Where are we now?

I was looking for a new angle on the story of HIV/AIDS work both here in Indiana and also in South Africa, and I came across an interesting fact.

In 2001, the United Nations made a declaration of commitment to working together on the problem of HIV/AIDS around the world. This commitment called for all nations of the world to work together and bring all their resources to bear to provide "universal access" to HIV prevention and treatment...and eventually to halt and reverse the global AIDS epidemic.

They had target dates, and two years ago in 2008 the UN reaffirmed its commitment to the projects and the timeline they had created.
The target date for universal access was 2010.

The target for reversing the epidemic is 2015.

I'll be seeking interviews with representatives from the Indiana State Department of Health, as well as the Indiana AIDS fund, to see how things are going for universal access here at home. I'll also talk with someone from Loving South Africa and perhaps a partner of theirs in Kwazulu Natal about how progress toward universal access is looking there. I'm curious what I'll find. Perhaps universal access in Indiana is accomplished and well-funded--perhaps not. Everything I've heard from Kwazulu Natal's poorest areas is that access is by no means universal, but I've not gotten hard figures.

The World Health Organization also recently posted some data about progress being made in some regions of the world toward slowing and reversing the progress of AIDS...but if memory serves, the data for sub-Saharan Africa was not nearly so positive. Still, they are some hard figures to consider.

In other news, I am pleased to say I have now TWO sponsors for the trip, and I haven't yet sent out any overt pleas for support. Thank you very much to J & C, as well as H & J. I appreciate your trust and support very much.

Thanks for reading,
Marcus

Time to start in earnest

It's only 3 and a half months until we're scheduled to leave on the trip, and there's a lot to do. My first preview story went well, I think, although it was difficult to decide in which direction to take the story. It could've looked and sounded a lot different, and been more about the specifics of Vusi's work, or what LSA does with and for their partners...but in the end I chose to be more general. By the end of the day today, I expect the first feature to be posted to the IPR website: bsu.edu/ipr on the front page.

I'd like to do at least one more story prior to the trip, perhaps with Geoff Wybrow, LSA's founder and a native of South Africa. He's passionate and straightforward; he takes the AIDS epidemic personally, and he gets animated when he talks about what is or isn't being done, and why. And then you start asking yourself, "What am I doing?" Or more accurately for most of us, "What am I NOT doing?"

The worst question you ask yourself, though, is "Why?" I make 'pitches' for support for public radio as a part of my job. I remind people that, as a rule, we will make time and find money for the things that are important to us. Where is our treasure? That's where our heart is.

So, where's my treasure? Not a pleasant question when you consider what impact a small amount of money or time can have in a place as desperate as Kwazulu Natal, where poverty, unemployment, crime, and HIV/AIDS loom so large.

So what do I need to do to get ready for this trip? I need to buy my recording gear. I'll be taking three small field units (in case one or more get stolen--a distinct possibility), and I've never worked with them before. The time to learn how to use them is BEFORE I get on the plane. Then, given the recent failed attempt to destroy an airplane in midflight and current levels of panic over airport security, I wonder how best to ensure I can indeed take my gear with me! It's compact, electronic, and unfamiliar. A few calls to the TSA are in order.

I also need to start getting my immunizations scheduled. I'll talk to my physician about that later this month. Fundraising begins soon, too, to pay for the trip. Thankfully, I'm already started, thanks to a generous couple who heard the first feature--thanks for the encouragement, H and J! [I'd mention their names, but I haven't asked their permission.] There's a long way to go to raise all the funds, though.

There's also LSA's own training/orientation meetings that will help get the group ready for what we'll see.

And most importantly, I'm expecting to come back from this trip a changed man. It will probably mean changes for my family as well. I don't know what those will look like, but my wife and I have already talked and...whatever comes of this trip, we'll embrace those changes together, unified. I am a truly blessed husband.

Thanks for reading,
Marcus