We put 2 new songs up this morning, after finally working most of the kinks out of the "I'm Falling" song. The goal is to have enough good music down by the time Claire goes cack to St. Louis to be able to release another CD. The goal is also to keep getting better. I've attached below the latest report from Dr. Cohen from rwanda so you can see how your donations are making a difference in many ways toward saving life, as opposed to the usual horrors out of Iraq and Washington (how many think that Donald Rumsfeld should be standing court-martial with the other soldiers, raise your hands?) This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread ] Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2006 18:11:22 -0400 From: mardgecohen@aol.com Dear all I’m back in Rwanda this month. The rainy season is over, it’s not too hot, and the garden in our backyard is pretty lush. It’s wonderful to see friends and colleagues here after several months away. And it’s amazing to see how things have progressed and also how much there is to do. Many WE-ACTx volunteers fill the house this summer—a whole new legal venture is underway to train paralegals to provide mediation at the local level for HIV related as well as gender and family issues. The trainings will take place over the next couple of months and the group seems to have the support of the Minister of Gender and the Rwandan law school. Before I arrived, Anne-christine d’Adesky (We-ACTx’s co-executive director) took the crew to Goma, Congo to visit Doctors on Call Services (DOCS). This international NGO supports a hospital for women and children who have been raped and attacked in the continuing conflict in the DRC (the same conflict, of course, as the Rwandan 1994 genocide). They filmed their visit and I saw women in their 20s describe being raped, rejected by their husbands, unable to return to their homes and having up to 7 operations to repair fistulas. We’ve met some women with HIV who are forming a new Rwandan organization for women with HIV. They raise issues that really matter to them—they describe their partners not always using condoms, and say that if they get pregnant, they try to induce abortions. In Rwanda, physician found performing abortions are sentenced to 20 years in prison. I visited the new alternative Genocide Museum begun by SURF (the British Survivors Fund). The exhibit begins with pictures of those who survived, and presents their testimonies. This is in contrast to the National Genocide Museum which starts with the history of Rwanda, then covers colonialism, identity cards, independence and the genocide. In SURF’s museum, the emphasis is on the survivors, their experiences, memories and their lives now. I have been spending most of the time here concentrating on the new family centered program. As some of you know, The Ronald McDonald Charity Fund has given significant support to develop WE-ACTx’s pediatric program over the next year. We can support the pediatricians and hire nurses and trauma counselors and peer advocates to better address the many psychosocial needs of families with HIV infected children. Care will begin with voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), continue at the WE-ACTx clinical sites (a third will be starting soon), and include home visits, social needs assessment, information and educational support groups, emotional counseling, permanency planning, and assessment and contribution to the community understanding of families affected by HIV. We’re very moved by how the counselors understand HIV infection in families in Rwanda in the context of the trauma from the genocide (both directly and indirectly). They will help create a hopeful and successful Rwandan specific model that addresses the stigma, sadness, and re-traumatization that so many families with children with HIV experience. Last week, a 3-year old girl was brought into the clinic by her 12-year old sister. Their mother died of AIDS a year ago. The 2 children and another 5 year old sibling now live with their aunt, their mother’s sister. But the aunt is very poor, not pleased to have the three children, and very upset about taking in a child with HIV. The 12 year old brings the younger sick child to clinic, but has still not been tested herself for HIV—too much to handle all at once. We are hoping that our newly hired staff will be able to help this family and the many others coming to the clinic. We did celebrate the families last Friday on African Children’s Day (June 16). This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Soweto student uprising and all over Africa, since the 1990s, the holiday celebrates children. So a Rwandan and U.S. volunteer team organized a fantastic party for WE-ACTx’s 300 families with infected children—which meant hosting about 1500 people! The party was in a beautiful banquet space with 3 garden areas. It started at noon and the children played soccer, went on slides and swings, made masks, hats, had faces painted and pictures taken and really had a blast. The formal program started at 3 with traditional Rwandan dancing, music, children’s dancing, box lunches and drinks and fruit for everyone, moving and sad poems by two children living with HIV, a raffle and some speeches by representatives of UNCEF, Ministry of Gender, and the national AIDS body. Everything was totally perfect. Then, at the end, as it was time to give a bag of rice to each family and 500 orange African Children’s Day T- shirts to the children, things got out of control. The space was mobbed. So we had to give the rice to our partner associations to distribute to the families another time. We finally distributed the T-shirts as the families got on the buses to go home. Lesson learned: Next year we’ll give the T-shirts out as the kids first arrive and begin to play. I’m encouraged by our successes and acknowledge the challenges—we’ve started the third visit of the research study with an amazing 97% retention. People are doing well on therapy. And the cancer prevention program is still moving forward. We may have to move clinic sites to facilitate ARV distribution. Food supplies and income generation continue to be challenging. This past Sunday an especially wonderful WE-ACTx staff member (supervising trauma counselor)/friend had a prenuptial celebration. The WE-ACTx mizungos were all in traditional Rwandan dresses (my first bridesmaid experience). There was a Pentecostal Church ceremony and then a reception. Though it was a very happy time, it was of course also a very sad time. The bride and the groom each lost their parents and many other family members during the genocide. A cousin described how she and the bride found each other wandering around after their families had been murdered and how they hid together in a house in one room, not eating anything for days, listening to and hiding from the dogs that were eating human bodies. She said they never imagined that there would be a day like this. And the groom’s sister slowly explained how only two sisters and the groom survived in their family and how difficult their lives had been and how wonderful this day was for them. We felt honored to share the pain and joy. Thanks as always for all your help. Mardge