Child Rape Survivor Helps Other Virgin Myth Victims

Hope was 14 years old when her uncle raped her. He trapped her to the ground and covered her mouth with his hand, then threatened to kill her if she ever told anybody. So, she kept quiet. A few months later people around the villages started saying that that she looked pregnant. Hope was not only pregnant, but her uncle had infected her with HIV. Like many young girls in Zimbabwe, Hope was the victim of a widely held belief that if a man with HIV or AIDS rapes a virgin he will be cured of his disease. This so-called virgin myth, perpetuated by Zimbabwe's traditional “healers”, has led to the rape of hundreds of girls, according to UNICEF. Some of these victims are too young to walk, much less protect themselves.

Betty Makoni has fought for nearly a decade to protect her country's young girls from sexual abuse. And she's witnessed some of the worst cases of the myth in action. The youngest girl she ever came across was a day-old baby who was raped. Through her Girl Child Network (GCN), Makoni has helped rescue 35,000 girls from abuse -- including now 18-year-old Hope. Ten girls per day report rape cases, which means that if unchecked, at least 3,600 girls per year may be contracting HIV and AIDS."

Ms. Makoni's own tragic experiences fuel her fierce determination. She was raped when she was 6 years old. Her attacker was a local shopkeeper. Her mother would not allow her to report the abuse. "She said, 'Shh, we don't say that in public,' " Makoni remembered. Betty Makoni had no shoulder to cry on. Three years later, she witnessed her father murder her mother. In that moment, Makoni said she realized the potentially deadly consequence of a woman's silence. She told herself that no girl or woman will suffer the same again.

Believing an education would provide her the best opportunity and means to speak out, Betty Makoni earned two university degrees and became a teacher. While teaching, she noticed that girls were dropping out of school at an alarming rate. She approached her students with an idea. “Let's have our own space where we talk and find solutions," Makoni said. Girl Child Network was born. By the end of the first year, there were 100 GCN clubs throughout Zimbabwe where girls could find support. Ms. Makoni said she was not surprised: "Every woman and girl identified with the issues that we were raising," she said.

In 2000, she quit her teaching job to volunteer with GCN full time. The following year she successfully procured a piece of land and opened the organization's first empowerment village, designed to provide a haven for girls who have been abused. Girls are either rescued or referred to the village by social services, the police and the community. The healing begins as soon as a girl arrives. In the first 72 hours, a girl is provided with emergency medication, reinstatement in school, as well as counseling.

It is important to her that the girls are in charge of their own healing. "It gives them the confidence to transform from victims to leaders," she explained. The process helps the girls work through the times when many thought their life had come to an end. Today, GCN has grown to 700 girls' clubs and three empowerment villages across Zimbabwe. An estimated 300,000 girls have received assistance.

But for Betty Makoni, speaking out came with a high personal cost. In 2008, she was forced to flee her native country. She left Zimbabwe because her life was in danger as a result of her project being interpreted politically. Today, she lives with her family in the United Kingdom. She still serves as executive director of her organization and shows no signs of slowing down. GCN has partnered with the DOVE project, a group based in Essex, England, that deals with domestic violence. "We are now bringing the girls from a local community to the international scene," she said. Her efforts in Zimbabwe are highlighted in the film documentary, Tapestries of Hope.

It's disappointing to know that grown men are foolish enough to believe in such nonsense and will take to raping infants and toddlers in a ridiculous attempt to save themselves. Yes, if these men, and I use the term loosely, were educated they would know better than to believe that raping a child cures AIDS. But even if they DO believe that, it still doesn't explain why they are evil enough to go through with raping a child. This is absolutely horrific and depressing! I can't fathom anyone perpetrating such atrocities towards other people, especially newborn babies! Lack of education or not, ignorance is no excuse for such depravity! There needs to be justice and everyone involved in such horrific and unimaginable crimes SHOULD FACE “REAL” JUSTICE.

In Tanzania, Albinos fear for their lives because some "traditional healer" says using their body parts for ritual sacrifice will bring them lots of money. We are talking about another human being hunted down like an animal to be killed and sacrificed. Just recently in Nigeria, there was a case of the wife of some newspaper owner who beheaded a young boy as sacrifice in order to cure her ailing children. And stuff like this isn't just Africans - the Germans in WWII camps used to put virgins in bed with frozen corpses in the hope that they would thaw out and come back to life.

While this is terribly sad, we need to recognize that it happens everywhere, including the U.S. Maybe not for the same reasons, i.e. the virgin myth, but child molestations happen in the U.S. daily. 1 in 3 girls is molested before her 18th birthday and 1 in 5-6 boys, across the United States.

Want to get involved? Check out the Girl Child Network and Promise Place to see how to help.
http://www.promiseplace.net
http://www.girlchildnetworkworldwide.org

Health Reform Critics (Restless Natives)

Every day it seems there is a fresh chorus of yelling from opponents of health care reform. It seems that middle-age White Americans have a problem with change from a system that excludes millions of other Americans, while insurance companies are becoming as wealthy as the oil companies. Now before you call me a racist, I say, I’m like a referee – I call them like I see them; just look at every news broadcast, newspaper, or news magazine.

Critics lobbed a barrage of verbal jabs at the Congressmen holding town hall meetings across the U.S. Health care opponents say the overhaul that “could” cost billions of dollars is unwise at a time when the economy is in recession. Some have even handed Senators copies of the Constitution. Now that is funny when the Constitution says that ALL Americans are provided with security and the pursuit of happiness – there is no security if you don’t have medical insurance; there is no happiness when your child is sick and you don’t have medical insurance.

The town hall meetings have at times turned into shouting and pushing matches between supporters and critics. Many of the opponents have believed the “talking heads” hype that President Obama wants to turn the U.S. into a socialist country; believing that the new health play will allow illegal aliens and welfare recipients will get free medical insurance. When in reality both receive free health care already when they visit emergency rooms free of charge. I myself have the benefited of free health care as a military veteran.

Maybe there are some righteous complaints, but to the average Joe it looks like a bunch of middle-aged White Americans believing the scare tactics of the “talking heads”. They were talking the same stuff during the presidential campaign – I guess if you say something long enough…well anyway it looks like people are either running scared, greedy, or just plain bigots.

