About 60 Ethiopian Jews marveled at airports, escalators, televisions, their first airplane ride, and other technological firsts before boarding a plane to Israel last year, a member of the Jewish Federation of Metro Chicago said.
Jay Tcath, vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metro Chicago traveled to Ethiopia last year to see the state of social services and accompany the Ethiopian Jews to Israel, Tcath said. Tcath found extreme poverty and lack of conveniences in the villages he visited, Tcath said.
But the people were friendly, outgoing, warm, and thrilled to be immigrating to Israel.
“They were excited beyond belief,” Tcath said. “The plane ride alone was a first in a lifetime experience,” Tcath said, adding the group used reclining seats and a tray folding up and down in the plane. They had never been exposed to modern conveniences such as electricity and lit buildings at night.
Under Israeli law, all Jews from around the world are entitled to return to Israel and have immediate citizenship. 3,595 Ethiopian immigrants came to Israel in 2006 out of the total 19,269 and are the highest number of incoming immigrants, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.
Now the law of return is expanded to include grandchildren of Jews and allow them to return. Ironically, this law of return is based on Hitler’s definition of sending someone to a concentration camp, said Shirah Ozery, Director, Israel Aliyah Center Chicago and Midwest Regional Office.
But
Ethiopians face challenges once they come to Israel, Tcath said.
“[Ethiopians are] not traditionally employed in anything other than archaic agricultural skills [such as] herding sheep, growing basic farm products, and maintaining cows,” Tcath said. The majority of Ethiopian immigrants lived a village life and must adapt to an urban life, which is challenging, Tcath said.
“Most of the immigrants from Ethiopia are illiterate in their own language and despite a huge effort of the Israeli government to educate teach them Hebrew and a vocation, most of them are able to work only as cleaners and other simple non vocational jobs. Usually they earn only the minimum wage. However a huge effort is made to educate the young people,” said Nomi Arbel of the Gevanim Center for Community Diversity, a registered Israeli non-profit association.
About 5000 second generation Ethiopian Jews are enrolled in universities in Israel, Tcath said.
Upon
arriving in Israel, immigrants are granted
immediate citizenship and like all Israelis have benefits such as
healthcare,
and must serve required time in the army, said Ozery.
The Israeli government puts about $100,000 of services per Ethiopian immigrants, Tcath said.
The government pays for housing between 24 to 36 months to help immigrants settle in and also make room for new immigrants, Tcath said.
Jews are returning from North America as well. In 2006, 2,095 Jews from North America immigrated to Israel with about 250 from sixteen Midwest states, according to Ozery and the Jewish Virtual Library.
American Jews returning to Israel are returning for religious reasons, as the reasons for secular Jews to return to Israel, such as economic opportunity and persecution, do not apply to them, said Steven Bayme, director of the Coplan Institute on American Jewish Israeli Relations.
However, there can be problems with documentation proving immigrants are Jewish, which causes heartache, Bayme said.
One Russian Jewish soldier from Beer Sheva was killed and was supposed to have a Jewish burial, but the rabbi found out the soldier’s father was Jewish and not the mother, so the rabbi stopped the burial, said Bayme. Jews are usually only considered Jewish if their mother is Jewish.
Also some rabbis do not accept some documents from overseas proving one is a Jew, making it difficult to get married or divorced, said Bayme. “[The] chief rabbi of Israel treats the nonOrthodox Jewry with contempt.”
But one group has fewer opportunities as a
result of immigration.
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza held menial jobs such as construction and cleaning in Israel, until the 1990s and after the second Intifada, when Israel changed its law to bar Palestinians from moving between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza, said Yousef Munayyer, assistant to the president of the American Arab anti-Discrimination Committee.
Now those jobs go to Ethiopian immigrants, Munayyer said.
Sr. Elaine Kelley, administrative officer for Friends of Sabeel--North America, an international peace movement that started with Palestinian Christians, calls giving away these jobs a form of ethnic cleansing.
