In an 11-page article (page 34-45), accompanied by beautiful photography, the magical Voodoo culture of Benin is examined and experienced.

Also, the Jolinaiko Eco Village in our community development project in Atsiekpoe-Vume, is the Happinez charity of the month! (Page 145.)

Lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) medication has existed for decades, but until 2002, it was too expensive to distribute to the developing world. In that year, The Global Fund was established to help eliminate AIDS (as well as TB and malaria), and in six short years, it has helped to put more than 3 million people on ARVs.

Now, the difference between life and death is only 40 cents per day—the cost to fund the ARVs. When patients are given these drugs, a phenomenal effect can happen. A person at death’s door can, in just 60 to 90 days, regain full health. It’s called the “Lazarus effect,” and it’s nothing short of miraculous.

HIV facts today

Even though AIDS now is preventable and treatable, it has killed more than 20 million people in Africa. Currently, 33 million people in the world have HIV, 22 million live in Africa. 67% of people with HIV live in Africa yet the continent is home to just 10% of the world’s population. The disease is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa with approximately 3,800 people dying every day from AIDS.

Women make up approximately 60% of estimated HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa and, as a result, women and children are the hardest hit by the disease. An estimated 14.1 million children in Africa have been orphaned because of AIDS already and this number is growing. More than 1,000 children, most within sub-Saharan Africa, are infected with HIV each day.

40 cents but still out of reach

It costs around 40 cents a day for the 2 antiretroviral pills needed to help keep someone living with HIV alive and healthy. Yet more than 70% of people in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than $2 a day.

Another problem is that people living in rural areas don’t have access to clinics or medical posts where they could be tested, given the ARV medication and be monitored on a regular basis. Some are living many days travelling from the nearest clinic.

This problem is also seen in the IHCC clinic, the AIDS/HIV clinic in Accra (Ghana) we have supported over the last few years. The poorest of the poor come to this clinic, but they cannot afford the daily cost for the pills and the -very low- cost of consultation. Most cannot even pay the bus ride to the clinic.

Nowadays, Ghana has very cheap health insurance. It’s called NHIS (National Health Insurance Scheme), and the IHCC clinic is accredited. The insurance covers the ARV medication and consultation, but the 24 Cedis (14 dollar) per year it costs, is too much for these patients.

So, despite the hopeful improvements that have been made over the last few years, and the efforts of the Global Funds to provide free ARV medication to African countries, the reality is that these live-saving pills are still out of reach for many people.

Tijd om te ervaren en te geloven dat wij samen kunnen creëren, alleen samen, en tijd om in te laten zien dat wij geen loze beloftes doen. Een familie heeft geld bijeen gelegd om de huisjes met bakstenen in plaats van met leem te bouwen, en een andere familie was druk bezig een decoratieve ventilatie steen te creëren, en dit illustreert dat men pro-actief is en trots op het uiteindelijke eindresultaat. Het is een klein project, slechts een fundament, maar een solide fundament van vertrouwen en daadkracht voor meer vooruitgang in de toekomst.

Een paar foto’s van de toiletten in aanbouw:

De beerputten zijn handmatig gegraven, met cementen stenen opgebouwd en afgesloten met een gewapend betonnen deksel. Die deksel heeft een gat waar het toilet bovenop wordt geplaatst, eromheen een huisje met zinken dak, houten deur en ventilatiepijp. De muren worden in principe opgebouwd uit leem, maar sommige families leggen geld toe om betonnen bakstenen te gebruiken.

Cindy: ‘Het festival was grandioos. Iedereen had enorm zijn best gedaan, er werd gedrumd en gedanst, en ik voelde mij echt een koningin op mijn goudkleurige sandalen, gewikkeld in handgeweven doeken, op eigen zetel. Het was een van de meest bijzondere en hartverwarmende gebeurtenissen die ik in al die jaren in Ghana heb meegemaakt. Natuurlijk hoopt men door deze aanstelling ontwikkeling en financiële steun veilig te stellen, maar het is ook een teken van respect voor onze aanwezigheid.’