High School Teammates and True Friends

When Leroy Sutton was 11 years old, he and his brother were walking to school along the railroad tracks near their East Akron, Ohio home. Leroy got to close to an approaching freight train, his backpack got caught on one of the passing cars and he pulled beneath the wheels. It was Dec. 7, 2001, the day that shaped Leroy's body, and his life.

The paramedics arrived within minutes and saved Leroy's life, but the doctors could not save his entire body. At Children's Hospital in Akron, his left leg was amputated below the knee, his right leg below the hip. He knew what had happened, but didn't understand what he'd lost until a day later, when he lifted the sheets, and looked down.

Leroy left the hospital a month and a half later. And after he had endured long, difficult hours of rehabilitation, he accepted that a wheelchair would be part of his life but was determined to make it a small part. He built his arm muscles up so that he could move around. That ability to move -- to lift and flip and twist his body -- led him to a place few expected, and into a friendship few could have foreseen.

In January 2008, midway through his junior year in high school, Leroy transferred to Lincoln-West High in Cleveland. By the time he was a senior, he was a familiar sight (his wheelchair flying down the hallways, his laughter booming off the lockers). When he decided to join the wrestling team, just as he'd done at his previous school, the coaches welcomed him. They knew his story and were eager to tap his strength. At Leroy's first practice, his first partner was the only other wrestler on the team powerful enough to handle him. Dartanyon Crockett was Lincoln's best and strongest talent. He was 5-foot-10 with muscles bunched like walnuts, and already a winner in multiple weight classes. But when Leroy hopped off his chair and onto the wrestling mat, the competition was more than Dartanyon expected.

Hour after hour, month after month, practices connected them in ways that went beyond the gym. They went everywhere together: between classes, on team bus rides, at each other's houses -- both dialed in to a wavelength few others could hear. They spontaneously broke into songs only they knew. They performed imaginary superhero moves they invented. They laughed at jokes and words only they understood. Yet, their simplest connection was the one everyone saw and no one anticipated. Not even Leroy and Dartanyon know exactly when, or how, it first happened.

"One day I'm coming out of my office," said Kyro Taylor, the school's power lifting coach. "I look over to the corner of the gym where the mats were at, and right up the steps I see Dartanyon with something on his back, and the closer I get, I'm like, 'Is that Leroy?' And it was Leroy on his back. Dartanyon's carrying him."
Dartanyon lifted Leroy onto his back and carried him to and from every match, on and off every bus, into and out of every gym, all season long. At more than 170 pounds, Leroy was not a light load. Dartanyon never cared, and the carrying never stopped. Dartanyon lifted Leroy onto his back for the playing of every national anthem, and carried him down the bleachers before each match. Yet as inseparable as they were, they also shared something greater than their sport. That's because the teammate who carried Leroy on his back all season long knows about challenges himself. Dartanyon Crockett knows, because he's legally blind.

Born with Leber's disease, a condition that causes acute visual loss, Dartanyon, has been severely nearsighted his entire life. He can barely make out the facial features of a person sitting 5 feet away. As a boy, his father watched him bump into the same table corners and fumble for the same objects over and over again, uncertain what was wrong. He received the diagnosis just after his son started elementary school. But his father never let him feel sorry for himself. And as he grew older, he not only accepted the condition but also adjusted so well to his inability to see that those around him often were unaware of anything until he told them.

Still, there are signs. At times, his eyes dart back and forth as if ricocheting between objects. Boarding the city bus for the ride to school, he asks the driver to tell him when his stop is near, unwilling to trust his glimpses of the passing landscape. In class, often he places text just inches from his face to read. On the wrestling mat, although his moves are quick and bold, he sees little more than rough shapes lunging toward him. Yet his own view of his limits remains focused and clear.

Other trials in his life could have broken him long ago. After his mother died when he was 8, he moved in with his father, Harris, who struggled to take care of himself in the midst of an addiction to drugs and alcohol. There were times when Dartanyon scavenged the house for food, but found none. For most of his time in high school, he had no steady place to call home. Through it all -- being evicted from their apartment in Lakewood, the nights Dartanyon covered his father with a blanket after he'd passed out -- Dartanyon stayed in school, stayed on the mat and supported his dad's effort to stay clean. Harris now has been sober, while working two full-time jobs, for more than a year. That Dartanyon would pick someone else up was no surprise. He learned to carry a father before he ever carried a friend.

Dartanyon and Leroy move down the hallway after class.
"I am Darth Cripple," Leroy says.
"I am Blind Vader," Dartanyon replies, and they turn a corner; their laughter is all that's left behind.
They joke. They jab. They are the least flattering of critics and the loudest of supporters. They mock each other and themselves, every chance they get, in ways others never would dare.

"Leroy, touch your toes."
Leroy reaches his arms out in front of him in mock effort, and says, "They're at home."
And then, the boys laugh.
"Leroy, don't forget your shoes. …"
Others look down, duped. Leroy just smiles.
"You just can't see them. …"

Dartanyon sings.
"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone."
Leroy listens, then corrects him: "But you can't see."
"So? I can still sing."
And they pick up the song together, twice as loud.

The one place they don't laugh is in competition. Entering gyms all season, one atop the other, each cared as much about the other's match as his own, with as much invested in the other's outcome. Every time Dartanyon wrestled, Leroy sat on the edge of the mat, serving as unofficial coach and chief encourager.
Competing at 189 pounds in Ohio, one of the most wrestling-rich states in the country, Dartanyon relied more on strength than technique, preferring to overwhelm foes than to outpoint them. Nearly always the aggressor, he rarely waited for another's move, for a simple reason. He might never see it. He went 26-3 in his senior season, securing the league championship in his weight class.

As for Leroy, who's unable to generate the leverage essential in wrestling, leverage gained by using the lower body that he doesn't possess, the matches were tougher, and the wins more difficult. He expected nothing less than 100 percent from his opponents, and if he sensed any pity, he reacted with anger. Leroy would bounce on his hands and often flip his way onto the mat before matches. Then he would scream out. Then he would slap his hands down as hard as he could, making a thunderous echo, his smile dead, his arms wired. If some stared when Leroy entered the gym atop Dartanyon, even more stared as he competed.

