I dare say that we have not been active bloggers over the past two weeks!
What to do about Aids? It's a problem that never seems to go away. Take Botswana for example. Botswana has experienced unpreceented growth and improvement over the past decade. Institutional reform, economic progress, you name it. Botswana has done alright. Except for one thing: Aids. Aids is literally killing what progress has been made. Moss cites that in 2004 the aids prevelance in Botswana was 39%! Th average life expectancy is down to 38 years old! What to do about it?
Often the answer is Education and Condoms. While helpful, it is difficult to find programs that work. On saturday Kristy and I met with a group about our trip to Kenya this summer. Aids came up in the conversation. The leader of our group said that everytime NGO's have tried giving out condoms in Kenya, condom use has gone down. People use them less when they are free! Yet people continue to try to give out free condoms. They said the same is true for bed-nets. When they're free, the people don't use them. There's something about paying for it that makes you aprreciate it.
Here's a great Kenyan condom commercial I cam across as part of an educational campaign. It's hilarious, but hopefully effective.
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It is a strange thing but it is true in so many examples. Dr. Thomas an emeritus professor at USU is currently teaching a class on international development.He has worked on projects all over the world for USAID. His mantra has always been "If you want a country the develop themselves thy've got to do it themselves."
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