SOUTHERN TANZANIA Not many people tend to visit the southern part of Tanzania, being drawn more to the expensive game parks and pristine beaches in the north. There is, however, much to commend of the area. The land is extremely lush, peppered with pine forests and rolling hills. At times you could be forgiven for mistaking it for areas in Suffolk or North Wales. One oasis along the long and monotonous road to the border is Kisolanza Farm, run by an erudite English woman whose family have lived in Tanzania for generations. The time we spent at Kisolanza was what we can only describe as 'five star camping' - with wonderful meals consisting of enormous T-bone steaks and fresh fruit and vegetables from the farm served in the lodge-style restaurant. This was 'luxurious camping' and we were beginning to get a taste of it. Finally, before leaving Tanzania we had to do a little work to Biggles (again!) We're now getting used to going to a mechanics for a little job and ending up spending the day there...this is exactly what happened at the much respected Land Rover specialists in the Mbalazi Mission workshop in Mbeya. A small leak in the power steering box meant we had to have the whole thing taken out, checked and the seals changed, along with changing the oil seal on our back differential and a front UJ. Whilst the car was getting a seeing to we enjoyed a tour of the Swiss-originated Mbalazi Mission, an impressive complex of mechanical and carpentry workshops, schools, a hospital and numerous churches. As with our experience in other missions throughout Africa, they seem to be doing some excellent work in the community. THE COMPLEXITY OF AIDS IN AFRICA Southern Tanzania marks and interesting boundary in the continent's battle against AIDS. There are many NGO's in the Southern countries working at combating the disease which appears to be spreading at an unrecoverable scale throughout the continent. We had a fascinating discussion with doctors from Medicine Sans Frontier whilst staying at Kisolanza Farm about the African HIV/AIDS epidemic and the complexities surrounding the western world's approach. Here is what we learnt: The facts and statistics are simple: 80% of AIDS cases in the world can be found in Africa. The largest proportion of those affected is in Sub-Saharan Africa. The most recent country reports show that one in five of the population of Malawi is infected; one in four of South Africa and a staggering one in three people in Botswana are HIV positive. It is not only the scale of the infection but how it is spread that is alarming. The largest percentage increase has not been promiscuous men but girls between the age of 12 and 17. As far as we could gather this is due to a variety of reasons including lack of education and rights for women, poverty (girls sleep with older men for as little as a packet of biscuits), and the fact that polygamous relationships are common. Health reasons mean that men with other sexually transmitted diseases are more likely to contract HIV and therefore pass it on. And the most horrifying reason is that infected men are told by witch doctors that the only way to rid themselves of the virus is to sleep with a virgin, as young as possible. This superstition has led to tragic underage rape, even to fatal acts with babies. This is a horrific chapter in the unfolding tragedy of the spread of AIDS throughout Africa. The current situation is extremely bleak. The epidemic has hit the young adult population hard, gradually obliterating a whole generation. Their energy and lives are being slowly sucked away, as they wait to unsuccessfully battle numerous illnesses, such as pneumonia and TB. The tragic consequences of the adult population effectively being wiped out is that millions of children are now orphaned, placing greater strains on the grandparents to feed and support them. In countries where there is no social security and no means to earn beyond subsistence farming the elders find it increasing difficult to feed their grandchildren, leading to the ever-growing problem of children living on the streets, vulnerable to abuse and underage rape which in turn maintains the spread of AIDS to future generations. The massive increase of AIDS orphans on the streets of Africa is going to be one of the continent's most pressing concerns. The fear is rather dramatic: that the children will grow in numbers, become more isolated and alienated from normal family structures, form into groups and become an anarchic force in society that victimises local residents, responsible for a sharp increase in violent crime and even guerrilla activity in the region. This is where AIDS orphan charities and homes for street children such as Amani, are making such an important intervention in the protection of vulnerable children and helping to counter the secondary effects of the ongoing AIDS problem in Africa. The hope comes in the shape of Anti-Retro-Viral drugs which are increasing the life expectancy of AIDS victims, in some cases for a further ten years. With this comes increased education and new awareness about the causes and effects of the disease. In some areas due to American funding, contraception is not advocated...but rather abstinence. To us this seems crazy but we are still finding out more about the complexity of the issue surrounding AIDS in Africa - a topic and reality we can't avoid whilst travelling down the length of Africa. If Southern Tanzania is the frontier then we expect to witness further affects as we head south. Now at least, we can do this with our eyes open.