World AIDS Day 2011: You either Lock it In or Lock it Out, How Simple!

This is 2011 and I’m sitting here to blog about another World AIDS Days event… Amazing how the years roll on, they get eaten up like raspberry! That’s beside the point, anyhow. The point is, we have lost lives to this fight and I am excited about that. Yes, excited because the losses have altogether made us a stronger and a more formidable force, a more jubilant team of soldiers. Soldiering on against the monster with jubilation and hope. Yes the lost lives have put smiles of expectancy on our faces rather than tears of pain; they have made our once sore-red eyes burst bright and as the day. They have been some of the truest of inspirations of our time.

At first we sobbed sore, we burnt precious time in rags of fruitless emotions. Then came this new dawn, this great awakening that saw us spring to action. Today, only a couple years past, we have replaced the mourns with soft smiles and our faces have been made more beautiful. You know, the smiles have a way of prolonging our days! Again that’s beside the point, I pray you get the real point. Looking into our eyes, it’s just conspicuous: You either lock the virus in or lock it out. No passing it on, no receiving it. Non-discrimination and universal access to healthcare remain invaluable. Get more on World AIDS Day here.

Now as my fingers are getting off the keyboard and gripping the Red Ribbon, just one question for you: How do you want to spend your World AIDS Day 2011?

Follow me on Twitter, @Maurytweetz

Facebook, Ongala Maury

So What Differentiates Ethnicity from Nationalism?

Ethnicity and nationalism are twin words, not to imply that they are synonymous, but rather that they are so pertinent to each other that at the mention of one, the other seldom fails to pop up. At the same instance, it is scholarly to note that the two words are not opposites as they may appear from a shallow perspective. Let us take an intrusive look at some of the parallels of these terms.

Scope

By definition, ethnicity covers a much smaller scope than nationalism. According to Thomas Hylland (1991), ethnicity refers to the social reproduction of basic classificatory differences between categories of people and to aspects of gain and loss in social interaction. Ethnicity, he says, is fundamentally dual, encompassing both aspects of meaning and of politics. This means that ethnicity plays the role of binding people of a common ancestral origin and sharing commonalities in cultural, social, religious and other aspects of living. For instance, the Baganda of Uganda can be classified basically as an ethnic group of Eastern Uganda, period. Nationalism, on the other hand may be vaguely characterized as a sentiment based on common cultural characteristics that binds a wider scope population and often produces a policy of national independence or separatism from the other nations or countries and their territories. For example, the Baganda, may be clustered with a couple more ethnic groups in Uganda like the Banyankole, the Luo and the Acholi to be identified as Ugandans.

Levels of Identity

It is a fact that both ethnicity and nationalism are aspects of identity of individuals. Deprnding to the prevalent system of socialization in a given region, people may address each other in reference to their ethnic group origin or their nation of origin, especially if that community or nation has some outstanding feature of identity either positive or negative. The parallel comes with the level of identity. Ethnicity, in most cases identifies the ethnic group at a country level. It is more internal and its relevance makes the most sense to nationals or insiders of a given country. Nationalism on the other side has a higher level identity. Once two or more Kenyans leave their country and converge in a foreign country, their ethnicity usually tends to be buried off as they identify among people fro other countries as Kenyans and not as Kikuyus, Tesos or Giriamas.

Patriotism versus Racism

Nationality, being that strong relationship between a person and his country of origin, connotes the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity. This amounts to the feeling of deep love and concern for one’s country, commonly known as patriotism. Patriotism is a virtue of nationalism. It is the epitome of all that is positive about nationalism. Ethnicity, if not guarded against, easily slips into the negative and amounts to racism. The more the Luos identify themselves as the peacocks of Kenya and possibly any other attribute, for example, they risk being too engrossed into their ethnic vales and cultural norms to the extent of feeling superior to the rest of the 42 plus ethnic communities that make up Kenya. This is racism or otherwise, tribalism when it extends to giving unmerited favours to kinsmen and tribesmen.

Membership

Membership also varies between ethnicity and nationalism. One has no choice of which ethnic group to belong to just as he has no choice of biological parents. One is born and acculturated into a given ethnic community by default. A Maasai Moran for example, is taught all the nitty-gritty’s of the Maasai culture and before he knows it, he is already as engrossed into the community and its way of life as the old Maasai man in his exit years. Membership in ethnic tribes is involuntary. As for nationalism, one always has a choice of which nation to belong to as it is guided by legal precepts that enable one to belong to a country of choice having satisfied the pre-conditions of the country’s constitution. I may be a Kenyan by birth but decide to register as a citizen of another country and drop the Kenyan nationality.