Wrestling in multiple weight classes this season, Leroy won nine matches, the majority by pinning his opponents. But in every match, regardless of the outcome, he left a message. He never said it, but his coaches understood.
"Watching him wrestle," Robinson said, "has taught me how to stand in areas of my life that I wouldn't have wanted to."

It was the final night of the school year, graduation night. The people inside the theater building of Cuyahoga Community College were there for a celebration more than a ceremony, to pay tribute to an accomplishment that meant more here than in most schools in America. The majority of students at Lincoln-West High School never earn a diploma. This year, the school had a graduation rate of roughly 40 percent. (That’s another story for another time).

On that early June night, the graduates gathered on a stage, their gowns flowing and their tassels poised to swing, each ready to mark a point in a journey. Leroy had dreamed of this night for a long time. "My goal," he said in May, "is to actually walk across the stage." No one on the stage that night understood that goal more than Dartanyon. That's why, when Leroy's name was called, Dartanyon stood, too, right beside him. What would you do for a friend, one you carried on your back all year long? You'd put him down, and walk beside him, which was exactly what Dartanyon did. He helped Leroy stand -- upon new prosthetic legs he was fitted for just weeks earlier -- then moved alongside him as Leroy crossed the stage, step for step, eye to eye.

When Leroy stopped, put out his hand and grasped his diploma, the audience rose and delivered a standing ovation. After the photos were taken, and the music stopped, and the tears dried, the two sat in the theater, side by side. Two high school wrestlers, one blind and one with no legs, discover the meaning of true friendship. Dartanyon and Leroy walked across the stage and received diplomas at graduation. Dartanyon is enrolled at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland for the fall. Leroy plans to attend Collins College in Tempe, Arizona., to pursue a career in video game design. Two friends, sharing one moment, and there they lingered, smiling, in silence.

From the Heat to the Hospital

After dancing her way through school, former Miami Heat cheerleader Fabienne Achille has traded in her pom-poms for a stethoscope. Doctor Achille turned in her hot pants for scrubs and now delivers babies as a Florida obstetrician.

The pretty 28-year-old paid her way through pre-med school at University of Miami by cheering on the likes of Alonzo Mourning, then turned her attention to the grueling medical curriculum at University of South Florida. The ballgame glamor made her undergrad days memorable, but it wasn't exactly easy. Fabienne Achille, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, said, “It was a lot of hard work especially being pre-med. But it was definitely a very very enjoyable memorable time in my life.”

The obstetrician is now finishing her residency, delivering babies at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami -- the facility where she was born. Jackson Memorial is a hospital that deals with many minorities, including Haitians. Recently, Doctor Achille got to help one of Haiti's most deserving patients, in a well-publicized case that touched the hearts of millions. It was Achille who, with her mother and twin sister, helped arrange for Marlie Casseus, a 14-year-old girl suffering from a dangerous facial tumor, to come to Jackson from Port-Au-Prince for life-saving surgery.

Doctor Achille has one more year to do in her residency, then she hopes to perform a medical mission to Haiti, where she can reach out to the uninsured in her community. In the meantime, she is especially interested in helping patients without medical insurance.

Eventually, she plans to go into private practice. If time permits, she may also take in more Miami Heat basketball games -- but from the stands, not the floor.

Good Hair/Bad Hair

Black hairstyles are as diverse as the Black community itself. There are naturals, weaves, chemically relaxed styles, braids and dreadlocks, to name just a few. Black hair and its care go well beyond the multibillion-dollar industry it has become and is deeply rooted in Black identity and culture. For many Black parents, having a child walk around with unkempt hair is an almost unpardonable sin. That desire to be well groomed extends into adulthood. In the U.S., barbershops and beauty salons are perhaps second only to Black churches as the oldest institutions in the community. Black people want to look good from the cradle to the grave.

Notice how a Black man with dreadlocks perceived as opposed to say a Black man with short cropped or even with a shaved head. He is not as approachable with the locks. There is the perception and misconceptions of the “angry Black man.” There is no other racial or ethnic group in which hair comes to bear on someone's politics. For Black people, our hair has been infused with these racial politics. Not about hair per se, it's about what hair means, particularly for Black women in terms of racial identity. On one level, hair matters because some outdated ideal still linger, for instance if a Black woman straightens her hair she is "selling out the race" and/or "embracing the white standard of beauty" while women who wear their hair in natural styles are "blacker than thou. No one is saying that about White women, Yellow women or Brown women. If you don’t think so let’s take First Lady Michelle Obama. She has been criticized in certain areas as being radical or too outspoken about race. And this uneases some people. She is a tall dark-skinned woman and that intimidates some people. If now you add an Afro or twistees then she becomes really scary. Remember the cover that The New Yorker magazine ran with a drawing portraying Michelle Obama wearing an Angela Davis-style Afro while “fist bumping” (dapping) a turban wearing Barack Obama. I took it to poke fun at what people really fear. But we are not at the point where we can laugh at Black images, because we, as do others, feel that every Black image reflects on Black people as a whole.



When a child has straight hair, they are told they have “good hair” and while people aren't telling children with curly hair that they have “bad hair,” in reality that is what we are saying. But in reality good hair is not straight hair, but healthy hair is good hair. Chris Rock saw these same attitudes in his young daughters and it helped motivate his new documentary "Good Hair." The film is narrated by Rock and explores Black hair from a variety of angles, including the booming $9 billion Black hair industry and the science behind chemical relaxers used to straighten hair. The comedian spent nearly two years exploring the world of black hair for his documentary. He managed to sit down with a variety of Black celebrities, including actress Nia Long, Maya Angelou and Al Sharpton, and question them about their hair. In the movie, Chris Rock visits barbershops in Harlem, salons in Beverly Hills as well as the extravagant Bronner Brothers Hair Show in Atlanta, where stylists wield their shears in intense hair battles. In the documentary Rock even goes as far as India, which is a major place where the hair from many weaves worn by Black women actually comes from.