Naast de latrines is Isaac ook verantwoordelijke voor de bouw van de eco-lodge, en ook daar zijn vorderingen gemaakt. Nog wat primitief, maar in binnen een paar maanden is de lodge ‘slaap-klaar’. Isaac is een vaste gids van Jolinaiko Eco Tours, en als hij niet op reis is verkiest hij de rustige rivieroever in Atsiekpoe boven zijn verblijf in de drukke stad Accra. De aanstelling van Isaac was een juiste keuze, want directe interactie met de bewoners van Atsiekpoe is belangrijk om voortgang te boeken, en zijn toewijding is voor iedereen inspirerend.

With a donation of €3600,-, the salaries of a registered nurse and an assistant-nurse can be paid until march 2009. And, not unimportantly, the accreditation that the clinic received - which enables the clinic to prescribe anti-retroviral treatment - will be preserved.

In 2006/2007, a prior donation of De Trut made it possible for the clinic to obtain this this accreditation, which required trained and paid nursing staff and a CD4-count machine in an in-house laboratory. This CD4-count machine is essential in determining blood values in the process of administering anti-retroviral drugs. The IHCC clinic is the first privately-founded clinic in Ghana that has its own CD4-count machine.

In the meantime, Stepping Stones for Africa, together with the clinic, is building a plan for income generation, in order to - step by step - become independent of donors overtime. The goal is that the clinic will eventually be able to cover its own overheadcosts, like salaries. The road to independency will take time, and this donation by De Trut will be very helpful in bridging the gap in the meantime.

We will publish more about this plan for independency soon.

Er wordt hard gewerkt aan een vaccin tegen AIDS. De wetenschappelijke consensus is dat een vaccin mogelijk is. Wil je precies weten hoe het er voor staat met de zoektocht naar een vaccin, kijk dan eens op de site van het International Aids Vaccine Initiative. Ook de site van UNAIDS geeft veel concrete cijfers en informatie.

Doe op 1 december mee aan Wereld Aids Dag. Kijk op Stop Aids Now voor het programma. Internationaal geeft de site van World AIDS Campaign een overzicht van de activiteiten op Wereld Aids Dag.

Everyone knows something is very wrong in Darfur, but the exact details are unclear for many. Until I read ‘What is the what’, the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, written down in novelized form by Dave Eggers, I also understood little about the situation in Sudan.

Despite the fact that ‘What is the what’ is not about the Darfur region, but about the war that raged in Southern Sudan the past 20 years, the events in both areas basically share the same causes. In many ways history is repeating itself in Darfur.

What is ‘What is the what’

‘What is the what’ is the unbelievable story of the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a former ‘Lost Boy’, like the drifting children were called in the Sudanese war. The novel describes the true story of the horrendous ordeals the young Valentino is confronted with when he escapes from his village which is torched by the murderous Murahaleen militia. From that moment he is a running five-year old, unknowing of the fate of his family. With a group of hundreds of other Lost Boys, he undertakes an epic journey of years through the desert, to eventually end up in the enormous Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenia. What makes the book remarkable in my opinion (apart from the extraordinary challenges that Valentino has to face), is that the story does not contain any moral indignation, something you would expect considering the events described. You listen to a voice of someone who experiences all cruelties he is seeing and living through as a given. Because the reader experiences the events through the eyes of growing up Valentino, he/she realizes it is not just misery, but also simply the life of someone (and many like him) who tries to make the best of the situation, also in the most gruelling circumstances.

