Attended the World AIDS Day march on December 1st. Because of the heat (I presume) the march began at 6:30am and unlike the usual Swazi time; it actually began at 6:30! By the end I’d estimate that 1,000 people were marching, chanting and just having a good time.
I’m not sure why but I feel so charged whenever I’m with a big group of people who are trying to create positive social change.

About 1.5 hours into the march I spotted some warriors. They were chanting/singing (?) really loudly and doing this ‘shuffle’. For the rest of the march I stayed behind the warriors mimicking their foot movements and just enjoyed watching them. The contrast of a modern city, modern dress and barefoot warriors is still so thrilling for me. (I have photos but haven’t uploaded them yet).

I learned quite a few things this week about AIDS prevention that I wasn’t fully aware of. In Swaziland and Kenya, male circumcision is being performed as a measure of reducing the risk of transmission. Apparently it can cut the risk by 60%. I was shocked to hear this. Of course the problem is that men are getting circumcised thinking that they can’t get infected so proper education must be enforced – condom AND circumcision (if you are going this route). I met a Canadian journalist covering a story here and he had been to a few procedures. He said it takes a month for the men to heal but that the clinics are still fairly busy. Anyone know if they are promoting this in the ‘west’? Yes, I know, I should do a google search J