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Reflections on Jordan and Cyprus.
This is going to be a short Blog on some of the highlights of my Jordan and Cyprus trips (I substituted Cyprus when my visa applications were turned down by Sudan and Libya despite the intervention of the Jordanian Royal Protocol Office. But first some of the young people who have helped TeenAIDS and me in our Peer outreach.
I previously mentioned a wonderful young woman, Reem from the University of Jordan. She has a real kind heart and loves to talk about AIDS to peers. Her friend and a fellow student named Ibrahim (aka 'brahim)...
Click here to view photos from the trip
Click here for Dr. John's article on Snowballing in Cyprus
Reflections on Jordan and Cyprus.
This is going to be a short Blog on some of the highlights of my Jordan and Cyprus trips (I substituted Cyprus when my visa applications were turned down by Sudan and Libya despite the intervention of the Jordanian Royal Protocol Office. But first some of the young people who have helped TeenAIDS and me in our Peer outreach.
I previously mentioned a wonderful young woman, Reem from the University of Jordan. She has a real kind heart and loves to talk about AIDS to peers. Her friend and a fellow student named Ibrahim (aka 'brahim), devoted much time to my walking tours in Amman and Zarka, Jordan's second largest city. Reem is majoring in Italian studies and wants to get into the tourism business while 'brahim is studying Chemical Engineering. They both had exams but volunteered selflessly to my work.
They are both students in the peer program whom I first met while visiting the Community Services Department at their University under the able direction of Mrs. Anaam and a previously mentioned student HIV leader, Mozon. Because of their previous training before I arrived, they were able to jump right into the AIDS Attacks. Their English was excellent and their spirit was phenomenal (you can read "brahim's email in the country section).
One of the highlights of my trip was that their parents invited me to traditional dinners at their homes to meet their families and to share good food and conversation. I find these home visits to be much more satisfying than eating "Western style" in a hotel restaurant. They were very curious about what motivates me to do my Walks and what I think about their country. Both families were Palestinian by birth and they wanted me to understand that they were good people, not terrorists. Obviously, they felt strongly about situation in the region and told me so. I explained that I could never understand why a person would be a suicide bomber.
In the previous blog, I mentioned that 60% of Jordan's population is Palestinian - Palestinians themselves said they thought the figure was closer to 70% because many of their countrymen are refugees and live there as undocumented workers. Imagine a country where the native population is in the minority - by choice?! Both King Hussein and now Abdullah have welcomed Palestinians and others from around the Middle East (Egyptian workers make up a sizeable minority). I understand that one of the factors fueling HIV globally is the high numbers of young people who migrate regionally in search of jobs and live by different standards when away from home and the tight control of parents.
Woman and the veil
I will write now about my observations talking about HIV/AIDS with young women who choose to either wear the traditional Muslim veil or not. I found that Bunny had a number of keen observations too and will have her write a report too. My first impression was that those girls that choose to wear the veil covering the head and sometimes part of the face would be more conservative in their outlook while the young women who wear no head dress would be more open in their thinking. To my surprise, this was not always true. I actually found that some women chose to wear the veil because it was easier to win their parents' and neighbor's approval (and avoid trouble) while some women who did not wear the obvious signature dress of their religion often were more conservative in their thinking. I found it disconcerting when speaking to a group of women over lunch at the university when I couldn't see the eyes of a girl covered in black veils. Always I look into the eyes of the youth with whom I interact to judge their reactions and will adapt my message according to their interests. Only when she nodded vigorously to a point that I made could I know that my points were sinking in.
The King and AIDS
It is amazing to me that King Abdullah has been very proactive in making sure that HIV/AIDS prevention education reaches the young people of his Kingdom. His progressive stance is not the norm in this very conservative region where some governments deny that they even have one case of HIV/AIDS in their countries (except those cases that might have been brought by a foreigner or a returning expatriate worker). I was told by a personal friend of the King that my invitation to go to Jordan came directly from the "Highest" authority and that all government ministries were to assist me in getting the prevention education message out to as many youth as possible. The official government TV station (the one and only station in Jordan) featured a large report on AIDS and my visit to the Kingdom on the nightly news that was widely seen throughout the country.
