Imagine what it would be like to go to bed at night, afraid to close your eyes, in fear that in the morning, they may not open…As a student in the Agricultural Management program, we are exposed to new techniques and principles of agriculture every day. But sometimes we confine ourselves to thinking that what we learn in class, only applies to the life back on the farm. This is wrong. Principles like crop rotation, fertilizer, irrigation, tilling, etc, will certainly help increase crop production, and add a few extra dollars to the bank. But do we ever make the connection between agriculture and the health of millions of people? And more importantly, do we ever make the connection between agriculture, and the impact it has on those with HIV?
This is Charles. Charles is 4 years old. He has no brother, no sister, and both his parents died when he was 2. They both died from AIDS.
Charles
Charles is like every other 4 year old in this world; happy, excited for the surprises each day holds for him. Charles dreams of riding a bike and playing football with the older kids. Charles wanders the village with other orphans, looking for activities that will entertain them. This young man is very independent, and very happy.
But what you don’t know, and what Charles doesn’t know either, is he is infected with HIV. And something else Charles is unaware of, is that he will not live to see his 10th birthday… This mean’s Charles may never ride a bicycle, or kick a football with the older kids.
HIV – Human Immunodeficiency virus. HIV is a virus that enters your body, targeting specifically your immune system. The virus kills the CD4 cells, a white blood cell that is an essential defense mechanism in the body. When the human is infected with the virus, their CD4 cell count quickly drops, and once it is as low as 200 CD4 cells/per micro-liter of blood, you then are considered to have AIDS. At this point, the human body is so vulnerable to disease, that a common cold could come along and kill the victim.
Now let’s take a look at HIV/AIDS in Senegal.
Senegal is the prostitute capital of Africa, being one of the few countries in Africa where prostitution is still legal. Senegal also happens to be a wealthier country, where polygamy is practiced very heavily. An average man has up to 20 wives, and in some cases, even 40!
If we take a look at Uganda, we noticed that prostitution is illegal. And unlike Senegal, Uganda’s wealth is much lower, where rural villages make up the majority of the country. Therefore, polygamy is not affordable for most citizens, where the average man has 1-3 wives.
Now with these facts, it’s clear that Senegal’s rate of HIV/AIDS would be much higher than Uganda. But it appears to be the exact OPPOSITE! Senegal happens to have the lowest prevalence rate in all of Africa, being at 0.7%. This means that there’s approx 1 out of 150 Senegalese infected with HIV. Over in Uganda, they are experiencing one of the worst prevalence rates in all of Africa, being at 20% in the rural villages of Uganda (the majority of Uganda is made up of rural villages). This means 1 out of 5 Ugandans are infected with this deadly virus.
How does this happen? The prostitute capital of Africa has the lowest rate of HIV?
Harold Foster, a geologist, asked the exact same question. Traditionally, our society would look to the body for the answer. But as a geologist, Harold Foster looked in their environment, and found that Senegal happens to have the highest rate of Selenium in their soils, in the entire world! Whereas over in Uganda, their soils are deficient in Selenium. Something to note, is that when you are infected with this virus, the first thing that occurs in your body, is you become selenium deficient.
Something we (and by we, I mean YOU) often overlook is the impact our soils have on people’s health. Instead of just producing products like meat, dairy, and produce, we are also producing “medicine”. If there are no nutrients in your soil, then I can guarantee you that there are NO nutrients in your produce. This is an issue in Uganda, where their soils are so heavily deficient in nutrients, that the cause for such a high rate of HIV/AIDS, can be traced back to the dirt they trod on.
Charles will never get a chance to attend school, and understand the things we learn in classroom everyday. You don’t need a Ph.D in medicine to make an impact in developing countries.
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