HIV/AIDS Education in Uganda is a research report written by Danielle Buonocore, an undergraduate student from U.S. The objective of this report is “to help us continue to successfully fight the pandemic”, AIDS. It evaluates the process as well as the effectiveness of the education program in Uganda for fighting against AIDS. Because we are seeking a feasible solution for AIDS problem, it is useful to us.

We can learn how the government and the Ugandans came together to combat AIDS from the report. Firstly, the President Museveni and his wife addressed AIDS in order to break the stigma and let their people know the disease. Secondly, a unique education program which was based on the ABC program; Abstain, Be faithful, or Condomize was developed so that children in primary schools would receive HIV/AIDS education. This system was designed to “educate the youth about HIV/AIDS, sex, and how to protect themselves”.

We realize that the solution for AIDS problem will only work if it is coincident to the characteristic of the target region. The education program is a success because it matches the reality of the Uganda. As these days children are becoming sexually active younger and younger, it is necessary to integrate sex and HIV/AIDS education into the school curriculum. Because teachers are the most respectable people in Uganda, children tend to listen to them. By instilling morals, values, and information in children’s minds while they are growing and developing there is a better chance it will make a lasting impact. This elucidates why taking education as a solution impacts most significantly in the long run.

We are also impressed by the unities of the people shown in the report. The schools surveyed had solid HIV/AIDS education programs. Each school seemed to take real pride in their HIV/AIDS programs. All the representatives interviewed respected the president and his approach. People followed the president’s initiative in the fight against AIDS willingly and responsibly. Uganda came together as a country to fight AIDS. This may be one of the important elements for achieving the final success.

On the other hand, some weakness of the education program is mentioned in the report. For example, the writer discovered that none of the schools surveyed distributed condoms. This is perhaps due to the mindset that condoms equal sex. However, condoms also equal protection and reduce the transmission of AIDS. Such mindset might be broken when we look from a different perspective. Interactions between infected and uninfected individuals were not observed as well. Therefore, we would like to research on how other countries have done on these aspects.

The AIDS rate in Uganda decreased drastically from 30% in 1992 to 6% in 2002. This specific data shows the effectiveness of the education program executed by the Uganda government. Uganda’s success should be a model for other countries to follow. As the reporter said, the only way to prevent AIDS is to educate and inform others about it. Ignorance is not bliss, it is dangerous and life threatening. Schools every where, not just in Uganda, need to teach AIDS as they would any other subject.

As an American student, the writer also admitted that the HIV/AIDS education in U.S. might not be so properly done as in Uganda. He urged to see the improvements made in the future. Since this reported was written in 2005, we will continue to trace the information about the actions done to solve or prevent AIDS in American or other countries.

Bibliography:

The online article AIDS hits Uganda’s villagers, written by Mercedes Sayagues, is useful as it tells us the severity of AIDS problem in Uganda. By providing the specific statistic that “an estimated 9.5 per cent of Uganda’s 19 million people are infected with HIV”, we are assured that this problem is challenging the local country. Not only the government is aware of the seriousness, the viewpoints given by Mr. Gary Howe, director for Africa at the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), also shows the concern from the world. Hence we can know that the AIDS problem in Uganda attracts attention globally.

Moreover, from this article, we can learn how AIDS problem affects the economy of the country. When the males who are the main labors on farm infect HIV, they are no longer able to work. The agriculture productivity is thus reduced. As “agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of Uganda’s gross domestic product, 95 per cent of exports and 40 per cent of government revenue”, the HIV problem impacts on the country’s economy significantly.

In addition, HIV problem lowers the living standard of Ugandan. Lack of labours means less food and less income from cash crops. Medical bills consume any savings. Domestic animals and assets are sold to maintain basic living. The potential problem poverty is hence brought to the country. Furthermore, children have to drop out of school to farm. This implies that the next generation of the country will miss out the opportunity to access education. It will affect the prospect of the country in the long run. On the other hand, in this article, whether the Ugandan government is aware of this current phenomenon and the followed up action taken still remain unknown.

The article also points out that the local government may only look at the big picture of the impact brought by Aids on the agriculture of the country. The governors are not aware that many are still suffering and the young generation may be starving and lacking nutrition for growth. This implies that the relevant strategies executed by the government may not be much effective as seemed due to the lack of fist-hand information.

In conclusion, we feel that this article mainly focuses on the impact of AIDS problem on Uganda’s economy and how the country’s agriculture is affected. The solution mentioned such as better crop management is merely temporary. In order to relieve the country’s burden brought by AIDS problem fundamentally, something must be done to decelerate the rapid infection of AIDS. We will therefore move on to look for more relevant and helpful information which tells us more about the suggested solutions for Uganda’s AIDS problem.