Skin Cancer is Colorblind

It may come as a shock, but Black folks get skin cancer too. We have just assumed that people of color are OK in the sun and many people of color often mistakenly believe skin cancer is not something they should be worried about. But dermatologists are concerned because skin cancer rates are increasing in minority groups in the United States. .

Darker-skinned people do benefit from the protective effects of skin pigmentation. Some studies suggest that for the darkest skin tones, pigmentation cells provide a natural sun protection factor, or SPF, of about 13. The problem is many dark-skinned people believe that means they are born with a natural immunity to skin cancer. Pigmentation doesn't give you a free pass. It doesn't matter what color your skin is, everyone can get skin cancer. Bob Marley, for example, died of malignant melanoma, the most lethal type of skin cancer, that spread to his lungs and brain.

All types of skin cancer are increasing among Blacks and Hispanics, and our melanomas are more often fatal because they are usually caught later. Pigmentation may have sun-protective qualities but even for the darkest skin it falls short of the recommendation of a daily SPF of at least 15 for everyone. Many ethnic groups are missing that key part of the message because messages regarding skin cancer prevention have traditionally targeted fair-skinned people. Now, dermatologists say, more needs to be done to encourage all groups to take precautions against sun damage.

Only 27 percent of people with darker skin applied sunscreen when they were in the sun for four hours or more, compared with 64 percent of people with light skin. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2009 there will be more than 1 million unreported cases of basal cell, the most common skin cancer, and squamous cell skin cancer but most of them are curable when detected early. For melanoma, the key to a cure is early detection. That's why dermatologists caution everyone to be vigilant and learn the risks for their skin type.

Not all skin is the same. People with darker skin often get diagnosed at later stages because the cancers often appear in abnormal locations. Melanomas in Blacks and darker-skinned Hispanics and Asians develop more commonly on the palms, soles of the feet, toenails, fingernails and in mucus membranes like around the mouth and genitals. In Whites and lighter-skinned Hispanics, melanomas more frequently appear on the back in men and on the legs in women.

Skin color can affect the way lesions look. Historically, research and teaching was done on fairer-skinned people, making it more challenging for physicians to recognize suspicious moles on darker skin. Keep it simple. If you have any lesion or mole change at all, or if you have a spot that bleeds and doesn't heal in three weeks, see a physician or a dermatologist. Another piece of simple advice: All racial groups need to use sunscreens. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends using a broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against both deep-penetrating UVA rays and burn-causing UVB rays. Not all sunscreens protect against both. Use extreme caution in the sun and make certain that you use a sunscreen, even on a cloudy day. DO NOT underestimate the rays of the sun. The worst thing you can possibly do is nothing.

For more information check out the following:
How to pick the right sunscreen.
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/22/picking-the-right-sunscreen/

How to avoid the most common of cancers: Skin cancer
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/hm.skin.cancer/

MayoClinic.com: Skin cancer
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/skin-cancer/DS00190.html

MayoClinic.com: Moles
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/moles/DS00121.html

Visit the American Academy of Dermatology Web site to find free screening locations in your state
http://www.aad.org/public/exams/screenings/index.html

Visit the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic safety database
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=/special/sunscreens2008/summary.php

First Lady and Elmo

The first lady stopped by Sesame Street Tuesday, chatting with the furry red monster and making a public service announcement along the way.

"If you want your child to have healthy habits, practice healthy habits too because you're your child's best role model," First Lady Michelle Obama advocated in her appearance for Sesame Workshop's Healthy Habits for Life Initiative.

Mrs. Obama appears to be emerging as a champion of healthy exercise and eating habits, taking up her platform by planting an organic kitchen garden on the White House grounds.

As the top mom in the biggest public arena she is doing a great job in setting examples for parents all over the world. Michelle is a mom first and said so on the campaign and if she can take advantage of her status then please go for it! No wonder she has an 85% approval rating. We are extremely proud of her and hope to see far more of her over the next eight years.

I thought the Obamas only pal around with terrorists??? I guess the haters were wrong as they so often are.

Next week on Sesame Street: Rush Limbaugh hangs with Oscar the Grouch. And it will be brought to you by the letter H.

AIDS: The Cavalry Is Not Coming to Save Us

Over the past 40 years Blacks in America have made huge advances in many fields. I can certainly speak of some of the changes and some of the “same ole thing” that Black people encounter daily in the United States. Health care is one of those areas I must include in the “same ole thing” category, particularly the U.S. response to HIV/AIDS among Blacks.

The average American can relate to the devastating AIDS epidemic in Africa, but has no clue of the epidemic happening in the Black community enduring right here at home. America’s response to AIDS in Africa has been billions of dollars more than its response to its citizens at home.

The world has been very consumed with the devastation of AIDS in Africa. Great! However, there should be an out-cry that 5% of the population in Washington, DC is living with the AIDS virus; that’s 1 in 20 persons in our nation’s capital. And over 80% of these persons living with HIV in Washington, DC, are Black. In the state of Georgia 70% of persons living with HIV is Black.

The U.S. this year will once again deliver billions of dollars to 15 nations to address HIV prevention and treatment. Once again, GREAT! But sadly, the rate of HIV/AIDS in Black America ranks higher than seven of those foreign countries that will receive U.S. dollars in the coming months. The seven countries that have less of an HIV positive population than Black America are: Guyana, Rwanda, Haiti, Namibia, Vietnam, (yes we are sending money to Vietnam), Botswana, and Ethiopia.

Pernessa Seele, Founder/CEO of The Balm in Gilead, a non-profit organization which disseminates accurate information about AIDS said, “When I was a child in Lincolnville, South Carolina, with various illnesses, my mom and I sat in “colored only” hospital waiting rooms and had to enter the doctors’ offices through the back door in order to be seen. It did not matter what time we arrived - always early in the morning - or the nature of our medical distress, we would not be seen by the doctor or the medical staff at the hospital until every White person had been served that day. Waiting was the life of Black folks when I was a child, particularly in areas of health and medicine. Today, Black Americans are still waiting for adequate health care and an appropriate response to its suffering regarding HIV/AIDS. However, the waiting is much longer! The world is in front of us!! It appears that the U.S. Cavalry is not coming to save us.
We must depend on ourselves!