I was amazed when we visited remote Bedouin areas in the South that people recognized me from TV (or was it my colorful Hawaiian shirt?). While the Muslim faith is a strong deterrent to sexual relations before marriage among young people, I observed that attitudes are changing as the world, the Middle East, and Jordan are being swept up in the rapid globalization, a kind of cultural tsunami, that is occurring. Attitudes are shifting dramatically based on private conversations I had. Changing behaviors are raising the risk of HIV transmission among some of the country's youth. A number of young people reported that they knew of close friends who are sexually active although most adults and government people with whom I spoke, would find these reports incredible. They find it easier to believe that their children are not affected (or infected) by Hollywood movies, satellite TV, MTV and rap lyrics, etc.
I met one young man at Mecca Mall in Amman who was returning home after a few years of university study in Chicago. He told me that he was surprised at the big changes in attitude towards sex (and even drug use) that was apparent in the night clubs and cafes of Abdoon. I found much anecdotal information to support this observation that attitudes and sexual mores are beginning to change very rapidly. Working with five young people at the Mall after school, four out of five said they know of friends who have experimented sexually (I never ask outright if someone is having sex - instead, I ask, "Do you know of a friend who is experimenting with sex?").
Prostitution
The world's oldest profession exists in this ancient area of biblical stories. I know this fact from first hand observation. Until recently, massage parlors were fronts for an active sex trade until King Abdullah closed many of them down within the past year. Now they are underground but can be found - even in tourist hotels and in resorts like Aqaba. A number of the higher-class sex workers are women from Eastern Europe - they are referred to as Russian girls although I found they came from Ukraine and Moldova too. Regular visas are extended to tourists for one month. After that, visitors must be tested for HIV monthly in government-sponsored clinics. However, the masseuses with whom I spoke said that condoms were not always used because many Arab men don't like them, preferring to rely on the government tests to ensure that foreign prostitutes are "clean."
In the resort city of Aqaba, a more laid-back and libertine city than Amman, the young males talk more openly about sex that they can find at the Chinese massage parlors ("Chinese" being the catch-all phrase for Asian or foreign sex workers). One young guy of 21 told me how he was upset that a woman tried to touch his privates to sexually arouse him - when he only wanted to pay ten dinars for a back massage to relieve his tension. Somehow, his explanation was not very convincing to his friends - or to me.
Make no mistake about it. Sex is everywhere in the world and no country or culture is immune from people wanting to satisfy their baser instincts. My concern is not so much moralistic as it is medical. When young people begin to experiment with sex by going to sex workers who do not use condoms for protection, then STDs will follow and possibly, HIV as well. A very nice family physician met with Bunny and me one evening because he was curious about my work and emphasis on HIV and youth. Did I really believe it was a problem in Jordan, he asked. He had treated men with STDs but never to his knowledge, HIV. I told him that it was just a matter of time. I also told the Jordanian media in my press conference at the Ministry of Health that while HIV in Jordan is small by world standards that the nation is not immune from a global and spreading youth HIV pandemic. I heard too many anecdotal reports from numerous youth that life is changing quickly and sex before marriage is occurring. I will have more to say about this in my book.
Where I Walked
Here is a list of my AIDS Attacks and school stops in Jordan (in random order).
Sokina Girl's School
Ragadan Boy's School
Jubilee High School (mixed)
University of Jordan
Community Services Department
Zaitonah University
Al Whedat neighborhood
Al Whedat Youth Club
Zarka Youth Club for Girls
Zarka Youth Club for Boys
Al Hussein Boy's College
Al Patra Girl's School
Unity Garden
Al Hussein Garden soccer fields
Abdoon Circle
Queen Rania Street
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Education
Sports City Complex
Health Clinic for mothers
Massage Parlor
Wadi Rum
Bedouin villages
Dead Sea (Jordan Valley)
Mecca Mall
Grand Hyatt Hotel (talking with all staff)
Gulf Resort Hotel
Various restaurants, cafes and shops
Family homes and gatherings
All in all, I met an interesting cross section of youth in a variety of settings that allowed me to spread my message but also gather information for my research too.