“Israel has a policy of displacement through different ways of making life hard,” Kelley said. If life becomes more difficult, there are hopes more Palestinians will leave, Kelley said.
While world leaders remain divided on denouncing China’s treatment of Tibetans, Chicago’s Asian community in Chinatown is divided on China’s response in the controversy but remains proud that the Olympics will be in their country.
“[China has been] too wild in trying to express their point of view,” said Yat Wong, owner of 47 Gifts R Us from China. Wong said the Chinese government overreacted and was violent. The governments should “settle down in a peaceful way,” Wong said. In addition, China should look at their opponents’ point of view, Wong said.
Western leaders are debating whether to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in August.
“It’s the Olympics. It’s some sport, right? It should be separate [from politics],” said Aubrey Chang, employee at the Lucky Lantern Gift & Boutique from Hong Kong.
But one Chinese sports player, in Chicago said arresting the protesters are a part of China’s plan. “In China they must be number one in everything,” said Jia Lu, employee at Imperial Décor. “They want to push Tibet out.”
But despite the controversy, Lu would not miss the chance to view the Olympics. “I will go back to China for the Olympics, ” Lu said.
China worked on hosting the Olympics for about eight years, costing billions and displacing over two million people, according to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, based in Switzerland.
But others have said the best steps were taken towards a positive solution.
Jack Huang immigrated from China two years ago and has worked in the Chinatown Bazaar for a year and a half.
“Many people want to stop the Olympics,” said Huang, “It’s [the political situation] okay now.” “Everything’s gonna be okay,” Huang said.
But Wong said the Olympics are good for China. “I think it’s a chance to let China take the responsibility for a big country worldwide.”
Stephanie Xue, English literature professor who also works in English translation at university in Xi’an City in China was visiting Chicago last week.
The Olympics is a “wonderful chance for China,” Xue said. “We have confidence for the success for the Olympics.”
“I’m very proud of being a Chinese person,” said Xue.
The government in China is working “to solve every problem in detail,” Xue said in reference to the political turmoil.
But the repression of minorities in China has been ongoing, according to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions.
Chinatown in Chicago is on the near South Side and is located between Canal Dr. and Michigan Ave. One way to get to Chinatown is by the Red Line and stop at Cermak Chinatown.
About 33,989 Asians live in Chinatown, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 Community Survey.
An estimated 134,837 Asians live in Chicago, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 Community Survey.
Bright
splashes
of color, especially red, gold and green, can be seen everywhere one
turns in Chinatown just by looking around the numerous gift shops,
restaurants, grocery stores, banks and many other places. Chinatown
is also a community for the Asian population. It is also a tourist
attraction; one can see people from out of the state and country taking
pictures there.
Nadia Beidas
RPA International
Word Count: 1,577
During the 1970s in Iraq, next to no one wore the hijab, Iraqi born Janaan Hashim, Hashim, an attorney at Amal Law Group specializing in criminal law and civil rights and host of a radio show on Radio Islam, said. When she returned in 2001 and 2002, most people were wearing the hijab.
Ghada Talhami, political professor at Lake Forest College and Palestinian woman, said in the 1970s hijabs were not worn. “We wanted to assimilate,” she said. “We dressed modestly. Upon her trip to Jordan last year, she noticed most women were wearing the hijab.
Over the past several years, there has been a cultural shift in the Middle East towards a more conservative manner of dress for women. Head scarves, long sleeved shirts and traditional clothing are becoming the norm today. Some say this is due to wanting to present a Muslim identity, while others say it is a fashion that will do away. In past generations like the 1950s and 1960s, it was more common to see women dressing in Western fashions.
During the
golden era, 1950s and 1960s in the Arab world, the arts were taking off in the
supreme vocal talents of Abdel Halim Hafaz, Um Kalthum and others as well as
the acting talents of Nadia Lutfi, Soad Hosny and others. Abdel Halim Hofaz and Nadia Lutfi
Women in the entertainment industry and outside of it were seen in pretty dresses, short skirts, shorts, sleeveless tops, spaghetti strap or strapless tops and dresses.