There is no excuse for the shocking numbers of infection we are seeing in the Black population. People need and should take personal responsibility. The answer to preventing AIDS for the most part is simple. Stop participating in unprotected sex with multiple partners and stop taking IV drugs. No one is going to protect us except ourselves. There is no way around this simple truth.

People can manage this problem only by changing their behavior. Stop doing things that will put you in danger of catching or spreading the disease. No one should have to pass a bill because we refuse to “do the right thing.” Anyone who expects the government to run our lives and take care of us from cradle to grave is in fact still slaves. True freedom comes with self-reliance and resourcefulness. Why would any truly proud Black person want to say that someone else solved their AIDS problem?

Look at the country of Uganda: from 1986 to 2000, the HIV rate dropped from 30 % to 6%. The government along with faith based organizations banded together to promote the ABC campaign. A-Abstinence, B-Be faithful, and (if these did not work), C-use Condoms. It worked because people took personal responsibility for their sexual behavior. The U.S. solution is ill advised, because condoms are pushed as its foundational cure, rather than changed behavior. Ugandan leaders are trying to persuade this country not to get too involved in their country, believing that the HIV/AIDS campaign has merely morphed into a condom promoting business, now more about money rather than focusing on people’s behavior.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black America is very alarming and disgraceful at the same time. Black men and women must hold themselves accountable for reckless and yes sinful lifestyles that are putting our future in danger. Young Black women must start demanding respect and a commitment before they have sex. Bi-sexual Black men must stop lying and protect their women, and turn to God for complete deliverance. Sixty-six percent (66%) of Black women, ages 25-34, are infected with HIV/AIDS. And to add further future troubles 70% of Black children are born out of wedlock (that’s a whole other story in itself). Men on the “down low” account for a large part of the spread of the disease. They are being locked up for long periods of time, denied either female company, or condoms, having sex with men, then going back into the community and having sex with women. Who in turn have sex with other men, who have sex with other women.

This fight goes beyond personal responsibility. We need to bring our people along kicking and screaming. Just looking out for number one is why we have fallen victim to this. Men, get your boys to wear a condom, ladies get your girls to make their man to wear one. We are fighting for our future… We must educate to survive.

The information on how to prevent AIDS has been available for a very long time. Advertising prevention is on TV and in schools and in almost every doctor’s office. The government has done their job in the U.S. The public is informed. They can not force you to use a clean needle for drugs or wear a condom or stop indiscriminate sex. Ignorance is when you don’t know something. Stupid is when you know better and still do it. In Africa I’d chalk it up to ignorance and lack of protection. In the U.S. it’s pure stupidity.

What’s Wrong with Adopting American Children?

Is it me or does every time we hear about a celebrity adopting the child is from another country? I’m really not opposed to children being adopted from Africa, China or any other country. I believe all children need a secure, loving home but I am wondering what's wrong with adopting American children.

There more than 500,000 American children in foster care, and many of them are waiting for adoption. From coast to coast, babies to toddlers to teens are desperately looking for a home where they can be loved, nurtured and provided for. It’s easy to blast these celebrities by saying it's the “in thing” to adopt a foreign, but the truth is, the U.S. has a serious adoption problem.

The red tape and bureaucracy is unbelievable. American parents are made to jump through enormous hoops, and the process takes years, instead of months. Single mothers have a difficult time adopting a child in the U.S., and many have gone overseas. And often single people and married couples simply grow disenchanted with the process.
We can sit here and criticize the rich and famous all day, but instead of ripping them our energy should be put into a call for adoption reform.

We need to demand that your local, state and federal elected officials clear the pathway to make the process easier. And we need more consistency. Now we have 50 different states with 50 different policies. With so many rules, no wonder folks throw their hands up and head outside the U.S. border to adopt.

The goal of adoption is to put children in loving homes and not have them be the responsibility of the state. Making it harder to adopt affects you in your pocketbook because taxpayer money is spent to care for the children. So changing the laws not only helps the child, but also is fiscally responsible. And in these poor economic times everything helps.

Not only is it more difficult to adopt in the U.S., but adopting parents have a much greater chance of the birth parents changing their minds than overseas. Parents typically want babies, so once a child goes unadopted for their first year of life, the odds of them being adopted fall dramatically. Biological parents of U.S. children put up for adoptions have up to 5, FIVE, years after the adoption is final to decide if they want the child back. So, they can have a couple (or single parent) take care of their child for 4 years and 364 days and then get them back, without recourse. This turns off many, many potential parents, who go overseas to adopt.

There are several key advantages to adopting older children. First, unlike adopting babies, states have excellent histories on them. Second, state provides free health, dental, and other insurance. Third, unlike infants, older kids remember enough about their past that they have more realistic feelings about where they come from, so when they reach their teen years they do not have the same ill-defined sense of abandonment children adopted as babies from foreign countries have. Fourth, older children can go back to houses they lived in and see distant relatives, which helps the healing process. And finally, the biggest advantage in adopting older kids is that you can choose the type of children in terms of their interests, attitudes, strengths, and weaknesses. If you want a boy who is great in sports and loves hunting, the state has one for you. If you would like a girl that loves art and reading, they have one like that too.

And in most cases in the U.S. the process is expensive, but then there are exceptions like this mom from Oregon. She adopted older children and it basically cost her nothing. In fact the state pays a stipend for older children adoptions. The children she adopted moved in quickly once she was chosen. The biologically parent rights were terminated before they moved in. Initially the children were foster kids for about 10 months and then the adoption was finalized. That that part cost her $150 total.

71-Year-Old Inspiration

Ok, if you are reading this you have no excuses for not getting into shape. I can no longer say that I’m too old. After reading this I can truly say that I am embarrassed. I am talking about 71-year-old certified personal fitness trainer Ms. Ernestine Shepherd of Baltimore. Yes, you read it right. She brings new meaning to the old adage “age ain’t nothing but a number.”

She wears a ball cap that reads: Determined, dedicated, disciplined to be fit.

Five days a week, she trains women of all ages -- three days at the gym and two days at her church, Union Memorial United Methodist Church, where she has a class of 25.

