INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA
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International attention and policies towards the AIDS epidemic resulted in many<br />
favorable outcomes. In urban areas of Zambia, sexual activity decreased and the use of<br />
condoms increased due to local awareness initiatives. (UNAIDS, 2000) Private<br />
foundations and pharmaceutical corporations helped expand access to antiretroviral<br />
(ARV) treatments across the region. (Libreville Ministry of Public Health and<br />
Population, 2001) Workplace policies were also revisited to prevent HIV discrimination<br />
in hiring, particularly in South Africa where pre-employment HIV screening by<br />
government departments was outlawed by the Employment Equity Act. (ILO, 2001)<br />
Alongside these indicators of fruitful campaigns, however, came critiques towards the<br />
West’s engagement with the epidemic.<br />
In a study of American volunteer attitudes and behaviors in South Africa, Mothers<br />
reports how the representation of HIV/AIDS patients in South Africa reinforced the<br />
notion of Africa as the “iconic place for Americans to do good.” (2010) This expanded on<br />
a history of hegemony, with the West as the giver of goods, services, morals, and<br />
knowledge, and Africa as the recipient, all drawn from a lingering culture of imperialism.<br />
(Tester, 2010) Mass popular efforts, such as Bono’s Product RED campaign to raise<br />
AIDS funding through an inter-corporate brand of products, were met with critiques of<br />
distancing the giving and receiving ends of the transaction and replacing the need for a<br />
contextualized understanding of poverty and AIDS. (Jungar & Salo, 2008) Numerous<br />
studies further revealed that the lack of context was impeding the efficacy of HIV/AIDS<br />
relief and advocacy, failing to explore how the disease not only affected orphans, but<br />
other children, caretakers, and South African society as a whole. (Monk, 2002) A more<br />
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