At the same time, there was a strong sense of patriotism in the Arab world due to the rise of Gamel Abdel Nasser to power in Egypt, who called for the unity of all Arab countries.
Faith and religion took a backseat to nationalism, Hashim said. “Because of that, society was reflecting that in the way they dressed.”
“We wanted to assimilate, get an education,” said Ghada Talhami.
One Saudi man Ahmed said the golden era had a
strong influence on Saudi
Arabia.
“In the 50’s and
60’s, more Saudis traveled to Lebanon
and Egypt,
which were almost European style countries, and adapted their fashion from
there. In the 70’s and 80’s, Saudi Arabia
kept sending students to the United
States to make the people get a better
education and they adapted that style of clothing in that era,” Ahmed
said.
But the ideas of that time did not last.
“Nationalism didn’t get them what they wanted. Faith did,” Hashim said. People then turned back to faith.
“People [now] are more in tune, more in touch with their faith,” Hashim said.
Muslim women want to be identified as such when they dress, Hashim said. When people see the hijab they will think “We know how she stands on issues. We know how to treat her with respect.”
Hashim wears the hijab to show that she is a proud Muslim and for people to identify her as one. She also likes wearing jeans and keeping up with fashion.
“You can have your religion and your fashion too,” Hashim said. Hashim is one of many Arab women who are choosing to dress with religion in mind.
Like Hashim, Zeinab Abubakr, biology teacher at Douglas Academy in Chicago, also chooses to wear a hijab. AbuBakr is originally Palestinian and lived in Jordan before coming to the U.S. It was important for Abubakr to put the hijab on, as she was raised in a religious family, she said.
Talhami does not wear a hijab.
But some of Hashim’s cousins told her that incorporating religion into fashion will not last.
“They said a big part of it is a fad and fashion,” Hashim said. “The other part is returning to Islamic identity.”
Once the fashion changes, people will see who changed their appearance for religion and who followed fashion, Hashim said.
“It’s [wearing the hijab] the fashionable thing to do,” said Talhami.
Ahmed said in Saudi Arabia, religion does not play a part in the fashion as much as culture. (picture)
“If a woman wore a red abaya, [an abaya is a black garment that covers a woman with the exception of her feet, hands and face] they would probably imprison her for a day; the religious police would at least give her a hassle because of the color,” Ahmed said.
There is nothing in the Muslim religion stating a woman should wear a black abaya or even an abaya, Ahmed said.
“[The] religion states that she should wear clothes that cover up her body as in a not so tight dress, baggy clothes, but our culture was here way before our religion [Islam], so it dominates.”
At the same time the conservative clothing has become fashionable now available in more styles with bright colors and sequins. Hijab fashion Some women wear western clothing, like bright halter tops with long-sleeved shirts underneath.
In Jordan, more young women are following this trend.
“The ones wearing the hijab [young women] even the middle class wear tight clothes with all the makeup and they just put the hijab,” Abubakr said.
“[They wear] tight pants, tight top very tight,” Abubakr said. “Religion wise, it should not be this tight.” But Abubakr said the style looks nice on the girls.
More styles are now available for the older generation as well, Abubakr said. Traditional dresses have new kinds of cloth and more colors.
Traditional dresses are available in bright blue, red, green, pink and many colors with sequins, lace and other types of nice embroidery. The traditional dresses have matching hijabs in the same material and with the same ornamentation.
Arab men and women are divided on whether this shift is yielding positive or negative results.
“It’s a beautiful industry,” Hashim said. “I just loved seeing the different ways of seeing women wear hijabs and clothing.”
“[Tight clothing] is part of the fashion,” Abubakr said.
