UO African Studies and FACE AIDS present:
You Can't Crush a Louse
with Only One Thumb*:
Integrating Biomedical and
Sociocultural Approaches to
HIV/AIDS in Africa

Two days of expert lectures, discussion, hope and action.

April 3-4, 2009
University of Oregon ~ Eugene, Oregon ~ Erb Memorial Union
Attendance is free and open to the public

Keynote speakers include:

Julie Overbaugh, PhD
HIV/AIDS Research Scientist
Human Biology Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Pauline Peters, PhD
Lecturer in Public Policy
John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Deogratias "Deo" Niyizonkiza
Executive Director
Village Health Works

Michael Kaplan
Executive Director
Cascade AIDS Project

Conference overview

Worldwide, the highest levels of HIV infection and AIDS deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite intense international attention, these levels are not expected to decline anytime soon. Why is HIV/AIDS such a difficult problem in this part of the world? Why have so many interventions failed? What holds the most promise for the future? The premise of ‘You can't crush a louse with only one thumb’ is that isolated biomedical or sociocultural approaches to HIV/AIDs in Africa will fail. Instead, conference participants will explore the view that integration of biomedical and sociocultural approaches is the only viable way forward. The conference’s interdisciplinary focus on Africa accents the burgeoning African Studies Program at the University of Oregon.

Attendees will include experts from the social sciences, cultural studies, biology and medicine; representatives from governmental organizations and not-for-profit groups; U of O students, staff and faculty; and community members. The conference also includes the spring 2009 national conference of FACE AIDS, a student organization that combats HIV/AIDS in Africa through chapters at over 150 campuses . Hosted by the UO chapter, FACE AIDS activists from across the US will share their energy and experiences in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The conference includes a full schedule of lectures, panel discussions, workshops and a community village of not-for-profit organizations.

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Keynote lectures (EMU ballroom):

Fri. April 3, 9:30AM. "The Social and Cultural Dimensions of AIDS: Interpreting 'family', 'community' and 'sexuality' in southern Africa"
Pauline Peters, PhD
Lecturer in Public Policy
John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Fri. April 3, 1:30PM. "Challenges to developing a HIV vaccine"
Julie Overbaugh, PhD
HIV/AIDS Research Scientist
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Sat. April 4, 9:30AM. "Bridging Policy & Reality - Ensuring Programs that Work"
Michael Kaplan
Executive Director
Cascade AIDS Project

Sat. April 4, 1:30PM. "Social Determinants of HIV and the Community Health Worker Response"
Deogratias "Deo" Niyizonkiza
Executive Director
Village Health Works

Workshops (times are subject to change; all workshops will be held in the EMU):

1A. Fri. April 3, 11AM. "Student Leadership Strategies and Team-building Exercises." This workshop, chaired by Sarah Kleinman, Executive Director of FACE AIDS, will take a unique approach to engaging youth and students. It will look at how to solve teamwork problems, and help guide you to better leadership. Other participants will be from the national team of FACE AIDS.

1B. Fri. April 3, 11AM. "Integrating sociocultural approaches into the fight against AIDS: open discussion." In her keynote lecture, Pauline Peters will present ideas worthy of in-depth discussion. Panelists Badege Bishaw (OSU; chair), Laurence Becker (OSU), Dennis Galvan (UO) and Peter Walker (UO) will follow-up on Dr. Peters' speech with brief comments, followed by open discussion with Dr. Peters and conference participants.

2A. Fri. April 3, 3PM. "The role of gender in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment." This panel discussion will emphasize the role of female power and its relation to poverty and HIV/AIDS. Panelists include: Sandra Morgen, UO, chair; Anne Williams, Tostan International; Yvonne Braun, UO, and Ruth Mwandira, Executive Director of Christian Health Association of Malawi and Ph.D. candidate in Public Health at Oregon State University, and Jessica Walker-Kelleher, UO.

2B. Fri. April 3, 3PM. "How Poverty Enters the Body" Viral in biological form, the human immunodeficiency virus is coolly discriminatory in social, economic and political terms. Like many diseases, it follows not just pathways of fluid transmission, but tracks economic weakness, social marginality and political exclusion. This workshop explores the many ways that poverty and marginalization facilitate the spread of the disease and limit access to information and resources that would slow its advances. It also considers the vicious circles produced by HIV infection, in which the already weak see their vulnerabilities multiplied, their social opportunities narrowed, and their impoverishment embodied. Participants include: Deo Niyizonkiza (Village Health Works), Joyce Millen (Willamette University) and Ellen Foley (Clark).