Final Tally
In the eight days that I was in the Kingdom I had personal contact with approximately 2,400 young people in schools and on the streets between Amman in the north and Aqaba in the south (and many points in between). All of the major newspapers and the largest TV station carried additional stories about my work allowing the TeenAIDS-PeerCorps message to reach thousands more young people.
I was surprised when I went to talk at King Hussein public school for boys in Amman, when a young man came up to me and said, "Are you Dr. John?" He was Ra'ed, the younger brother of 'brahim who recognized me from his brother's description and from a picture in the newspaper. In Aqaba, a boy of 14 came up to me as I was doing AIDS Attacks at night, and asked that question too. When I asked how he knew me, he said his sister Saja went to Jubilee High School and had described me (hmm I wonder how exactly?). My last night I visited a store to make a CD back-up of my photos and a young woman stared at me before coming up and asking if I was the man talking to youth about AIDS? She recognized me from the newspapers. Her name is Kholoud and she has written me two emails since I arrived home. She wants to volunteer.
Something's hopping in the Mid-East
Because Jordan is one of the United States' best friends in the region, the country often acts as a mediator or go-between for the U.S. and other countries - especially now that the issue of terrorism and Iran's nuclear program are catching the headlines. In the space of six days while we were there, the King of Spain met with King Abdullah II. It was much more than a social call between royalty. Supposedly King Carlos was carrying important information from the political arm of the European Community about Middle East issues. He was followed by President Mubarek of Egypt who met with King Abdullah in the Southern resort city of Aqaba when we were there representing the views of the Arabic community. That visit was immediately followed by the President of Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. Indonesia has been supporters of the Iranian government. According to observers in Amman, King Abdullah II is involved in very important negotiations on the most sensitive problems, out of sight of major media attention that would happen if the meetings were held in Washington, or at the U.N. in New York or in Brussels.
Cyprus visit - a brief note
More will be reported on Cyprus in my following Blog but to review my work on the beautiful Mediterranean island, here's a few points. Approximately 600 young people were directly contacted by me in both the Greek South and the Turkish North. Within an hour of getting off the plane, I was at the InterCollege in Lanarvca, a private college where I spoke to many students between classes. In the South I spoke to the graduating students of Mediterranean High School in Larnarca and to the students of Near East University's High School in Lefkosa. Although culturally and politically different, and with opposite religious view points that have caused fighting in the past, the young people at both schools struck me as intelligent, caring and very willing to get involved in a united war by their generation again HIV/AIDS. I met a wonderful young 21-year old volunteer named 'Hammed, an engineering student at Near East University. He was devoutly Muslim and did not want sex before marriage. We worked the streets one night and he graciously put me up in his student quarters when it was too late to cross the Turkish north and Greek South divide by taxi. Hammed is Palestinian from Jordan and we quickly befriended our 19-year old waiter Tofun, a Turk from the region near Syria. Tofun lost his virginity to a Russian prostitute eight months earlier (without a condom) and spoke of his peers' experiences. In Lanarca, a tourist destination in the South, I met many foreign youth working on the island. I was impressed by one young boy, Boris, age 15 who was working as an electrician's aid to earn enough money to return to Russia to finish his educational studies. He was very concerned about the AIDS situation in Russia - and the risk his young friends were having were taking having sex with foreign tourists for favors and cash. Crossing the border with three Greek Cypriot young women, I heard how sex was very common among their peers. Pictures of both Cyprus and Jordan will be posted before the end of May.
P.S. It is now 3:00 am on Sunday, May 14th. I must finish packing my bags and say goodbye to my dog, Jazz, as the airport shuttle will be here in less than 90 minutes to take me to Boston's Logan Airport on my way to work with youth in South Korea. Talk to you soon.
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