arch of atlas

February 22nd, 2006: Ugandan Elections

The Uganda elections begin in a few hours.  Most seem to have little hope that there will be a free and fair election; many educated Ugandans haven't even registered, with the cynical view that their votes won't be counted. 

In the runup to the election, there have been violent protests, and main opposition leader Kizza Besigye was jailed.  Journalists have been silenced, an anti-government website has been shut down, and alarmed donors have begun pulling aid in protest of Museveni's strong-arm tactics.  People are leaving the country, to the point that the borders are being closed.

Here's a brief assessment of the situation in the International Herald Tribune.
My Kampala-based friend Kyle left for Nairobi to wait out the election.  He holds out hope that the elections might set a precedent for democracy in East Africa, but, he writes, "if the number of dead is between 10-20, I would be surprised."

February 20th, 2006: How would you do?

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 9 out of 10 correct!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

February 7th, 2006: Not the first time the argument's been made

In epidemiology and public health, we spend a lot of time identifying "vulnerable populations", or "populations-at-risk".  These groups become the focus of intervention, and our policies.   And yet, without an understanding of the sociopolitical context or the power dynamics that make them vulnerable in the first place, we fail to develop policies that actually address the root cause of that vulnerability and disease.

Geographer Susan Craddock uses prostitution to illustrate this point.  Women who are engaged in prostitution collectively comprise a primary risk group for contracting and transmitting the HIV virus.  Their identification as a population of risk without understanding the framework of vulnerability carries several potential consequences: First, a medical rationalization for heightened surveillance of an already stigmatized population.  Second, we risk assignation of blame based on cultural assumptions of immorality.  Third, we risk sending the message that individuals outside of this identified population are not at risk.

My friend Kevin in an email conversation about the Congo once commented to me drily: "When you teach abstinence to women who have been raped, you are telling them it is their fault."   When we teach abstinence to educated young women who consign their company and their bodies to sugar daddies, we treat sex as a simplistic moral issue instead of the complex trade-off it can be.  We need to acknowledge that our society and governments make certain assumptions and attach certain moral value to certain behaviors, and that those assumptions can be dangerous.

People in vulnerable populations differ in their abilities or willingness to behave in certain ways.  Uganda engages in several strategies to combat the sugar daddy issue: chastity scholarships, education, admonishing messages to potential sugar daddies.  No one can say which one strategy works best, but it's certain that a multi-prong approach, one that includes condoms and abstinence, is the one best positioned to succeed.

February 1st, 2006: The Midwest

From Overheard in New York:

Guy: Imagine living in the Midwest where there is no happiness.

--Metro-North train

Well, poop on that, what if New York might drowned in all its hipness and all the hipsters left...

...it would be comforting to believe that future generations will look back on this time as an aberration, a strange, sad moment in the city’s history when a few vulnerable, frustrated, gullible, acutely un-self-aware New Yorkers cast a pallor over all of downtown, and much of Brooklyn. More optimistic is the hope that those same voices might serve as an alarm, a resounding wake-up call for those about to rock, and create, and document, and style, and open exotic stores and well-lit restaurants. Or maybe New York really is “over”—a once-great metropolis that has, finally, jumped the shark.

 

January 30th, 2006: A $100 seat at the table of commerce and comment

MIT’s media lab is inventing what I think could be one of the most revolutionary contributions to development in this decade.  Unveiling: the $100 laptop, powered by a six-inch hand-crank, connected to the internet, durable, and ready-to-use.  It’s an idea that’s recently received UN backing, been called impossible, and criticized as impractical.  "African women who do most of the work in the countryside don't have time to sit with their children and research what crops they should be planting," says Marthe Dansokho from Cameroon. What they need, she says, are clean water, and schools.

I’m on the laptop bandwagon.  Development isn’t a zero-sum game.  We shouldn’t have to choose between building a new well, or putting knowledge in the hands of children.  Lack of progress in one area doesn’t mean we can’t forge ahead with other solutions, does it?

What was not so possible five years ago is becoming an easy reality today.  The infrastructure appropriate to the wireless internet is building every day; you can’t go anywhere in the only slightly more urban areas of Uganda without tripping over an Internet cafe. Bandwidth, and the market for internet use, is developing every day. It's only really accessible to the middle and upper classes, but over the last few years access has become cheaper and more affordable to more people. There is definitely a desire and a market for computers - I was asked more than a few times whether or not I would consider selling my laptop used.