Bibliography:

Mercedes Sayagues April 1999, ‘AIDS hits Uganda’s villagers’ Africa Recovery, [Online] Available at: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/subjindx/124aids1.htm

下午华文课看电影《倾城之恋》。

非常古老的版本，

周润发还是二三十岁的样子。

男主角，范柳原。

我非常明白人有自信是美德。我承认对镜自怜(恋)的事自己也干过。

可是这”美丽动人”的女主角东施效颦也真是太恐怖了吧。

那个浓的吓人的妆暂且不提，低头羞涩也不是这个样子吧。

去年是读过《传奇》的。

忽然发现同样的句子写在纸上与说出来的效果居然反差可以如此之大。

总之，全班人在黑暗的空调房里唏嘘，他们深情我们偷笑，满地鸡皮。

寥寥。

再次唤醒记忆中曾大为感慨的经典对白，并为之倾倒。

只是张爱玲文字的魅力，与演员无关。

即使电影与想象中的场景大相庭径，仍不得不为患难中的真情感动。

兵荒马乱。身边有个可以依靠的人，仿佛就有了世界。

刚去贴吧转了下，又荒废掉多少时间。原来《热浪》已经出了。

娟，辛苦了。不论结果如何，无功高亦有苦劳。恭喜。

苦寒暗香

　　　　　　　　　　　　――梅花三弄

何时知晓《梅花三弄》一曲，已经不大记得了。可从拜赏此曲伊始，一直暗暗惊叹世间怎会有这如与世隔绝般的音乐，听着听着，宛若看见不食人间烟火的曼妙女子，身着素衣，轻迈莲步，纤手折梅，睥睨寒霜，隐于广袤的银装素裹。

《梅花三弄》，曲名本身就有诗意。梅花原是凛厉之物，百花争春斗艳，梅偏偏不爱凑那俗气的热闹，她就爱这寒冽冽的风，这白皑皑的雪，独独的，在冷冬中开出个孤芳自赏，绽出个一枝独秀。可是这样傲气的梅花，衬上“三弄”双字，总有几分婉约的味儿，不再高深莫测，遥不可及。三是个随性的数字，本是指数（shuo），这里唯是化泛泛为具体，不多不少就代表着曲子里的三次主题重现。而“弄”则更有俏皮味儿了，弄潮是弄，弄弦亦是弄，带着踏浪的逸趣来拨琴，好不自在。这样一来，梅花三弄，冷而不冰，寒着反而透出一股妩媚劲儿。

整支曲子听下来，会发现里面没有太多的高音，似是作曲之人不稀罕用高音之声色的脆巧吸引听众，故意避以取用，如同梅花不屑生以硕大的花盆，招徕蜂围蝶阵。古琴低音区琴弦很粗，音色浑厚，每个音都恍若内中别有洞天。一串低音连续奏下来，配上恰到好处的滑音与轻颤，余韵无穷。

泛音是此曲的亮点。此技巧为在右手弹奏之时左手小指同时碰触所弹琴弦中部，故看似弹奏一弦，实质上发音的只有半段弦。又由于左手小指拂音只有一瞬，故被隔离的半段弦似颤非颤，出来的音质就会比常音轻盈，通透，有空灵之感。泛音难弹，因为左手小指只有恰好触在弦正中二分之一处才会发声，稍有偏差则会发出哑音，听着如人被掐住咽喉一般，抑郁难堪。听一段完整精致的泛音可遇不可求，如踏雪时分误闯大片梅林，惊喜可见一斑。被精心奏出的一个个小巧音符，空旷明洞，显得很有张力，又灵气十足，如同淡淡粉红的梅，一点一点，在瑟瑟寒风中悄悄盛开。每一个音符都被弹奏者用双手小心翼翼地护着，像呵着气，听手中霜雪融化的声音。

三弄，每一弄都与前一弄稍有不同，但又无太大差别，细细听，细细品味，才会察觉出这一弄多了个状似回音的轻点，那一弄又有个沉音的饰缀。弄与弄之间有过渡，在听着听着就要沉浸于过渡旋律之中，以为接近尾声之时，熟悉的主题旋律又不知不觉地穿插进来，如他乡遇故知，柳暗花明又一村。

《梅花三弄》，这是一支只属于一个人细细聆听的曲子。

遥知不是雪，为有暗香来。