Special workshop: Fri. April 3, 4:30PM, EMU Ben Linder Room.
"World premiere of Tumbuka", by documentary filmmaker Robin Truesdale (Boulder, CO). Robin will screen the film and discuss its making and message. Synopsis: In a rural village of Zimbabwe, a young man tries to help his community overcome poverty, AIDS, and the traditional gender roles that hinder his people. His approach - a club for boys that teaches young men to respect their female counterparts. Tatenda Muchiriri hopes to help raise a generation of young men who practice safe sex and treat women as equals."

3A. Sat. April 4, 11AM. "Challenges of Socio-cultural Approaches to AIDS: From Analysis to Action" The sociocultural approach to AIDS has produced richly nuanced understandings of gender scripts, inter-generational social roles, local dynamics of power alongside a powerful sense that we cannot talk seriously about an AIDS strategy divorced from a social justice agenda. How exactly do we move from rich analysis and subtleties of data to action that is well informed by socio-cultural understanding, that does not run afoul on the shoals of well-intentioned, one-size-fits-all remedies concocted elsewhere and imposed in Africa? Participants include Joyce Millen (Willamette University), Ellen Foley (Clark Univ.) and Michael Kaplan (Cascade AIDS Project).

3B. Sat. April 4, 11AM. "Building biomedical collaborations & research capacity in Africa." In this session, biomedical scientists will share their experiences with the challenges and rewards of Africa-based research and medical work, and discuss progress in enhancing research opportunities in Africa and for Africans. Participants are Desire Tshala-Katumbay, M.D., Ph.D (Oregon Health & Science Univ., Portland OR) (chair); HIV/AIDS researcher Julie Overbaugh, Ph.D. (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA) and parasitologist Maguy Masikini, M.D. (Portland OR).

4A. Sat. April 4, 3PM. "Non-profits working in Africa: lessons learned and opportunities ahead". This session features representatives of non-profit groups that support community development, education and/or healthcare in HIV/AIDS-affected regions of Africa. Each panelist will briefly share challenges, lessons learned and future opportunities in their organization's activities, followed by Q&A and open discussion. This session will be of interest to attendees involved or interested in non-profit work in Africa or other international regions. Panelists: Grace Kuto (Harambee Centre/Kenya), Portland OR (chair); Jennifer Kyker (Tariro/Zimbabwe), Philadelphia PA; Lou Radja (EduCongo/DRC), Portland OR; and Deo Niyizonkiza (Village Health Works/Burundi).

4B. "Student Experiences with Direct Action for Global Health." This panel discussion looks at the difficulties facing young students who participate in direct action. Although student generally bring new ideas into the field, implementing them without the support systems is challenging. The panel is chaired by Michele Fujii, a University of Oregon graduate who developed a youth soccer empowerment camp focused on HIV prevention. Other participants are Isaac Holeman, student at Lewis and Clark College (Portland, OR) and organizer of MobilzeMRS, a project using mobile phone technology to increase access to medical records and Daniel Bachhuber, director of Oregon Direct Action and an organizer for MobilzeMRS. It will also include Alex Goodell, director of UO FACE AIDS / Students for Global Health.

Community Village

Not-for-profit organizations that would like to have a table to provide information and/or sell merchandise in the Community Village (Saturday April 4) should contact Helen Towle.

Participants include: Harambee Centre - Chwele Project; HIV Alliance; Bread for the World; Lanyi Fan; Tariro; Portland-Mutare Sister City Association; Lane County Darfur Coalition; Thembanathi; Makindu Children's Program; IE3 Global Internships; Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition; Mohvara (Mohawk Valley Rural Arts) Darfur dolls.

Benefit Concert of African music and dance

A high-energy evening concert will feature top African musical acts: Dance Africa, Vakasara Mbira, Hokoyo Marimba and headliner Boka Marimba (Portland, Oregon). The concert is a benefit for Tariro, an Oregon-based not-for-profit organization that funds the education of AIDS-affected young women in Zimbabwe.

Conference Steering Committee

Janis Weeks (Biology), Dennis Galvan (Political Science), Peter Walker (Geography), Alex Goodell (UO Students for Global Health), Helen Towle (Community Member)

The conference is made possible by generous support from:

FACE AIDS & these University of Oregon units: African Studies, Associated Students of UO, Biology, Clark Honors College, College of Arts and Sciences, Environmental Studies, Geography, Human Physiology, IE3 Global Internships, International Studies, Journalism, & Political Science.

Commissioned conference artwork by Elizabeth Muwungani, via Zimbabwe Artists Project. Website design by Alex Goodell.

*Shona proverb (Zimbabwe): Chara chimwe hachitswanye inda