The $100 laptop is a practical, beautiful solution to inequities in intellectual capital.  Think of the cross-talk between farmers on planting advice, or the ability to buy machines to make products from existing raw materials. I have an East African friend who was constantly scouring the Internet to find a used peanut-butter-making machine, because he wanted to help his village find a way to add value to their cash crop of ground nuts. Through the Internet, he found such a contraption, arranged for its shipment, and learned its uses.  A pound of groundnut butter is worth several times its weight in unprocessed groundnuts.

I could insert a hoary chestnut here: teach a man to fish, blah blah blah.  How trite.  But a $100 laptop, connected to the Internet is like putting an entire library in a student’s hands.  It’s giving individuals a forum to express their political views, to push the limits of their creativity, of creating channels to sell goods.  Everyone deserves a seat at the global table of commerce and comment.

Elsewhere: The Ed Tech blog comments briefly on failed discussions between the MIT team and Windows regarding use of its operating system (Negroponte rejected Windows in favor of open-source Linux).  Here's today's New York Times article that provides more detail about the negotiation.

January 29th, 2006: Happy New Year!

Welcome to the year of the dog.

This is the second-to-last zodiac sign in the cycle of 12 signs in the Chinese lunar calendar.  It'll be the year of the Pig next year, and then we'll begin the year after that with the Rat. 

The clever, conniving rat actually tricked his way into the first slot - the gods decided to hold a race to determine the animals' order in the zodiac.  The last stretch of the race was through a large river.  Rat, running neck and neck with the Ox, jumped on the Ox's head and hitched a ride.  Ox charged forward once out of the river to the finish line - but wily Rat, sitting on his head, was the first one across the finish line.

And that is why Rat is first in the lunear calendar's zodiac cycle. 

(The Pig came in last. Too lazy to win.)

January 16th, 2006: The Best Safe Sex Ad Ever

From Kenya

January 11th, 2005: Seven Things Meme

Anjali tagged me for the seven things meme.  Man, this one took a while to think about.

Seven Books (or Series) That I Love
1. The Prophet (Khalil Gibran)
2. Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino)
3. Annual Best American Magazine Writing Anthology
4. Crying of Lot 49 (Pynchon)
5. Joyce Carol Oates
6. Development as Freedom (Amartya Sen)
7. Infections & Inequalities (Paul Farmer)

Seven of My Favorite Movies (or Series)
1. Project Runway
2. Godfather I & II (fell asleep during III)
3. Grave of the Fireflies
4. 2046
5. Frida
6. Lord of the Rings
7. High Fidelity

Seven Things I Cannot Do (or jus’ don’ wanna!)
1. Fake it.  You'll know if I love it, hate it, feel it, or am indifferent.
2. Be in a band.  I just don't have the voice.
3. Be a kid again.
4. Be a journalist.
5. Be a politician.   See #1.
6. Believe in ghosts.  They freak me out.
7. Be a vegetarian.

Seven Things To Do Before I Die
1. Write a book
2. Raise a child
3. Master a headstand
4. Make a difference
5. Learn to speak fluently in another language
6. Live (that is, do more than be undead)
7. Finish my MD and PhD

Seven Things That Attract Me To… Blogging!
1. Procrastinating from my dissertation
2. Writing (see Seven Things I Cannot Do, #4)
3. Daily Themes (English 410b) was one of my favorite classes in college
4. I like lists
5. I have opinions, and like to express them
6. It's an excuse to read widely
7. I can't separate from my computer

Seven Things I Say Most Often
1. Goodness Gracious
2. Goddamit
3. I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down
4. Awesome 
5. You rock.
6. What smells?
7. I'm bored.

Seven Impractical Things I Think Would Be Really Cool Anyway
1. A 200-foot pink stuffed bunny on the side of a mountain
2. A 200-foot high condom to commemorate World AIDS Day
3. Universal Health Care (I mean temporarily politically  impractical)
4. A laptop with an internet connection for every child in the world
5. A banana that's really really really good for you
6. A photographic memory
7. Open access everything (stolen from Anjali, 'cause I agree!)

January 11th, 2005: The Diner on Lee

The Diner on Lee Road got a mention in Keith Knight's comic, K Chronicles.  Funny, I don't remember ever being seated in the left-side diner, but that's probably because that side's  never been open when I've gone  (diner food = late-night food to me). 

