Meetings Two and Three...

The group has gotten together two more times and has really gotten to know a little bit more about their fellow tripmates. The meetings allowed not only for some more personal interaction but also some more information about South Africa. In the last meeting we were able to discuss some about the culture of where we will be going as well as discussing information about HIV/AIDS in South Africa and all over the world. Some interesting pieces of information from this night were:

-South Africans spent more time at funerals than they did having their hair cut, shopping or having barbecues. It is also found that more than twice as many people had been to a funeral in the past month than had been to a wedding.
-In 1985 a State of Emergency was declared in South Africa that would last for five years. In the same yar, the Government set up the country's first AIDS Advisory Group in response to the increasingly apparent presence of HIV amongst South Africans. The first records case of AIDS in South AFrica was diagniosed in 1982.
-1996 The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women was 12.2%
-1999 The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women was 22.4%
-2001 The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women was 24.8%
-2005 The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women was 30.2%

There are more facts about AIDs, the history, the treatment, and just general information at the following link. The link is also where the above information came from. http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm

There are also some facts on orphans due to AIDs including:
-UNAIDS estimated that there were 1.2 million South African children living as orphans due to AIDS in 2005, compared to 780,000 in 2003.42 Once orphaned, these children are then likely to face poverty, poor health and a lack of access to education. To read more information on this please click here: http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm.