Things are looking up...

It’s tough being an optimist today. I find it hard to watch the news, because all I ever hear about is war, terrorism, greed, violence, consumerism, and a million other horrible things that make me cringe.
Thankfully, I will occasionally see some sort of heartwarming story that renews my faith in the world and in humanity. And despite the recession, the attacks in Mumbai and the disgusting commercialism that has infiltrated two holidays that are supposed to be about love and compassion, I was fortunate enough to find two such stories this weekend.

The first was about the food crisis in Malawi.
Thanks to a government subsidy program, small farmers were able to grow a bumper crop this year, and Malawians are starting to pull themselves out of their food crisis. People are being fed, and are able to sustain themselves. And children can go back to school instead of scavenging for food.

Many countries advised against this program, including the United States. It was risky. But it worked. The Malawian economy is healing itself, which is more than we can say for ourselves.

The second exciting story I found was about the possibility of HIV eradication within the next 10 years. Studies have found that with enough frequent testing and drugs, HIV rates in South Africa and Malawi (they’re having a good weekend, I guess) dropped drastically.
There are a lot of flaws with this, of course. First, it could create a resistance to drugs, and make HIV and AIDS even more difficult to fight off. It would also be incredibly expensive. And overall, it would simply be a huge task to undertake.
But it’s hope. It’s hope for the elimination of HIV and AIDS.

Tomorrow, December 1st, (World AIDS Day), the Theatre and Social Change class is performing an original theatrical production about AIDS called “Walking Red Ribbons.” It’s at 7:00, and it’s free. You should all attend!