The reality of today in Sudan

Despite the fact that the book is the eyewitness account of just one person, ‘What is the what’ has made me understand what happened in the last 20 years in Sudan, and what is happening today again in Darfur and neigbouring Chad, where many of the refugees have fled:

The rapes and killings by the militias that caused hundreds of thousands of victims. The situation of millions of people who fled the violence and ended up in enormous refugee camps, living in very poor circumstances. The role of the cunning dictatorial regime in Khartoum, that buys weapons and high-tech attack helicopters to use against its own people. The feared Janjaweed militia, supported by the regime, who come on horseback, burn villages to the ground and murder and abuse all inhabitants. The genocide and ethnic cleansing that is taking place and the role of the regime in playing the different tribes off against each other. The rebel armies, mostly consisting of boy- and teen soldiers, who revolted against the government, but became so divided themselves that with the wars among each other they only contribute to the violence and chaos. The fact that international relief organisations can hardly do their work because they are worked against by the regime and their supplies and vehicles are robbed by the rebels. Endless bureaucratic procedures preventing journalists from getting the proper documents to enter Darfur.

The role of the international community

In a lot of countries there seems to be an revival of attention for the situation in Darfur. Many are wondering why there is no intervention by the United Nations, why there are no sanctions against the regime. The roles of China (with its huge interest in the oil reserves of Sudan), Russia (as an arms supplier to the government) and the United States (who work together with the Sudanese government in the war on terrorism because of the presence of Al Qaida in Sudan) all certainly have to do with it and prevent that serious international intervention is taking place. The UN envoy, dutchman Jan Pronk, was expelled from Sudan after he criticized the regime. There is going to be a UN peace army of 20.000 troups, replacing the African peace mission that failed due to lack of funds, proper mandate and organisation. Of course the presence of UN soldiers for protection of the people is a good thing, but probably only a drop of water in the Sudanese desert, considering the scale of the country and its conflicts.

The ‘Genocide Olympics’

A lot of people have had enough of the passive attitude of their political leaders. Voices are heard to use the coming Olympics in China to bring the attention of the world to the problems in Darfur. One of those voices is actrice Mia Farrow. She had the idea to rename the China Olympics to the ‘Genocide Olympics’ and to persuade athletes to wear t-shirts with ‘Team Genocide’ on it. In this way she hopes to draw attention the the role of China in the genocide in Darfur. She wrote an open letter to Steven Spielberg, who is the artistic director of the Games. He was not aware of the link between China and Darfur, was shocked and spoke to the president of China. China promptly sent a special envoy to Sudan. Needless to say, China is not very happy with this kind of attention for their Olympics.

Read all about the ‘Genocide Olympics’ on Mia Farrow’s website:

> www.miafarrow.org

What you can do for Darfur

In the Netherlands, this week the campaign ‘Sofar Darfur’ took place, meant to bring new attention to Darfur, seemingly forgotten by the public. I really hope this helps, and that political leaders finally see that this cannot continue, that something needs to be done to stop the genocide.

Stichting Stepping Stones for Africa Foundation does not have projects in Sudan or East Africa. But there are many ways to contribute, by supporting international relief organisations. A few suggestions:

Dutch websites:

> Tot zover Darfur
> Artsen zonder Grenzen, projecten in Darfur
> Stichting Vluchteling, Help Darfur actie
> Unicef, projecten in Darfur

English/international:

> Ten things you can do for Darfur, including links to various relief organisations

A direct action you can take at this moment, is to sign a petition of Amnesty International:

> Sign the Amnesty petition here

A Dutch petition of Amnesty urges the Sudanes government to extradite two key figures in the genocide to the International Criminal Court in The Hague:

> Sign the Dutch Amnesty petition here

More information about the book, Sudan and Darfur

Last but not least the website of Valentino Deng Achak. After he ended up in the United States together with a lot of other former Lost Boys, he founded the Valentino Deng Achak Foundation. The aim of this foundation is to raise funds for his home town Marial Bai, the development of Southern Sudan and Darfur. Take a look at his website, where amongst a lot of interesting stories, you can read an inspiring essay of Dave Eggers, about the writing of ‘What is the what’.