On one visit to Medina, Hashim saw a woman wearing a rich red outfit with a matching headscarf and thought the outfit beautiful.
“We’re not told what to wear,” Hashim said.
In Saudi Arabia women vary their abayas, Ahmed said.
“Women here do not wear colorful abayas, body and hair covers... they are all black. But still, they use different styles,” Ahmed said.
Women wear “body fit” abayas which give them an hour glass figure, or straight cut abayas like fancy robes, or “overhead abayas” worn by religious people and is a large black cloth draping her body, Ahmed said.
“The “not so religious” women like to decorate their abayas with little sparkly objects, and pictures (like butterflies, tigers... etc) on the back of the abaya.,” Ahmed said.
The decorations come in different styles and are custom tailored, allowing women to be free and creative with the style, Ahmed said.
In Saudi Arabia, Sara, Saudi blogger, said women with hijabs have certain styles they look for. “I just went Hijab-clothes shopping with a friend of mine recently, and mainly what she looks for is long kaftans in cool materials. They are worn over jeans and a cotton scarf.”
“What’s under the abaya is a different story. People in public usually don’t get to see what’s under it. But in friends houses, parties... etc. they dress fashionably,” Ahmed said.
Saudi women do follow Western fashion, Sara said. “The Victoria Beckham bob is a huge trend here, and has been for a number of months, just like it has in the West.”
But sometimes Saudi women go overboard with fashion, Ahmed said.
Saudi women, the upper middle class and the upper class, are known for behaving in a superficial manner and chasing after the latest fashions, with a few exceptions, Ahmed said.
“The majority would not be caught dead going out in public without a LV bag, Gucci shoes, channel belt, $1500 top and the most expensive jeans they could find which has a well known trademark,” Ahmed said.
“The middle, and lower class of society can’t afford those things and go with ‘knockoffs’,” Ahmed said.
The women also follow European fashion, Ahmed said. They think American women are not stylish.
“Levis jeans and a GAP T-shirt is considered
‘fashionably retarded’ to most women in Saudi. If it’s not a huge European
designer brand that costs thousand of dollars and only a couple of cents to
make, it’s not stylish,” Ahmed said.
Saudi women also spend a lot of money on makeup, Ahmed said.
“Women here spend around $500 at the beauty salon in order to put make up that makes them look like a different person for a party or wedding or whatever. It’s ridiculous,” Ahmed said.
Most fashionable women are rich, spoiled, between 20 and 30 years old, unmarried, cannot date because of the culture, unemployed and watch their televisions in order to imitate, Ahmed said.
“In the 90’s and currently, we started getting all the fashion channels available in the world, and we have all the major franchise apparel shops in the world,” he said.
But not everyone can afford to be into fashion.
“The majority of Saudi Arabia is poor, lower class. They can barely afford one piece of clothing for the year. The
upper middle and upper class of society in Saudi Arabia represent less than 20 percent of the population, so we are
talking about a minority here,” Ahmed said.
Should I ever have children, there will be a distinct possibility that by the time they reach 18 there will be countries that have been wiped out by AIDS. What upsets me the most is how in the age of advanced technology, I truly believe there is a means to reduce the numbers but greed, racism, and politics are getting in the way.
It is estimated that 700,000 people are living with HIV in China. Of that 75,000 have full blown AIDS. While the UNAIDS has a reported the epidemic is low, the high population in the Southern regions can cause spread. The fact that HIV infections have soared to 45% in the last year should be an indication to the government that corralling people within their province is not enough.
The central government has taken several steps to control the growth of AIDS in China since 2003. Free testing is provided for migrants who can spread HIV as they travel outside of their provinces seeking work in larger cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The government has also begun providing free condoms in karaoke bars and promoting needle exchange programs, according to a 2006 TIME health blog.
Mainstream media has mostly covered the AIDS epidemic from a rural standpoint. In the 1990s , many rural workers were selling their blood for money. To cut back on using syringes, many blood banks reused them. The HumanAught, links to a translated version of an article about the epidemic caused by plasma selling in Henan, which has upward to 10,000 cases of HIV infections.
