Indigenous knowledge and responses to AIDS. Title-Give an African face to the ABC strategy: Reflections on the need to appropriate indigenous African parenting and reproductive technologies in the HIV/AIDS discourse in Africa.

Loveness Mabhunu

Department of Africana Women Studies

Clark Atlanta University

Zimbabwe/Estados Unidos

The continent of Africa has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the World. The situation seems irreversible despite cheap and high purchases of condoms in the subject continent. Questions have been asked as to why the use of condoms is proportional, if not keeping pace with the infection rate, especially among the literate and productive age groups. 

The omission, by researchers, of indigenous African parenting systems, reproductive technologies and other afrocentric gap knowledge systems, the cultures of the affected and infected Africans, refusal to have an unconditional condom/ARV technological transfer to Africa and the scientists' unwillingness to develop the ageless reproductive technologies of Africa to complement the condom neo culture have been put on the spotlight. To this end, a notable reluctance, on the part of the rich nations to invest in the development of afrocentric parenting, pedagogies and reproductive technologies has culminated in the rapid expansion of a monopolistic ARV/condom industry. This has further decimated the ailing Africans' parenting methods and reproductive technologies to moral bankruptcy that is creating a manifold of avenues for HIV infections among Africans.

Nonetheless isolated and unsystematic lobbying on the need to preserve, perpetuate and amplify, research and identify, develop and commercialize viable Afrocentric parenting systems and reproductive technologies in the war against HIV seem to have dawned. This is the paradigm shift that is strongly resisted by advocates of Western value systems that view condoms as the panacea to the deadly HIV virus. It is this uncharted and fast emerging paradigm, it is supposed, that has been profiled for consideration if any meaningful HIV discourse in Africa is to succeed. The researcher will use Zimbabwe as a case study for the presentation.

About Loveness Mabhunu

Loveness Mabhunu is a native of Zimbabwe.She is a PhD student in the discipline of Women studies at Clark Atlanta University, Georgia,USA. A recipient of Fulbright Scholarship and Delta Kappa Gamma World Fellowship.She graduated from the University of Zimbabwe,Zimbabwe with a BA HONS and MA in Religious Studies with a concentration in Hebrew language and Old Testament.She is a professor on study leave in the Department of Religious Studies, Classics and Philosophy at the University of Zimbabwe.She worked with Women Organisations and The Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe.She has experience as a researcher in Women, girl child and HIV/AIDS; the traditional Zimbabwean sex culture and its relevance to HIV prevention; and African Traditional Religions.Currently, carrying a research on adolescents and HIV/AIDS.She had presented papers on conferences and seminars in Zimbabwe and the United States of America.

» For comments and questions please send an e-mail to info@enkidumagazine.com