Difference in Dualism

Often times, one cannot have dual ethnicity except for ambilineal communities which trace their descents from either sides of the parents. Otherwise most people belong to only one ethnic community all their lives. When it comes to nationalism, one can have dual citizenship especially if the parents of such a person hail from two different countries.

Governance

Nationality being controlled by legal precepts, has a legal government, well structured with each arm performing a specific set of roles e.g. the judiciary, the executive and the legislature while ethnicity is usually governed by traditions and beliefs.

Conclusion

Positive ethnicity can complement the attributes of nationalism while if used negatively, ethnicity becomes a thorn in a nation’s flesh. Nationalism binds a larger group of people and is more broad and far reaching as compared to ethnicity.


Follow me on Twitter, @Maurytweetz

Life Will Test You

...God has come to test you...' Exodus 20:20

Do you remember the tests you took in school? You either passed or failed, but you couldn't avoid them. Life works that way too. When it comes to life's tests-you must prepare yourself in advance! Jesus said: '...a wise man...built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall...a foolish man...built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall' (Matthew 7:24-27).

The first man built his house on rock because he knew it wasn't a question of 'if,' but 'when,' a storm will come. The second man built his house on sand because it was cheap and easy. When the storm came the first man's house stood and the second man's house fell. What's the point Jesus was making? Your talents and your reputation may get you to the top, but if you haven't built strong character you won't stay there long. Furthermore, your beliefs may be sincere and line up with what other people around you think, but unless they're founded on God's Word they'll fail you when you need them most. Three times in the Bible we read, '...The just shall live by faith' (Romans 1:17). When the tests of life come you've got to be able to rise up and say, 'I may not have all the answers, but I have proven God's character and track record and I'm trusting Him to do what He's promised in His Word!'

Follow me on Twitter @Maurytweetz

Social Media Against HIV/AIDS in Africa

Tick, tick, tick… the second hand goes. Time and chance fast ebb out as the trends grow worse. For a moment, I pause to analyze the situation and as always the results beat me up. More married couples falling victims of the virus by the day, the youth are more at risk with sky-rocketing prevalence rates every year.  HIV related maternal and infant mortality rates are not getting any better either.  This is why I ask myself pertinent questions such as; what went wrong in this beautiful continent? And how best can I utilize the available resources and my expertise to make a positive change?

Steve Jobs echoed this sentiment, ‘nobody wants to die, even those who want to go to heaven do not want to die to get there…’ and so it becomes clearer to me with each passing hour that none of us would find death on their first choice slot. We dread it, it breaks us. It shatters our dreams and renders humanity almost hopeless. We hate to die and often times we desist from discussing the theme of death. The paradox that this experience has allowed me to verse myself with is the fact that very few, if any of us seem to be truly committed to ending HIV/AIDS which currently appears to be one of the greatest threats to Africa’s economic and social growth.

The mentality in us is a sick one. It is the ‘poor’ mentality. Most African natives are socialized to believe that they are too poor to sort out their own issues and as such, continually rely on foreign aid and grants which have never been enough to totally eradicate the ills of African life. In a rejoinder to my pertinent questions, the end justifies the means. It does not matter to me how we get there, what matters if that we get there somehow. We cannot go to the streets in protest against the HIV virus like the Egyptians against bad governance. We cannot kill each other to end it either as the Kenyans and Libyans attempted in their case scenarios! The life of humanity is involved here, an infection in the immune system. Not governance, not election, nothing to do with uprisings here. So why not engage just another ‘system’ in the human body to salvage the affected other? The Central Nervous System?

We have one powerful machine that can propel us to make a difference. It has been with us this long but we have never appreciated its power. The power of Social Media. A substantial percentage of the world population has embraced the power of electronic media and communication especially the internet. If only we could take this as a golden opportunity to interact with the world. We would then share ideas and best practices globally in real time. While I appreciate the diversity that bombards us when we talk about worldwide media such as the internet, I must in a quick rejoinder reiterate that information shared is power. Out of the diversities we can craft workable strategies that are case specific and relevant to the situational needs of various world regions. Then we could use this unique blend of Social Electronic media to connect these ideas and elicit action. We tweet and blog almost daily, but how many times have we passed anti-HIV messages through these platforms? We log onto facebook, and create online social, professional and other interest groups but how many Anti-HIV groups have I seen since my initiation into facebook? I’m afraid none. So can we do something?