From the Rakai region of southern Uganda Considered to be the original "ground zero" of the AIDS pandemic)
On August 19, Dr. John wrote, "I am overwhelmed by the devastation I am seeing here. Together with my teen volunteers from Kampala's high schools, we go into villages where few healthy adults can be seen. Inside unkempt thatched huts surrounded by decaying corn stalks, I find teenagers and grandparents taking care of multitudes of young orphans. These are children who aren't able to get any formal education because they lack school fees while they help their older siblings attend to farming and running an adult household."
"Not really understanding how HIV is transmitted nor how AIDS can be prevented, many youth don't know why their families are dying. Teen mothers desperately ask how they can insure their babies don't get sick although many have already been born with HIV. Beside a charcoal fire inside a house made from the mud of dried cow dung, I sit with an elderly mother who has already lost four of her twelve children to AIDS. She knows of two more who are sick and dying. A boy of four said he doesn't know where his Mummy has gone but he hopes she will come back for him soon. It will be a few more years before he realizes the tragic truth of AIDS," remarked Dr. John.
Among the volunteers in Dr. John's outreach effort are 17 year-old Derrick, 19 year-old Susan and 18 year-old Bwire. They all help to bring the AIDS prevention message into their poor urban neighborhoods and act as translators in the countryside. Uganda has had a tragic history of suffering from war, famine and dictators like Idi Amin. But the spirit of these teen volunteers is truly inspiring. According to Dr. John, "It would be easy to give up faith - they have so little and now AIDS is killing hundreds of thousands of Ugandans. But the youth believe it's their responsibility to save their friends."
In September, Dr. John received this email from a Kampala internet cafe:
"Hullo Dr. John, Where are you now Dr. John?. It was really nice having you here in Uganda infact it was a great privilage. Let me hope that you will come again. Dr. John I really apprciate the work you are carrying out, I dont have gold or diamonds to reward you but God will reward you. You left you country where there are riches to come to a country like Uganda poor as it is but managing with. Its lifestyle, reaching the poor, reaching the rural areas to make people aware about this killer disease AIDS, kmaking friends of all fonts. Thanks alot Dr. John. We have not abandoned your work here in Uganda, we are also busy carrying it on. We miss you alot and it will be difficult to get some one as social, kind, loving, caring as you. I thank you very much for all the parental love you showed us and the advice you gave us. It wwas really fun being with you and when will we ever see you again. THANKS ALOT FOR HAVING PUT UGANDA AMONG THE PRIORITY COUNTRIES OF YOUR TRAVEL' Bwire joseph"