ukimwi

We've completed a PC HIV/AIDS seminar in Dodoma and I've learned many new things about HIV/AIDS. I knew how HIV/AIDS was transmitted and but I didn't know the biology involved and that's what we went over. We covered cell structure to understand the RAV drugs and how they try to lessen the impact of HIV. Quite interesting and what a difficult job it is to find a cure. In simple terms a virus needs a host (cell) to survive and they thought our white blood cells are the perfect place to make a home. Well, if we destroy our white blood cells we destroy ourselves. Therefore scientists have the unruly job of destroying the virus within our white blood cells without destroying us.

Ever wonder why mosquitoes can transfer malaria but not HIV/AIDS? Well the malaria virus has over many centuries developed a way to survive within the mosquito. It is taken into the mosquito as food and then has found a way to get from their stomachs and into their mouths again so when they bite the next time the malaria infects another host. The blood that the mosquito takes in as food in contains white blood cells (where HIV lives) and is digested in the mosquito's stomach so it never infects the next host with HIV.

As part of our seminar training we had to teach a lesson to primary school students. So we prepared our lessons and went ahead and taught them things that they seemed to already have known. They learn about HIV/AIDS and health in biology classes here in TZ but we had a little new information for them. Since our Kiswahili isn't up to par our counterparts pretty much took over and explained things while we were the props. Anyway, you can see some pictures in our gallery (link on the right side bar). PS. I am all caught up with uploading pictures from my camera!

Well Russ and I are headed back to our village/town today. It's been a nice trip. We went to the disco the other night...not too exciting.