> www.valentinoachakdeng.org
> Essay of Dave Eggers about the writing of ‘What is the what’

To learn more about the similarities and differences between southern Sudan and Darfur, read the following article:

> Questions and answers about Southern Sudan and Darfur

For a brief overview of the history of Sudan, check out:

> Brief history of Sudan

I hope I inspired you to read this book. It can be ordered from Amazon.com or bol.com in the Netherlands:

> ‘What is the what’ at Amazon.com
> ‘What is the what’ at Bol.com

All proceeds of the book are going to the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation.

Remco Kalf.

Mama Lu, could you tell something about yourself?

My name is Lucy Domphrey, but everybody calls me Mama Lu.
I am Ghanaian and 52 years old. I lived in America for many years, where I worked as a registered nurse. It was the US where I gained my working experience in the field of HIV/AIDS. Four years ago, I decided to come back to Ghana. Although I liked my life in America, something was missing and I had the strong feeling that my motherland Ghana needed me more.

How did you get in contact with Naa Ashiley?

Three year ago, one of my friends introduced me to Naa Ashiley. I was impressed by the passion she puts at work and I decided to volunteer as a nurse for two days a week. Since then, I am stuck in this clinic.

How do you experience your work in the clinic?

As I said, I can not leave her. The work I am doing here makes me feel fulfilled and gives me the feeling that I am really helping Naa Ashiley and the patients. Especially the in-patient care, with little things somebody is comforted for the day.

The other side-activities are also satisfying to me. As an example, I coordinate the income-generating project and this program, which is called ‘The Almond Tree’, is really going on well. After being diagnosed with HIV, these people were in so much trouble. But since they are part of the ‘Almond Tree’, they are much more satisfied. The work makes that they can take their mind off their illness, that they can interact with people who are in the same situation and of course, they get some income from it as well.

Could you explain to me how a working day at IHCC looks like?

My working day starts at 8 o’clock. I look after the out-patients first. I see an average of 10-15 clients each working day. In total 400 patients are registered in the clinic. I do the general consultation and, very important for HIV patients, I do the adherence counseling. It is very essential that our clients stick to their drug regime to prevent drug resistance.

Secondly, I look after the in-patients. They are normally in a very bad condition.
We try to minimize the admissions because of the cost and impact for the patient. Most of our in-patients are in terminal condition, so the care we offer is most of the time hospice care. Wound treatment is an important aspect of both in-patients and out-patient care and therefore, wound cleaning and drainage are also one of my main activities.

Beside these nursing activities, I supervise and train the ward-assistants. Seven ward assistants are working in the clinic and they are officially trained. Some of them are HIV positive themselves. These ward-assistants do a lot for us. They are always around to assistant the in-patients, also during the night. At any time, if there is a problem or emergency, they get in contact with me or Naa Ashiley.

Additionally, as I have said, I coordinate the income generating project. We have fifteen members and recently, we offer micro-financing for them to start their own business.

Home-based care is something I would like extend. At the moment, we are trying to develop a manual and train patients who are well to offer care for patients who are sick and shut in their houses. We hope to develop an official training program, so we can train members of other associations as well.

Finally, I represent IHCC at conferences.

How many days do you work?

Since I had an operation and can not walk as much as before, I am working for two days. Depending on other activities, I will be around at the other days as well. I hope, in the nearby future, I will be able to work for three days.
We have two nurses working at the clinic. The other nurse is Carmen, she is from the UK and is lives in Ghana for four years. She volunteers at the days I am not around. She is of great help.

Kurland, 20 kilometers east of the often visited by tourists, rich Plettenberg Bay. Kurland, anonymous, forgotten and without a future.

Kurland is one of the countless townships (slums) in South-Africa. Poverty and violence are common. People live in shacks made of wood, plastic and cardboard. Life is cheap in Kurland.

The kids of Kurland try to find their way out, and are looking for hope, love and happiness. Their cry for attention is heard by almost nobody.
They grow up in broken families, amidst of violence, alcoholism, unemployment and sadly, abuse. Despite their mostly hopeless situation, they keep smiling and dreaming, and are all unique children with an own story to tell.