I somehow always get the waiter there with  LOVE and HATE tattooed on his knuckles.  He's great.  Tip him well.

January 8th, 2006: married to a skeleton

This was a dream I had in college, illustrated by artist Jesse Reklaw in four panels.  He accepts submissions at the webpage for his comic, Slow Wave.

January 4th, 2006: Of Cotton

Hurricane Katrina inspired compassion among many Ugandans I knew.   Someone told me that they'd heard of a church group that had  organized a drive to send second-hand clothing to New Orleans.  This is kinda hilarious, since most of the clothing worn in Uganda is castoff clothing originally sent from the United States.

Much of the used clothing donated to Africa is done so in the name of charity, but is in reality purchased by wholesalers, who can take advantage of the clothing's status as "aid", and avoid the tariffs or taxes imposed on imports.  The practice has several consequences: cheaper clothing for Africans, that's a plus, but there are those who attribute the proliferation of used clothing merchandise as primarily responsible for the death of the African textile industry.  A PBS documentary ("T-shirt Travels") recorded this phenomenon in Zambia.*

For those looking for a more empirical look at the impact of used clothing on textile production, there is an unpublished manuscript circulated through the American Economic Association, which uses instrumental variable analysis to evaluate the impact of used clothing and apparel production. Results support the hypothesis that "used-clothing imports are found to have a negative impact on apparel and textile production in Africa" at least in part.**

As a sidenote: I also suspect that a number of high fashion houses are dumping their excess merchandise in the African markets.  I was walking with a friend, who grabbed my arm and pointed out a young girl carrying a pink and black bag that he was fairly certain retailed the most recent spring season for about $300 in New York City.  It makes sense - companies can neatly dispense of merchandise as a tax-deductible donation without flooding the western market with excess supply, which would probably drive down prices for fashionable commodities.  I wish I had the evidence to support this, but I haven't found it yet.

There are those African countries who are trying to foster local textile and clothing production - Ghana instituted National Friday Wear to encourage people to wear national dress, which is produced locally. It's a hard sell - a new shirt produced in Ghana sells for $15, the price of an entire outfit of American-made used clothing.

I've been planning on cleaning out my closets for a while now, but now I'm not sure what to do with it... maybe Tokyo recycle it?

* Swiped from the blog, My heart's in Accra
** For anyone who cares, the instrumental variable used was geographically-predicted shares of used clothing imports.

January 3rd, 2006: Of Barkcloth

Barkcloth, idealized and written about in this Washington Post article (thanks, Katherine!!), is simply the bark of the ficus tree, made malleable and wearable by hours of pounding and treatment.  I don't think Lacey was completely right about the role of barkcloth - I don't believe it was always "finery" for the king; its use became much more widespread in later pre-colonial years. 

Whatever.  The make of barkcloth is certainly a dying craft.  You'll find examples of it in the craft markets, and artists use it as a canvas for their art, but no one wears it otherwise, not since the advent of cotton, and the influx of used clothing into the country.

December 21st, 2005: Thumbing his nose at the donors

Citing concerns over Museveni's usurping of democratic process in his arrest of main opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye, the UK redirected its $26 million of aid to the government.  The money will now go to NGOs in the north. 

The Daily Monitor reports:

But President Museveni was not impressed by the donor reaction.

“That’s how they have been running Africa for  all this time, that is how they behave,” he told the BBC. “They think we are fools; they think we do not know what we are doing.”

He added, “They think that when they give us their aid, we should abdicate from thinking; we should not think... that the price for aid is not to think.”

Museveni said, “They (donors) should be humble enough to just leave us alone. They can comment yes, but privately respecting our sovereignty but not going beyond that to try and use some little money as pressure.”

In an editorial, the DM predicts that the cuts will certainly hamper government services - but that this is more a symbolic gesture than anything, one that "may not necessarily force through the democratic reforms and economic prudence the donors are calling for."

December 17th, 2005: The Rock Star's Burden

A cranky Paul Theroux writes an op-ed on Dec 15th - a cynical indictment of what he calls the platform of "more money" - throwing money at the problems of the developing world in the hopes that things get better.  He's right on some things.  He's definitely wrong about others.  But let's set that aside.

