11/24/06

In 1/6,300, a statistical ode to Brenda Mumbi's passing, I copped out of working for an answer to solving the problem of global AIDS. See now that makes me chuckle to myself. How the hell can one person change the course of a global epidemic? Well, it's surely true that one can not, but many ones can.

I left that blog entry with a weak conclusion, and to discuss things like solutions to global AIDS still leaves me with a wrong feeling, in light of the fact my family member died and that is my impetus for thinking about this.  But perhaps we can honor Brenda by thinking about solving this problem.

There are no pat answers.

If you have troubles with weight, there is a pat answer. Eat less and exercise more. But it's invariably more complicated than that. AIDS presents a similar problem in that it is preventable, and the solutions are known. Don't have risky sex, and protect yourself. If you are already HIV+, ensure without doubt that you don't propagate the epidemic. Simple, but these views, like with the eat less and exercise more example, only scratch the surface.

With AIDS you have to compute the global economics that drive the epidemic. Wealthy countries have succeeded in staving off an expansion of HIV. People are still getting infected with HIV on the order of 40,000 per year in the US, so prevention efforts are not completely effective, but the constancy of this number illustrates success when one compares it to the growth of new infections in many regions of the world.

OK - where are you going with all this? Brenda died, and her passing represents a tragedy that occurs over 5,000 times every day in Africa, and that occurs on a relative scale as many times in China, India, and Eastern Europe. Young people die and leave behind orphans, stressing already stressed social systems to a point that the integrity of civilization is not only threatened but altered forever.

I'm convinced of the problem, but what can I do to help, as one person?

Now I'm thinking about the time when I was in college, and as a normal American, I had the odd twenty bucks to give from time to time. I chose to give to Amnesty International, in part because it was supported by musicians whose songs spoke to me, and in part because I believed that there was a wrongness inherent in the imprisonment of people simply because they held beliefs that were contrary to their government.

OK, so I gave money, and so I am leaning toward giving money as a solution to the global AIDS epidemic. That is true. But how and why does one get an individual to choose giving money to AIDS, as opposed to all the other causes in the world? There is breast cancer, or cancer in general. There is pediatric leukemia. There is MS. There is diabetes. Why the hell would I care about a sexually transmitted disease in Africa, that doesn't have any bearing on my life, and likely will have no bearing on my life for as long as I live.

It's a tough sell in that light, I have to admit.

But AIDS is unique in that it robs those whose opportunities in life have already been short-shrifted. Millions of folks are born with say 1% of the opportunity that you and I have (a safe assumption because you are reading this via internet connection, indicating you have ready access to internet, probably in your home, on a computer you and/or your family uses, further indicating you had, at some point $500 or $1,000 available to spend on a computer, in addition to regular, dependable monies that permit a monthly access to the world wide web...).

OK people have less opportunity. Granted. I have my own troubles.

You don't have troubles like others have troubles. That's a fact.

Churches in the southeastern United States are highly aggressive in their campaigns to get their congregations to tithe - to give 10% of their earnings to the church. Massive buildings are built with this money, and congregations are sustained. Maggie and I quarrel about this. I am not in favor of giving money to the church. I would rather the money goes directly to Zambia, to food, education, and to pay the bills in a place where unemployment runs 50%, as opposed to our US 3-5%. Despite my protests, Maggie gives every week. Her faith is stronger than mine in that regard.

I'm hoping that a image, albeit shadowy, of diverting those monies to overseas AIDS work would be an acceptable substitute to tithing in the reader's mind, but don't dismiss me yet. I'm just thinking with my fingers right now. Please bear with me.

Here's another thought. You know how on your US tax return you have the option of donating money to a political party? I wonder how many people do that. Moreover, here in Birmingham, one has the monthly option of donating a dollar to the utility bill of those who struggle to pay their own utilities. What I'm getting at is that between the church, taxes, and utilities we have three examples of established systems whereby folks are provided with opportunities to give, often to the less fortunate. Surely the fact that these opportunities are available demonstrates that (1) somebody had the will to make these opportunities available, and (2) some must be contributing via these mechanisms or else we wouldn't see them so regularly.

Part of my solution to global AIDS lies within these giving phenomena, rolled into one; folks are willing to give a portion of their hard-earned currency when they believe in a cause. I would argue that there is no more important cause than the AIDS epidemic. No plague has affected our human race at such a young age ever. Period. Millions are dying each year.