In 1996, AIDS became public. I made contact through a friend with Gao Yaojie, the "top civilian In AIDS prevention" and I listened to her explain the spreading of AIDS in the central plains.
On that day, I saw an AIDS father-and-son pair in Gao Yaojie's home. The 12-year-old son had a low fever that would not subside. The father took the son to Zhengzhou to see if it was a flu, but he had AIDS. This was the first time that I ever met AIDS patients. I gave them 400 RMB. On that occasion, Gao Yaojie gave me the names of several AIDS orphans and she wanted me and my friends to send them money at the addresses so that they can continue to study. Some time later, one of the children did not need our assistance anymore because he passed away. Thus, a life just vanished like that. Another little girl in elementary school also lost contact ...
On that day, Gao Yaojie also told me another shocking detail. She said that when the peasants sold blood back then, they might be working in the field. When the Blood Heads went to the fields to collect blood, they said that they would take 500 cc but actually they were taking 600 cc or 700 cc for the same money (at most 80 RMB). The peasants who had the blood drawn were often dizzy afterwards because too much blood had been taken. At those moments, the Blood Head would pick up the peasants and turn them upside down, shaking their bodies until the blood went back into their heads.
Much of the information about AIDS in China is outdated and old. I’ve given up hope on finding an actual Chinese blogger/activist who would be writing about HIV/AIDS in China since most are arrested.
What is going to be done about AIDS as the world moves further into the 21st century remains to be answered. It would be easy in frustration to blame the G8 countries for their lack of response and denial of medications to countries that can’t afford them, but there’s where I believe there is racism at hand. I also tend to think that for these Big Pharm companies are working with governments in a means to reduce world population which growing at a rapid rate.
But until I have details and facts, all I can do is pray for those who suffer needlessly.
Nadia Beidas
Eastern Europe blog
Word Count: 343
Sex trafficking is one of the ongoing problems that most horrifies me. Imagine yourself being young, poor and desperate for a better life; one day someone comes along and offers you a job in America, the land of freedom. So you jump and take the job, but there are harsh consequences. Once on American soil, you’re thrown into a brothel with other girls and forced to allow strangers into your body every single day.
Human slavery is beyond disgusting. For more about human trafficking, see Robert Lindsay’s blog. Robert Lindsay
One of the places where sex trafficking is ongoing in Eastern Europe. When I was in college I watched a Lifetime movie called Human Trafficking, which examined the lives of girls forced into the sex trade. There were graphic portrayals of the rapes of these women and children and the horrors they endure from day to day in the movie.
After they are taken, in this movie, the women were stripped and examined like horses. Then they were raped by their captors, probably to break them into their life. If they tried to escape the lives of their families are threatened, and guards are watching their families at all times.
I couldn’t sleep for a week after seeing this movie, and online comments suggest that the real thing is more graphic than this – too much for television.
One Eastern European country the sex trade is prevalent in is Romania, where people battle horrible poverty. According to the blog, Human Trafficking Project, efforts are made in Romania to combat this problem. The blog states statistics from the Romanian National Agency Against Trafficking in Human Beings statistics, which stated about 406 Romanian people were victims of human trafficking. For more about efforts to combat this problem, see the blog. Human Trafficking Project
Ukraine is another country where this problem is prevalent. The Orange Ukraine tells the story of a Ukranian woman who was taken to Israel under false pretenses and now is hiding from both her captors and the Israeli government, who would deport her. For more, see Orange Ukraine. Orange Ukraine
Okay so I am supposed to write a blog on China, but as I stated in an earlier blog I am on a search for light hearted blogs rather than heavy human rights issues, and as the Olympics move to China this year, controversy is on its heels.
Instead I am looking into a part of Asian culture that I love, Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty is based out of Japan, but its popularity spans the entire globe, China included.