She drinks 16 ounces of water and eats a light snack that includes a bagel with peanut butter or two hard-boiled eggs before starting her workout. She usually starts off with about 15 minutes of cardio, running in place, then she does floor exercises working on the abs, legs, upper and lower obliques, and then proceeds with the weights. Her training sessions last about an hour.

With 10 percent body fat, Ms. Shepherd is 5-foot-5 and 130 pounds of inspiration to her clients, many of whom she includes in her routine of walking or running, which begins at 4 a.m. (There is a thin line between genius and insanity.) But Shepherd hasn't always had a focus on fitness in her life. In fact, in her younger days she was a 'prissy' girl, with little athletic interests. It wasn't until she turned 56 that she began to exercise with the aid of her sister. They were both spurred on to join a gym after shopping for bathing suits and not liking what they saw in the mirror.

Ms. Shepherd is retired school secretary at City Springs School in South Baltimore. She has been married to Collin Shepherd, 77, for 52 years. They have a son and a grandson.

Other acclaim: Has appeared in Essence (1991 and 2003); The Baltimore Times (2002); and the book Self Seduction, Ultimate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty (2003); has appeared on The View (2001); in a Carmax commercial (2004); and in the Miss America Senior Pageant (2004). She models for Nova Models in Baltimore.

Surgeon Heals Patients and Their Violent Ways

What happens to the young men who don’t die in the streets like scenes from the HBO series “The Wire” in real life Baltimore? Well a lot of them are treated by Dr. Carnell Cooper. Dr. Cooper is a Baltimore surgeon who is saving lives inside and outside the operating room. Since becoming a trauma surgeon 16 years ago, he has dedicated himself to treating the many young Black men who've been shot, stabbed or beaten, only to see them return to the ER with another severe injury just months later.

But when one of his patients was readmitted with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in 1996, it changed Cooper's life. His colleagues told him that there is really nothing they could do in those situations. But Dr. Cooper did not believe that.
Dr. Cooper created the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at the Shock Trauma Unit of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the state's busiest hospital for violent injuries. It became one of the U.S.'s first hospital-based anti-violence programs.

The program approacheS the problem like any public health crisis, like heart disease or smoking. They began to work on the root causes. The VIP provides substance abuse counseling, job skills training and other support services to trauma victims. Saving their lives is the first step. The next step is to try to keep them from coming back.

A 2006 study showed that people in the program were six times less likely to be readmitted with a violent injury and three times less likely to be arrested for a violent crime.

Dr. Cooper was born to unwed teenagers in Dillon, South Carolina and grew up in a neighborhood where violent crime was commonplace. Many of his friends and relatives ended up dead or in jail. But his grandparents made sure he stayed on the right path. As a straight-A student, he attended a prestigious high school in Massachusetts, then Yale University and Duke University School of Medicine.

But while Dr. Cooper rose above his circumstances, he felt sympathy for the young men who rotated in and out of his operating room. His program attempts to help patients from the moment they arrive because victims of violence face a greater risk of receiving another violent injury. Everyone treated for violent wounds at the hospital is seen by a VIP case worker. VIP helps connect its members with additional support services, such as GED classes, conflict resolution, mentoring and parenting skills. A peer support group also meets at the hospital once a week.
The success of Cooper's program has made it a model for others around the U.S. and inspired the doctor to develop a larger initiative, the Violence Prevention Program, which includes other hospital-based efforts targeting young people in at-risk communities.

One success story is 29-year-old Howard McCray. He joined the program in 2001 after he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound. McCray was into robbing and shooting people. He had been through the ER many times. Through VIP, McCray earned his GED and received job training and a driver's license. The program also helped him learn about budgeting money and paying child support. Today, he is an outreach worker for VIP, visiting patients at their bedsides and encouraging them to join the program.

Helping people like McCray inspires Dr. Cooper to continue his work. Carnell Cooper believes it is all part of his responsibility as a doctor.

"There are some individuals who we are not going to save, who are just immersed in the culture, but that's not the majority of folks," he said. "The majority of folks want to get out of the game and deserve a chance. Every physician's goal is to save lives," he said. "This is another step in that process."

Dr. Carnell Cooper was named a CNN Hero for his violence prevention efforts.

Sons of Lwala

The village of Lwala is a small farming community of 1500 in Kenya. Two things stand out in Lwala: the sense of community and the lack of health care. In Lwala poverty, impassable roads during the rainy season, lack of electricity, unsafe drinking water and poor nutrition create an environment where poor health is rampant and access to care practically nonexistent. Malaria, diarrhea, skin diseases, respiratory diseases and tuberculosis are rampant. Women give birth in their dirt-floored huts, and complications in delivery often lead to death. Children suffer from malnutrition, which makes worse the problems of malaria, diarrhea and skin diseases. But despite their difficulty, these problems pale in comparison to the problem of HIV/AIDS, which is the primary cause of death in Lwala and infects as much as a third of the population. The nearest hospital is over 40 miles away. Lwala is basically a community struggling to keep afloat. In all this misery and despair, the residents of Lwala somehow carry themselves with a sense of joy.

‘Sons of Lwala’ is a documentary film that follows Milton and Fred Ochieng’. Milton and Fred are two brothers from Kenya whose village sent them to America to become doctors. But after losing both parents to AIDS they were left with a heartbreaking task: to return home and finish the health clinic their father started before getting sick. Unable to raise enough money on their own, the brothers were joined by students, politicians, and Christian rock band - Jars of Clay to launch a fundraising drive among young people across the United States. The documentary follows Milton and Fred on their incredible journey as they find a way, despite all odds, to open their village’s first and only clinic. Both have been speaking all over the northeast lately to doctor’s conventions while filmmaker Barry Simmons been showing the film in dozens of venues, from universities to medical conferences to church gatherings to fund the clinic. The clinic has already made a huge difference in the lives of Kenyans living in and near Lwala. But the greatest challenge facing the clinic continues to be funding. The lack of an ambulance to transport patients, refrigeration to store drugs like snake anti-venom, staffing and supplies, especially medicine. The clinic is staffed by one physician’s assistant and three nurses, a nurse’s aide, a lab technician and a pharmacist. Treatment is free for children under 5, seniors over 70, pregnant women and HIV/AIDS patients. The cost for those who pay is usually about 70 cents a visit.

