ONE

Still alive and Kickin

Hello All.

The last thing I wrote was of me heading off to Uganda. Well, I have been here over a month now and am finding it rather fascinating. We are here to do an evaluation on an HIV/AIDS education program, but being medical anthropologist minded we are diving into the culture as well. And in order to study the culture of HIV/AIDS, one must study the culture of sex. So far we have been conducting random conversations on the topic at popular local hangouts, bars, and clubs which has been a riot. Also, we have recently made our way into one of the high sex work areas of town and have befriended both a "pimp" and "prostitute" in the sex work industry. The interviews were very interesting and emotional and more informative then I think they could ever realize.

I am learning a lot on this trip and it has undoubtedly changed my world view. I have so many topics that I could carry in Ph.D. research and so many NGO's that I want to start that will actually do some good and that I can actually see in the field. That topic is for another time though. Hope you haven't given up hope on my blogging, internet access here is sparse.

An Interdisciplinary Evaluation of an HIV/AIDS Education Program in Kampala, Uganda

SAS Foundation: Kampala, Uganda

Yes, this is my new research. It is the research that I will be conducting for two months this summer and will serve as my practicum. Here is a little rundown of it.

We have been asked by a HIV/AIDS treatment, counseling, and educating foundation to evaluate the education portion of their organization. We are looking at the training and establishment of not only the mentors providing the education but also the children themselves. We are doing this in attempt to identify best practices and provide recommendations that will allow this program to be replicable and sustainable through the rest of the city and eventually the rest of the country.

The research we will be doing is all social. We will be working with researchers from Johns Hopkins and Case Western that are doing the epidemiological and biological research for this project. Our focus will be on determining if the material presented is appropriate and received by children of different age groups and that the information is correct. We will also be evaluating if this program is causing behavioral change and if this information is having effect on the community at large. Our research will include interviews, observations, focus groups, and community meetings with a focus on the impacts that this program has had and how to improve it.

The major goal for this program is the replicability and sustainability aspects. This program is getting a lot of media and a lot of support in the region and has been cited as reducing seroprevelance in the area. We are there to relate the information that the children are learning and determining if it having an effect on their actual behavior.

For us, this is a major undertaking and could be a major benefit for us. The director of the program wants us to further develop the social data to show the efficacy of the project and spread the word. He is really wanting us to publish and present this material as much as possible. Talks of the future even reach to presentations to Ugandan parliament, the international conferences on HIV/AIDS education and eradication. This would be amazing.

We met with the head of the foundation this past weekend and everything is working out great. He is really excited and supportive of the research and is really excited about what we have to offer. He is a very well known and very well connected physician both here and in Uganda and will be a major cornerstone for us throughout the rest or our careers.

We will be spending two months gathering data in Kampala, Uganda and then spending the next six months doing data analysis and reporting. This is kind of the project that will validate me as an anthropologist and is turning into a project that will set the tone of my career.

I am so excited.