But I get it. I know why folks don't care. I know this because I also didn't care. I remember hearing someone talk about AIDS when I was in college at some assembly. A stat of about 1 in two or three hundred was thrown out, and that impressed me, as I looked out around the crowd around me, that meant someone among us had AIDS. That was a scary prospect in the early nineties. Well that is still a very scary prospect in the poorest countries of the world, but instead of one in two or three hundred, it's one in ten. Or one in fifteen. Or if you are slicing and dicing the statistics, and you are educated, maybe one in forty.

Do you hear me? Do you hear those numbers and realize the impact that they mean??

Back to how we solve it. Poverty is a key association with HIV risk. Poverty in our world exists because...well who am I to answer that. Much smarter and more experienced people would argue that disparities in global wealth distribution exists, period, regardless of cause. I think everyone can agree that some areas of the world have a lower per capita income than others. Cause goes beyond the scope of this meek blog, but check out The End of Poverty, by Jeffrey D. Sachs for starters.

I think the degree of disparity in per capita income is worth mentioning. Compare $20,000 per year v. $800 per year. It is true that the cost of living is vastly different in many parts of the world, but come on...try to live on less than about $2.50 per day - anywhere. Do an experiment. Average out your per-day expenses over a  month.

As a Muzungu in Lusaka, I did this in 1998. I managed about $200 one month, while my accommodations and transportation were being provided, and I still ate out from time to time. Extrapolating that out to a year, I still was three times over the the national average per capita GDP...Clearly even with intentions of suffering to understand, I was falling way, way short of getting even a glimpse of what real struggling to survive means.

Do we have a responsibility to take care of other human beings who are suffering? I think every faith known to humankind would answer yes.

Can we muster the energy and give-a-shit to request from our lawmakers a shift in priorities such that a portion of our taxes is diverted to AIDS care throughout the world? On a smaller scale, do we have the courage to ask our church elders to sacrifice 1% of the 10% tithe to go toward AIDS care in the impoverished world? On the individual scale, are we selective enough with our discretionary money to save a human life?

What do you spend on your dog?

Hey listen, that's a little rough, I know. I spent $500 on music players for the two women in my life, and it makes me happy that that music will give them uncountable amounts of joy. I wouldn't change my actions. But I've also accounted for giving to AIDS in Africa, and that came first.

What do I think the solution to global AIDS is? I think it's an individual commitment that trickles up, in a backwards thank you to Ronald Reagan's contribution to politicospeak. This individual commitment can shine a light on inequities that would interest community powers, which in turn could make demands on the lawmaking bodies that this is what must be so.

What does that mean? I think if a church can tithe 10%, then they can consider making a portion of that be targeted to truly helping the needy and sick. I think if a tax form can solicit political party support, it can also solicit support for economic reforms that will solve the effects of the HIV epidemic. I think that if a power company can support the poor in it's constituency, it, and other companies with black profit margins, can support HIV support programs.

So in fantasy world, US tax returns have a tick box that lets you donate a dollar to international AIDS relief. On your utility bill there're two tick boxes, one for domestic, and one for AIDS relief. On your devotions envelope, there is a tick box that says, I want 1% of my church gift to go to support of AIDS treatment and prevention in Africa.

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I think responsibility to HIV lies in appreciating the experiences of others in the event that you can't see it for yourself firsthand. It takes thirty minutes to learn a little - to read this blog, and believe it - and then to give several dollars. My life is pock-marked with blessed opportunity. I've had the opportunity to live, work, and breathe with folks that are daily affected by the HIV epidemic. I am compelled by a responsibility to bring their stories home to your comfort zone. Most people in the world don't have the ample free time to that you and I have, to surf the 'net, to watch TV, or to read a book. Their time is spent at funerals.

I am not, in the least, exaggerating.

My responsibility lies in my opportunities.  I have had the opportunities to live and work in areas of our planet where every day a person that I know lost a member of their household. I am a slow learner, and it took me six months to realize that,  Holy Shit!, this is really the every day life here. This doesn't just go away if I turn my back to it. I believe that it is my responsibility to bring that Holy Shit! feeling and reality back to the masses who haven't had the opportunity to see what my eyes have seen. So if I am to be a part of the solution, I need to find ways to translate my experiences into a light bulb going off in the heads of others who have not had these opportunities.

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I have not completely answered the problem of global AIDS here in this Christmas Day, 2005 blog. But I hope that if you've read through this with me as I've written it, you've stepped with me a few paces farther down the path to eradicating this human disease that is wreaking unspeakable devastation on our fellows.

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