What is puzzling is Theroux's solution to the problem - that is, stemming the migration of trained professionals from the developing world to the US or Europe. "There ought to be an insistence in the form of a bond, or a solemn promise, for Africans trained in medicine and education at the state's expense to work in their own countries," he says.  He calls on Bono (Theroux's disdain for what he sees as celebrity grandstanding is evident) to look to Ireland as an example:

After centuries of wishing themselves onto other countries, the Irish found that education, rational government, people staying put, and simple diligence could turn Ireland from an economic basket case into a prosperous nation. In a word - are you listening, Mr. Hewson? - the Irish have proved that there is something to be said for staying home.

It baffles me that his solution should be so simplistic, and that his solution to global migration is so naive.  A simple pact will keep a trained worker in a state of continued poverty?  He implies that it's  their fault, of course, for leaving their country.  Let's talk about the health sector: Money is a powerful force, and when the United States has a lack of family physicians or nurses, the market sides with the US.  In Uganda, physicians make $250/month in a government hospital.  In the United States, that same physician will make easily 40 times that.  To hell with altruism and for the good of the community - that's a lot of money.

How about improving incentives to keep health care workers in their home countries?  How about (as this NEJM article suggests) reducing the "pull factors" that created the shortage in the States in the first place?

Really, the solution is to fix the greater structural factors that influence people's desires to move.  Telling people to stay put isn't the solution, or even the biggest part of it.  Decreasing the incentives to leave (ethical standards of recruitment), or creating motivations to stay (alleviating poverty) - that's the way forward to a sustainable solution to brain drain migration.  I'm not sure what Theroux's alternative is.

December 12th, 2005: Art, graffiti, and the irrepressible self

Every time I've been to DC in the last two years, I've  seen  "borf" spraypainted primitavely on mailboxes, parking meters, trashbins, walls (like the stuff posted here).  The first time I saw borf, I thoght maybe it was a subversive statement about the gentrification of Logan Circle, which hasn't ever been the same since the Whole Foods moved in and the porn video shop (and poor folk) moved out.  Then I wondered if this was a movement: I saw graffiti enough to make me believe that it might be the work of several people, not just one.

The mystery is solved: Borf is in fact an 18-year old kid from Great Falls. But the messy scrawl that I saw was more likely the work of his imitators.  Of course he'll be charged, and he should be.  If an artist is willing to make a point by pushing the limits of law and society, then they've got to be willing to take the consequences.

Borf isn't the first or best DC graffiti artist.  Nor is he the best or only graffiti artist in the world.  In fact, his work seems to be a vaguely influenced (or imitative) of Banksy, from Britain.  Cheeky, that one - he snuck in a fake cave painting of early man with shopping cart into the British Museum.  I know little about the debate that rages about such acts, but I know that the primary question is: is it vandalism, or is it art?  Wherever you fall on that debate - you have to admit,  some if it surely beats planting random painted cows (or donkeys and elephants, in the case of DC) in public spaces. 

But let's talk about graffit art in Uganda.  Let's talk  about  Xenson, the sometime graffiti artist that I met in East Africa.  His story is especially interesting: in a country like Uganda, where there is no Ministry of Culture, where artists make their living primarily by selling to wealthier ex-pats looking for good art at a low price, where (as I've been told) people are all too willing to absorb another culture rather than value their own, where public art is found primarily near the ritzy hotels, I appreciate his efforts to bring his version of truly public art into a more egalitarian space.  His work is part political statement, part performance art, and the interpretation of a foreign concept (hip-hop) into an expression of Ugandan self.  And surprisingly, it works - his more successful paintings are decidedly hip-hop in their style, but the subject matter and the message are unmistakably Ugandan - optimstic, gentle, and playful, even the face of sad memories and oppression.  (His view of art comes through in his spoken word pieces, like this).

In fact, I found that of a lot of Ugandan art.  Afrigo, "Uganda's oldest band," has lost members of their band to AIDS and to the violence of Idi Amin, and yet, their set at Club Obligato is defiantly joyful and laid-back. As a customer reviewer for the Afrigo Batuuse 2 says:

Afrigo is Uganda. Steamed matooke in banana leaf with a big Nile Special, the red clay, waragi at home with the elders, the most beautiful women in the world, the lake flies swarming around Lake Victoria.

And such it is with art - at its best when it expresses the irrepressible, hopeful self.