These photos were made in the summer of 2004 in the Crags Primary school, the school in the Kurland township, by Remco Kalf.

You can support the kids of Kurland

You can support the kids of Kurland with a donation or by means of financial adoption.

Through the Stepping Stones for Africa foundation, you can give a donationthat will be spent totally on projects for the kids of Kurland.

An example of what is made possible through donations, is a school trip - something totally normal for our own children, but for the children in Kurland a lifetime event which takes them out of the daily situation for a while. Donations will be spent in cooperation with the Belgian/South African organisation ‘Born in Africa’, which is active in Kurland and a number of other townships around Plettenberg Bay.

We welcome any amount!

Financial adoption is possible directly through Born in Africa. Born in Africa supports individual children in de various townships around Plettenberg Bay, with afterschool activities, individual coaching and counselling as well as with clothing and shoes. Also school trips and outings are organised to give the children a break from their situation.

You can sponsor a child through Born in Africa for 250 euros per year. You become the ‘godfather’ or godmother’ and you will be informed regularly of the situation of your child with letters and photos.

More information can be found on www.borninafrica.org. Also see our article about Born in Africa.

You can download a pdf of this article here (with text in Dutch).

This small book, based upon the speech given by Bono at the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast, delivers an inspiring and powerful message. Here, in Bono’s own words, is a reflection on his own faith and a challenge to people of all faiths to reach across boundaries and come together on behalf of what the Scriptures call “the least of these.”

You can see a few pages of this book at the website of the One campaign.

You can order it at from Amazon or Bol.com (in the Netherlands):

> ‘On the move’ at Bol.com
> ‘On the move’ at Amazon.com

In every instance, Nolen has borne witness to the stories she relates, whether riding with truck driver Mohammed Ali on a journey across Kenya; following Tigist Haile Michael, a smart, shy fourteen-year-old Ethiopian orphan fending for herself and her baby brother on the slum streets of Addis Ababa; chronicling the efforts of Alice Kadzanja, an HIV-positive nurse in Malawi; or interviewing Nelson Mandela’s family about coming to terms with his own son’s death from AIDS. Nolen’s stories reveal how the disease works and spreads; how it is inextricably tied to conflict and famine and to the diverse cultures it has ravaged; how treatment works, and how people who can’t get treatment fight to stay alive with courage and dignity against huge odds.

Imagine the entire population of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles combined infected with HIV, and its magnitude in Africa is clear. Writing with power and simplicity, Stephanie Nolen makes us listen, allows us to understand, and inspires us to care. Timely and transformative, 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa is essential reading for anyone concerned about the fate of humankind.

28 stories of AIDS in Africa (English, hardcover) at Bol.com
28 stories of AIDS in Africa (English, paperback) at Bol.com
28 stories of AIDS in Africa (English, hardcover) at amazon.com

The ceremony was appropriately led by the nuns Tina oent Letty. On a very small stage they interviewed us about the clinic, about the founder Naa Ashiley Vanderpuye and about what has been accomplished with the money sofar.

Afther the presentation of the cheque, in our turn we presented a ‘Certificate of Appreciaton’ on behalf of the clinic to members of the board of Stichting Fonds De Trut.

Below an impression of the ceremony:

In the form of the Focus on Aids initiative, we already worked together with this clinic in a lot of different projects. Opposed to what the name seems to imply, the International Health Care Clinic is a small, privately funded clinic in the capital of Ghana. IHCC provides free or almost free medical care to the poor. A large number of the patients are HIV positive or have fullblown AIDS. They are coming to the clinic from all over the country and even from over the borders of neighbouring countries, and their only hope is the care provided in this clinic. The clinic is run by the Dutch-Ghanaian doctor Naa Ashiley Vanderpuye. The clinic is 100% funded by donations.