The Lwala villagers sold livestock, the equivalent of us selling our cars, to send Milton and Fred Ochieng’ to the United States for medical training. Milton is currently pursuing his residency in St. Louis, Missouri and Fred is a third year med student at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. The brothers’ achievement is a village affair and it is also a family affair. Two of their sisters are also in the U.S.: Florence is a second-year nursing student at St. Joseph’s College of Nursing in Syracuse, New York and Grace is attending high school in New Hampshire. A younger brother, Solomon, is in high primary school in Kenya. He is taken care of by the oldest brother Omondi who was enrolled at a local teacher’s college before dropping out to care for the sick parents. Omondi looks after the homestead and runs the clinic in Lwala.

When Milton left Kenya to study in the U.S., he became the first person from his village to board an airplane. He received a college scholarship to Dartmouth but was unable to afford the airfare until neighbors came up with the money by selling chickens and cows. Fred followed his brother to Dartmouth two years later, becoming only the second person from their village to set foot in the United States. Fred raised $9,000 at a Christian conference while at Dartmouth in one day to begin the building of their father’s clinic.

Since its independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya has achieved a level of corruption unrivaled almost anywhere else in the world. According to studies, the government steals and wastes $1 billion. Yet Kenya spends just $14 per person on health each year and pays it young doctors about what a U.S. cab driver makes. It’s no wonder that nearly 1,700 physicians have fled Kenya in the last 10 years in search of better jobs, leaving their families and neighbors in the villages with no one to care for them.

The “Sons of Lwala” DVD is available and on sale for $19.99 at www.sonsoflwala.com. According to the producers all proceeds go to the clinic. If you use Facebook, join the Sons of Lwala group to receive regular updates on where the film is being shown and how you can make a difference in this project.

To find out more about the village visit: www.lwalacommunityalliance.org?>http://www.lwalacommunityalliance.org

Teen Lives 4 months Without a Heart

Last spring 14 year-old D'Zhana Simmons and her parents learned she had an enlarged heart that was too weak to sufficiently pump blood. They traveled from their home in Clinton, South Carolina to Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami for a heart transplant. But her new heart didn't work properly and could have ruptured so surgeons removed it two days later. And they did something unusual: They replaced the heart with a pair of artificial pumping devices that kept blood flowing through her body until she could have a second transplant. D’Zhana lived for 118 days without a heart. Since July, she's had two heart transplants and survived with artificial heart pumps — but no heart — for four months between the transplants.

The pumps, ventricular assist devices, are typically used with a heart still in place to help the chambers circulate blood. With D'Zhana's heart removed, doctors at Holtz Children's Hospital crafted substitute heart chambers using a fabric and connected these to the two pumps. Although artificial hearts have been approved for adults, none has been federally approved for use in children. That's because it's rarer for them to have these life-threatening conditions, so companies don't invest as much into technology that could help them.

During the almost four months between her two transplants, D'Zhana wasn't able to breathe on her own half the time. She also had kidney and liver failure and gastrointestinal bleeding. Taking a short stroll — when she felt up for it — required the help of four people, at least one of whom would steer the photocopier-sized machine that was the external part of the pumping devices.

D'Zhana said now she's grateful for small things: She'll see her five siblings soon, and she can spend time outdoors. Doctors say she'll be able to do most things that teens do, like attending school and going out with friends. She will be on lifelong medication to keep her body from rejecting the donated heart, and there's a 50-50 chance she'll need another transplant before she turns 30. For now, though, D'Zhana is looking forward to celebrating another milestone. On Saturday, she turns 15 and plans to spend the day riding in a boat off Miami's coast. She was released Wednesday from the hospital.

The Silent Killer

A major health problem for Black people is high blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure is particularly common among Black folks. You can have high blood pressure for years without a single symptom. Most people with high blood pressure have no signs or symptoms, even if blood pressure readings reach dangerously high levels. Although a few people with early-stage high blood pressure may have dull headaches, dizzy spells or a few more nosebleeds than normal, these signs and symptoms typically don't occur until high blood pressure has reached an advanced and possibly life-threatening stage. But, in this case silence is not golden, it can kill.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure increases your risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke and kidney failure. Fortunately, high blood pressure can be easily detected. And once you know you have high blood pressure, you can work with your doctor and change some habits to control it. You should ask your doctor for a blood pressure reading at least every two years. He or she may recommend more frequent readings if you have high blood pressure or other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Almost all high blood pressure cases have no identifiable cause. It tends to develop gradually over many years. Certain medications, including birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain relievers and some prescription drugs, may cause high blood pressure. Various illicit drugs, including cocaine and amphetamines, also can increase blood pressure.

The risk of high blood pressure increases as you get older. If you don't have high blood pressure by age 55, you have a 90 percent chance of developing it at some point in your life. Women are more likely to develop high blood pressure after menopause. It often develops at an earlier age in Blacks and Hispanics than it does in Whites. Serious complications, such as stroke and heart attack, also are more common in Blacks. High blood pressure tends to run in families.

Other risk factors for high blood pressure are within your control. Excess weight. The greater your body mass, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. Inactivity. People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction. Tobacco use. The chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls, which promotes narrowing of the arteries. Salt intake. Too much salt in your diet can lead to fluid retention and increased blood pressure. Low potassium intake. Potassium helps balance the amount of salt in your cells. If you don't consume or retain enough potassium, you may accumulate too much salt in your blood. Excessive alcohol. Over time, heavy drinking can damage your heart. Stress. High levels of stress can lead to a temporary but dramatic increase in blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol, you may only fuel problems with high blood pressure.

Other conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea. Sometimes pregnancy contributes to high blood pressure.

Studies of adults who worked more than 40 or 50 hours a week, particularly clerical and unskilled workers were more likely to have high blood pressure than were those who worked 40 hours or less a week. Researchers tied the higher risk for workers with longer hours to unhealthy eating, less exercise, more stress and less sleep.

