calls to get everything in the works, including plane reservations, visas and all the medical vaccinations needed. Because Jimmy was going as my assistant, I assigned him the job of making contacts in Rwanda and organizing our week’s schedule there. I also put him in change of finding a suitable satellite telephone and organizing the cameras that we were bringing. Jimmy was also put in charge of handling all the receipts and preparing the financial records to be sent back to the office while we were traveling.
Jimmy was able to raise over $3,000 from Dartmouth Alumni (including some sizeable donations from Phi Delt alumni, student organizations and from family and friends). Considering the time element, this was a remarkable achievement.
He was able to go on the trip because he was officially on leave for fall 2008. He had previously taken a term abroad in Berlin, an experience that he loved.
In some ways, that first overseas trip to Germany prepared him for this adventure, although nothing quite prepares someone for a rough and tumble journey to the heart of Africa. Jimmy showed a lot of courage and fortitude during some difficult experiences we had. He made friends everywhere we went, especially the young females who loved his longish hair. A quiet, unassuming guy by nature, Jimmy was the “yang” to my “ying.” He even shared his malaria pills with me.
Jimmy was instrumental in helping me to put together our live Webcast on World AIDS Day. This was no small feat. Often without satellite phone or internet connections, he scrambled to figure out alternative ways of keeping in contact with our Webcast team in our American headquarters. What might be difficult to understand is that in the interior of Africa, internet services are still rudimentary because power often fails. Internet cafes are only open at certain times and dial-up is full of delays.
Speaking for Jimmy, I know he had a wonderful experience if not trying at times. Our Africa Walk was not a resort trip to a Caribbean paradise over Spring Break. We had to deal with corrupt police, tough crowds and sometimes, unreliable transportation. Some of our lodgings were nice but some were very basic, about 3 grades below a youth hostel. The last place we stayed, the toilet was missing its seat, mosquitoes loved us and ladies of the night were up and down the shady hallway all night -- but Jimmy always kept a smile on his face and very little seemed to disturb him. His penchant for friendliness and his laid back attitude helped him survive this trip in good health and spirits. Jimmy was a wonderful addition to this Walk and I’m glad he came.
HIV Prevention Cuts by Ignorant Politicians
HIV Prevention Cuts by Ignorant Politicians
I never like to involve our non-profit, charitable work with politics and I have studiously avoided doing that over many years. However, I was deeply frustrated the last week of January when 100% of all Republican Congressman and twelve Democrats voted against funding the proposed HIV prevention section in the President’s Stimulus Bill. They referred to these monies to educate teens about AIDS as “wasteful social engineering” and one called it “immoral.” What?!
This stimulus initiative is designed to promote jobs at a time of deep recession and rising unemployment. Do they have any idea how severe the cuts have been in school health departments over the last few years? Health educators and school nurses have been fired and laid off in droves. Check with your own local school district and hear the numbers. There is 40% less AIDS education in public schools today than existed in the early 1990s -- yet there has been a corresponding rise in teen HIV infections over that time. The CDC now reports that a startling 25% of all new cases of HIV in the U.S. occur among 13-19 year olds. When I began my doctorate at Harvard, that statistic was negligible – less than 5%, mostly from bad blood transfusions and mother-to-child transmission. Now 90-95% of adolescent HIV infections result from sexual transmission. Those horrific numbers can be prevented with enlightened education and positive social action.
Yet these obstructionists are the same politicians who demanded that federal funding over the past eight years go to “abstinence-only-before-marriage” programs (that all reputable research studies show do not work). Yet that kind of social engineering was acceptable because it was popular with their hard-core base. These federally-imposed restrictions scared many school districts away from providing medically accurate information to teens so they wouldn’t lose federal dollars for other necessities.
I always tell teens that abstinence and postponement of early sex are the wisest choices to avoid the sexual transmission of HIV -- because that argument is medically accurate. Yet, for youth who choose to be sexually active, I also tell explain the option of condom use as a medical prophylactic to prevent HIV and STDs. They deserve to hear the facts. Without adequate funding, schools cannot provide full health education. That is why TeenAIDS provides free training to any school that accepts our offer.
I understand the games that politicians must play but after years of teens getting infected needlessly, ignorant politicians should be held accountable.
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