In the winter of 2005, we were contacted by Stichting Fonds de Trut, a foundation that owns a non-commercial gay and lesbian club (’De Trut’) in Amsterdam. The revenues of this club are used to fund mainly AIDS and/or gay related organisations or projects. Stichting Fonds de Trut asked us if they could help the clinic with this donation. With this incredible news, we went to Ghana in january 2006 and talked to the founder of the clinic. Together we made a plan for creating the biggest possible impact on the care for AIDS/HIV patients in the clinic with this money.

You can read more about what the money is used for on the project page. The donation in itself was a big stimulus for us to found Stepping Stones for Africa. As a foundation, we can be a much more professional partner in this and future projects. Stichting Fonds De Trut also helped us financially with the formalities involved.

On Christmas eve, 24th of december 2006, there was festive evening in De Trut, on which the donation was presented to us.

Clinton, Kurland, South Africa

This is Clinton. I met Clinton at the Crags Primary School in the township Kurland in South Africa, during a couple of weeks of volunteering in august 2004. The first photo was shot on august 25, the second on august 18 of 2004.

Clinton lives with both of his parents, his grandparents and his younger brother Quinten in a little house in the township. In 2004 he was 8 years old and was in second grade. He is 10 now and is doing well at school. Much better than in 2004, when he was often naughty and expelled from class. I remember Clinton as an intriguing little boy, fascinated by the camera and always wanting to help with carrying boxes and stuff for the school projects we organized. It was sometimes difficult to keep him apart from his brother Quinten, because of their similar sounding names and their similar appearance. Adding to the confusion they also wore each others clothes.

Because of the contact we made, I asked Isabelle of Born in Africa if he already had been adopted in their adoption program, which he wasn’t because of his behaviour in class. Back in the Netherlands, my mother adopted him, and I learned that around the same time, also his brother Quinten had been adopted by other people.

This means that both can take part in the after school activities, they get new clothes and - most important for kids in townships - they get personal attention and individual coaching and counselling.

By the letters we receive from Born in Africa, I know that Clinton is doing well in school at the moment and that his father has different jobs on and of. His mother is staying at home. Through Born in Africa, we send him a box with clothes and toys now and then.

For Google Earth users, here is the placemark for Kurland with the Crags Primary School in the top right corner.

Boy with pink glasses, Baobeng Fiema, Ghana

Cindy and I met this rather seriously looking boy with his funny pink glasses in Baobeng-Fiema, Ghana.

Baobeng-Fiema is the name of a wildlife sanctuary and of a small community of two little villages. The villages and the Baobeng Monkey Sanctuary are situated in an absolutely beautiful forest with huge and ancient trees. The villagers live peacefully together with two species of monkeys, which are considered sacred and are treated as humans.

The little boy and his brother we met when we were waiting along the roadside for a lift, very early in the morning of January 6, 2006. He brought us a mango for our breakfast.

Pumla and Busi, Kurland, South Africa

This is Pumla, and her daughter Busi. They live in a little shack in The Crags, also called Kurland, a township near Plettenberg Bay in South Africa.

I met Pumla when she was the housekeeper at the volunteering place I visited in august 2004, “Willing Workers in South Africa” (WWISA). I was told that Pumla left Wwisa early 2005, to take up a position as a Community Development Officer in training with the Bitou Municipality. She’s based in Kurland but has been to Cape Town and George for training input and, according to Wwisa, was doing exceptionally well. Busi visits the Crags Primary School and -as far as I know- is supported by Born in Africa.

This photo was taken on August, 6, 2004. It was a rainy day as you can see, and Pumla was worried her plastic roof would leak. The shacks in Kurland are made of wood, cardboard and plastic roofing. The walls on the inside are mostly made of cardboard boxes, newspapers and posters. Most of the shacks have electricity, and with that, sometimes a refridgerator and tv.

For Google Earth users, here is the placemark for Kurland with the Crags Primary School in the top right corner.