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UGANDA Unfriendly Nurses and Culture Hinder Male Involvement in HIV Prevention By Wambi Michael MBALE, Uganda - Irene Wangolo was advised to undergo an HIV test during her antenatal visit and to return to the clinic with her husband so they could be counselled on preventing HIV transmission to their unborn baby. But her husband refused to accompany her saying it was not his business and Wangolo never returned to the clinic in Bungokho in eastern Uganda. So she missed all the services, including the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). MORE >>
HEALTH-KENYA Attempts to Modernise Traditional Circumcision Rites By Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI - During every year that ends in an even number, the month of August is a special occasion for young men in Kenya’s Western Province. During this month thousands of boys aged between 10 and 18 undergo male circumcision – something that is seen as an important rite of passage into manhood among their communities. But it is also a time were nearly half the young men circumcised will have to fight for their lives. MORE >>
AFRICA Bearing Witness and Celebrating the Everyday By Kristin Palitza CAPE TOWN - "I had a lump in my breast for a few years that I ignored [mainly because] it didn’t hurt. It’s so easy to try to deny illness," says Tracey Derrick. When she finally went to see a doctor for a biopsy, she got a big shock. The result came back positive: breast cancer. MORE >>
WORLD CUP 'Now We Demand They Do It For the Poor' By Davison Mudzingwa CAPE TOWN - Weak floodlights barely held back gathering darkness as Somalia met Serbia in the finals of the Poor People's World Cup. A small band of supporters were on hand to see an African side lift the cup in Cape Town's Vygieskraal Stadium. MORE >>
Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists By Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI - In a tiny village near Kisumu city in Kenya, scientific researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga spends most of her time educating women about something they have always done – grow sweet potatoes. MORE >>
SOUTHERN AFRICA Youth Vulnerable to Violence By Zukiswa Zimela and Kelvin Kachingwe JOHANNESBURG and LUSAKA - James Banda, 27, is an unemployed youth although he occasionally is hired to act as a bus conductor at Lusaka’s Kulima Tower Bus Station. He may not have a permanent job, but it is easy to find him. Anyone looking for him just has to go to the bus station and ask. Everyone knows who he is. Banda, or ‘ba-Jay’ as people call him, is a young man who commands a lot of respect from his friends – he is a thug for hire. MORE >>
MALAWI Women Candidates Desperate to Finance Freebies for Voters By Claire Ngozo LILONGWE - Mable Malinda wants to contest the local government elections but the independent candidate who is using her life savings to fund her campaign only has 500 dollars left in her bank account. She has already spent three times as much buying handouts for voters – an unofficial requirement when contesting elections in Malawi. MORE >>
Football Leaves Legacy of Hope in Namibia By Patience Nyangove WINDHOEK - Throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, organisers have insisted that the legacy of the event goes far beyond the sporting spectacle. In the dusty streets of a Windhoek township, Deon Namiseb believes this is true. MORE >>
SWAZILAND Women MPs Limited by the Patriarchal System By Mantoe Phakathi MBABANE - Minah Ndzinisa spends every day selling fruit and vegetables at the outdoor Mbabane Market, braving the rain, wind and cold for almost 20 years. "I was in the same cold even in the 1990s when we used to have only one woman Member of Parliament." MORE >>
UGANDA Too Young to Know, Yet Too Young to Die By Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi KAMPALA - Thirteen-year-old Jacinta Okello and her fellow primary school classmates call it "doing bad manners". But when you ask her what she knows about sex, she breaks into a shy smile, looks to her feet and giggles. MORE >>
SWAZILAND Focus on Infants in HIV Prevention By Mantoe Phakathi MANZINI, Swaziland - A proud mother, Nonhlanhla Mabuza cuddles her one-day-old baby boy, at the circumcision clinic of Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital. A day after delivering her second son, Thabiso Dlamini, the 20-year-old mother is not only beaming because she has just successfully delivered her tiny little tot – her bundle of joy has just undergone male circumcision. MORE >>
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