The latest blood pressure guidelines, issued in 2003 by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, divide blood pressure measurements into four general categories:
Normal blood pressure. Your blood pressure is normal if it's below 120/80, but some data indicate that 115/75 should be the gold standard. Once blood pressure rises above 115/75 the risk of cardiovascular disease begins to increase.

High blood pressure falls into different categories:

Prehypertension. Prehypertension is a systolic pressure ranging from 120 to 139 or a diastolic pressure ranging from 80 to 89. Within four years of being diagnosed with prehypertension, nearly one in three adults ages 35 to 64 and nearly one in two adults age 65 or older progress to definite high blood pressure.

Stage 1 hypertension. Stage 1 hypertension is a systolic pressure ranging from 140 to 159 or a diastolic pressure ranging from 90 to 99.

Stage 2 hypertension. The most severe hypertension, stage 2 hypertension is a systolic pressure of 160 or higher or a diastolic pressure of 100 or higher. There are thousands of people walking around daily with condition without even knowing it and they are at a risk of stroke or heart attack at any minute.

A single high blood pressure reading usually isn't enough for a diagnosis. Because blood pressure normally varies throughout the day, and sometimes specifically during visits to the doctor, diagnosis is based on more than one reading taken on more than one occasion. Your doctor may ask you to record your blood pressure at home and at work to provide additional information.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to damage to your arteries, heart failure (heart attack), a blocked or ruptured blood vessel in your brain (which leads to stroke), weakened and narrowed blood vessels in your kidneys, thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes (which can result in blindness), and uncontrolled high blood pressure also may affect your ability to think, remember and learn. Memory loss and dementia are more common in people who have high blood pressure.

Blood pressure goals aren't the same for everyone. Although everyone should strive for blood pressure readings below 140/90, doctors recommend lower readings for people with certain conditions.

Changing your lifestyle can go a long way toward controlling high blood pressure. But sometimes lifestyle changes aren't enough. In addition to diet and exercise, your doctor may recommend medication to lower your blood pressure. Which category of medication your doctor prescribes depends on your stage of high blood pressure and whether you also have other medical conditions. To reduce the number of doses you need a day, which can reduce side effects, your doctor may prescribe a combination of low-dose medications rather than larger doses of one single drug. In fact, two or more blood pressure drugs often work better than one. Sometimes finding the most effective medication is a matter of trial and error.

Lifestyle changes can help you control and prevent high blood pressure even if you're taking blood pressure medication. Here's what you can do:
Eat healthy foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods. Get plenty of potassium, which can help prevent and control high blood pressure. Eat less saturated fat and total fat. Limit the amount of sodium in your diet.
Maintain a healthy weight. If you're overweight, losing even 5 pounds can lower your blood pressure.

Increase physical activity. Regular physical activity can help lower your blood pressure and keep your weight under control. Strive for at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day.

Limit alcohol. Even if you're healthy, alcohol can raise your blood pressure. If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation — up to one drink a day for women, two drinks a day for men.

Don't smoke. Tobacco injures blood vessel walls and speeds up the process of hardening of the arteries.

Manage stress. Reduce stress as much as possible. Practice healthy coping techniques, such as muscle relaxation and deep breathing. Getting plenty of sleep can help, too.

Practice slow, deep breathing.

One unconfirmed and ancient Chinese remedy for high blood pressure is celery juice, which can be made with a blender or a juicer. Two to three 8 oz glasses a day for a month can help prevent high blood pressure or restore it to normal. Additionally, celery is known to prevent gout and other arthritic conditions. Studies have found that this stalk is packed with over a dozen anti-inflammatory agents, including apigenin, a cox2-inhibiting compound similar to some anti-inflammatory drugs. It doesn’t hurt to try it, you may get the benefits without the side effects!

Fruits and vegetables help ward off asthm and allergies

Momma was on to something when she made you sit at the table until you finished your vegetables. A recent study by Greek researchers revealed that children of women who eat a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables while pregnant are much less likely to develop asthma or allergies later in life.

The diet emphasizes vegetables, fish and healty fats such as olive and canola oil over red meat. Mediterranean people use olive oil with every meal including breakfast. Eating vegtables more than eight times a week, fish more than three times a week and legumes more than once a week seems to boost the protection.

The researchers based their findings on 468 pregnant women tracked for 6 1/2 years after giving birth using questionnaires on diet.

The women provided details on respiratory and allergic symptoms of their children, who were also tested for persistent wheezing and allergies. The children of mothers who followed the diet were 80 percent less likely to have persistent wheezing, the most common symptom of childhood asthma. They were also 45 percent less likely to develop allergies.

At the same time, children of women who consumed more red meat seemed to be at higher risk of developing these problems.

But we really don't need to hear what researchers say do we? We just have to do what momma said, "you are going to sit there until you eat those vegetables"

50 Million Pounds Challenge

I just signed up for Dr. Ian Smith's 50 Million Pound Challenge and I am so excited. It is sponsored by State Farm Insurance Co. I have set a really challenging goal, but I will accomplish it long before the May 2009 deadline. Dr. Smith's challenge is an attempt to help African-Americans tackle one of the nation's top health problems: obesity. They're offering free online weight loss support and complimentary kits filled with jump ropes, pedometers and more to Blacks across the U.S.

On the Web site you have your own account to track your weight loss, get recipes and diet tips, and your own personalized workout schedule. Dr. Smith states that there are more than 35 million African-Americans in the U.S.. And more than half of them need to lose weight. If only 5 million people lose 10 pounds the goal can easily be reached.

How did obesity get so bad in our community? Two reasons quickly come to mind: (1) the ease of fast foods, (2) and with the advent of social conveniences, we've become a less physically active society. You can get your dry cleaning delivered, your DVDs delivered. You can stay home and order just about everything.

What is the key to success in losing weight: We just have to realize that we can lose weight without drastic changes. If we eat more fruits and vegetables because they are super foods that fight and prevent diseases because of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients in them. If you drink one regular soda a day, switching to diet soda alone could help you drop 15 pounds in a year. And if we get some kind of exercise; just 30 minutes of walking for at least three days a week. Exercise is important because it conditions your heart, improves your breathing ability, and helps prevent arthritis in your joints.

For more information or to join the challenge log onto http://50millionpounds.com/