Shipping Out!

The AIDSTanzania team is leaving the country! This year our in-country team consists of six students: Erin, Danny B., Carrie, Rhiannon, Melissa, and team leader Marigene. Except for trip veteran Marigene, this is everyone’s first AIDSTanzania trip, and I think I speak for all of us when I say: we are SO STOKED!

With our yellow fever vaccinations, visas, and full-to-the-brim carry-ons at the ready, we’re departing from DC on Monday evening and will be spending — if I accounted for the time difference correctly — 9.5 million hours in flight. We’ll be stopping over in Frankfurt and then in Addis Ababa before finally landing at Kilimanjaro airport. Once in Tanzania we’ll be traveling to Arusha where we’ll be staying and working in the community. There we will be distributing the educational booklets we created, hosting an HIV testing day, collaborating with students from the local university, and participating in a host of other programs and activities.

I know I for one can’t WAIT to see what this trip holds for us. Stay tuned to hear what happens!

– Rhiannon

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Kenya acts to stem cross-border HIV spread

Read the full article here.

Kenyans march in a procession in Eldoret town to mark the World Aids Day on December 1, 2009. Kenya’s fight against the spread of HIV/Aids among people crossing into its borders is on course, a new report by a regional body says. Photo/JARED NYATAYA

UNICEF and ZAPHA+ work to reduce stigma in Zanzibar

Though HIV prevalence is not as high in Zanzibar as in other areas of Tanzania, stigma there is rampant. This UNICEF article, quoting the 2007-2008 Tanzania HIV and Malaria Indicator Survey, indicates that “51 per cent of women and 41 per cent of men would keep it a secret that a family member is infected with the HIV virus.”

During a group exercise in the Young Journalists workshop in Unguja, Zanzibar, the participants discuss different scenarios of HIV stigmatization.

UNICEF and ZAPHA+ (Zanzibar Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS) work to combat this stigma and encourage people to get tested. ZAPHA+ provides workshops and counseling for young people living with HIV to help reduce stigma in their communities and help them cope with emotional and health issues. Children living with HIV are empowered to tell their own stories and build strategies to change attitudes.

The model of storytelling was effective this week during a 7-day Young Journalists Workshop at the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF) Children’s Panorama, where 24 children who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS had an opportunity to share their experiences and wrote a newsletter that was sent to other schoolchildren in Unguja and Pemba.

The AIDS Message

“3,000 posters from around the world, that all try to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, have been digitized by staff at The Wellcome Library in central London.” Watch the interesting and inspiring video here.

BBC News, World AIDS Day Poster

WAN Tests 22 W&M Students Today

Thanks to the Mu Upsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and AIDSTanzania, WAN (Williamsburg AIDS Network) tested 22 students at the College of William and Mary today. Visit http://www.williamsburgaidsnetwork.org/ for more information about WAN’s free HIV testing every week Monday through Thursday 9am-4pm.

Free HIV Testing Event

Know Your Status

On Saturday, April 25 our group is hosting a FREE HIV testing event at the College of William and Mary!

The testing will be provided by WAN (Williamsburg AIDS Network), and will be confidential in the James Room upstairs in the Sadler Center.  There will be entertainment by Passing Notes, Reveille, John Kelly and the Quick Snipes, Irish Dance Club, Clayton Perry, and more in Lodge 1 throughout the day, as well as showings of our documentary.  We will also be selling our jewelry from Tanzania.

The test WAN is using is a rapid test, meaning it only takes 20 minutes for the results and it just takes a cheek swab!

KNOW YOUR STATUS