In a Google search I typed, "Hello Kitty Blogs" and I was surprised by the amount of blogs about the cute cat.
Here is one of my favorites: It is about how a wife's love of the cat spawned a deep hatred for HK from her husband.
In a recent drug bust in Guatemala, law enforcement officials found cocaine wrapped in Hello Kitty paper. This is what the Hello Kitty Hell blogger had to say about it:
"You knew that it was merely a matter of time. Was there really any doubt that we would eventually confirm that Hello Kitty is dealing cocaine?
This is what Guatemalan anti-narcotics police found when they seized 1.2 tons of the cocaine on its way to Mexico on April 13th. Now, this really should not come as a surprise to anyone. Cocaine and Hello Kitty display an awful lot of the same properties when it comes to addiction so combining them together probably seemed like the perfect move for Sanrio. If you have ever had to deal with a Hello Kitty fanatic in your life, you already have wondered if they were high on something whenever Hello Kitty is mentioned."
This blog is pretty great, check it out if you have the time.
Hello Kitty is so popular in China that manufacturers have created Hello Kitty Panty Liners! Again, Hello Kitty Hell Blogger covers it all.
Many Hello Kitty products are only available in China. As the Sanriotown Blog displays a new HK phone only available there.
Here is a picture a HK from China:
As I sit in my living room with the window open, a warm breeze hits my face and instantly the smell reminds me of my other home: Athens, Greece. It also helps that two men walking by were speaking Greek.
Experts say that our sense of smell is our most powerful and any of us that have been instantly transported to another place just by a whiff of air would agree.
The smell for me is the warm air mixed with the aroma of diesel fumes, instantly I am taken to my home in Athens, where I am sitting drinking coffee listening to the roar of cars. The way the warm dry breeze mixes with the air you only feel in a foreign country.
Greece is a country deeply rooted in its history. The Aramaic alphabet is the oldest language in existence and is the basis of all languages used today, many words in English hold their roots in Greek.
In my search for blogs out of the country, most often people write about their travels through the unbelievable landscape and culture of the country.
Instead of connecting readers to them, I thought I would give you some of my experiences and showcase some of my favorite places.
I love Athens, it is dirty, gritty and crowded. I tell friends who travel there to only stay for a couple of days because I think it is hard to handle for the average vacationer. Tourist areas in Athens are notoriously high priced and Greeks love to take advantage of the wide-eyed tourist.
My mother and I have tested this. We sat down to eat the heavy tourist traffic of Monastiraki and Plaka, we were speaking English. When the waiter greeted us and handed us the menu we were both shocked at the prices.
We both kind of laughed and then my mom in her Athenian Greek accent said to the waiter, "Give us the real menu."
"I am sorry," the waiter replied, "I thought you were Americans."
He promptly returned with another menu, and the price was 5 Euros cheaper for certain items.
The Greeks have been living with tourists for a long time, and they have quickly adapted their dislike for outsiders by taking them for all they have, I guess it makes up for visitors invading their homeland.
Native Greek people are homogeneous, and it is hard for them to see outside of their culture.
My sister, Christine, was born in Greece and lived there until she was five years old. My sister does not look Greek with blonde hair and blue eyes, but is 100 percent native.
She traveled last year with her boyfriend Matt to Athens, and said she never wants to vacation in her homeland again unless she has to.
Christine and Matt have lived and traveled all over the world and said that the Greeks were the rudest people they had encountered. It was only when she began speaking Greek to locals that they warmed up to her.
I too have seen this side of the country, as my Greek is at times pretty bad. I don't look Greek either and have experienced prejudice because I don't blend in.
On a much greater scale, here is another example of Greece's reluctance to accept outsiders. BBC Article
But all of this could never keep me away from Greece; the islands are some of the most beautiful places in the world. The highly tourist populated Santorini is one of my favorite with its volcanic cliffs and theory that it was where the lost city of Atlantis once stood.
Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world and at present, has one of the highest rates of AIDS infections in Southeast Asia.
National HIV prevalence rate among adults (ages 15 to 49): 1.6 percent1
Adults and children (ages 0-49) living with HIV at the end of 2005: 130,0001
AIDS deaths (adults and children) in 2005: 16,0001
AIDS orphans at the end of 2005: not available1
| Emergency Plan Results in Cambodia | ||
| # of individuals receiving antiretroviral treatment in fiscal year 2007 | 5,700 | |
| # of pregnant women receiving prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services in fiscal year 2007 | 31,200 | |
| # of pregnant women receiving antiretroviral prophylaxis for PMTCT in fiscal year 2007 | 170 | |
| # of counseling and testing encounters (in settings other than PMTCT) in fiscal year 2007 | 108,100 | |
Taken from U.S. President's Plan for AIDS Relief
There is a lot of information regarding the AIDS epidemic in Cambodia, but not many people from the country blog about the disease in their country.
AIDS is still seen as a stigma in the country and this video helps to explain that:
The country's sex trade drives the spread of AIDS in Cambodia and it now rivals Thailand as a leading destination for sex tourism. Prostitution is illegal in the country but is tolerated and often public officials are involved.
According to March Reuters report HIV cases in Southeast Asia could increase as much as 150 percent by the year 2020.
Nearly 5 million people are infected with HIV in Asia now, with 440,000
dying annually, the report said. The annual death toll will rise to
almost 500,000 by 2020 without a scaled-up response, according to the
report, entitled "Redefining AIDS in Asia - Crafting an Effective
Response."
AIDS is the most likely cause of death and work days lost among
15-to-44-year-olds in Asia, according to the commission, which worked
on the report for 18 months. Asia ranks second regionally in HIV cases
behind Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an estimated 22.5 million people
living with HIV.
Nadia Beidas
4/22/08
AIDS in Africa and Asia blog
Words: 405
Human trafficking in Asia increases the outbreak of HIV and AIDS, according to a Reuters report. About 300,000 women and children are affected in trafficking. Most of the routes for human trafficking go between Nepal and India and also run from Thailand to neighboring places such as Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. The majority of victims who succumb to AIDS are teenage girls who become prostitutes.
In the Asia Pacific region, about 5.4 million people live with HIV as of 2006, according to the Reuters report. In sub-Saharan Africa, 25.8 million people live with HIV. India has about 2.5 million people who have HIV.
In addition, 500,000 people are expected to die every year by 2020 if no preventative measures are done. The number of those infected will increase to 10 million, according to the Private Sector Development blog. For more see the blog. Private Sector Development blog
We keep seeing these numbers and keep hearing about prevention awareness here in the United States, but upon reading Michael McColly’s The After Death Room, it seems that there is some awareness in Africa and Asia but perhaps not as much as the United States. Some organizations work towards creating awareness and disease prevention, but sometimes society rules and taboos get in the way. However, most people know what the disease is.
Sometimes I wonder if the problem with the spread of disease is not that people are not aware they may contract HIV, but that they believe they are invincible. Especially here in the United States, I admit I am perplexed why the disease keeps spreading. I remember hearing about HIV prevention since elementary school. While I realize people may not have had the exposure and education I was fortunate enough to have, I sometimes feel that with all the media messages and awareness groups that people should know how to protect themselves.
But admittedly, I am not an expert.
Another important thing to not is The Media Global blog reports that an AIDS vaccine will not be likely or forthcoming anytime soon. The Media Global blog
One blogger from the Phillipines, Wilhelmina, said the majority of infected people are children. Like the United States, people infected with HIV face a taboo of being morally bankrupt – having sex with many people, Wilhelmina said. She also talks about a pharmacist who works on getting medication to people for less money and her experiences when viewing the Oprah show on this topic. For more, see her blog. Wilhelmina
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