Tag: USAID

The Role of the US in the African HIV/AIDS Crisis

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Namibian orphans, some of whose parents fell victim to AIDS, with their caretaker Meme Maria.
Namibian orphans, some of whose parents fell victim to AIDS, with their caretaker Meme Maria.

My goal is to explore US involvement in alleviating the HIV/AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa.  While participating in a ten-week study abroad program to Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana, I learned first-hand how these countries were affected by AIDS.  My focus will be the efforts of government programs (such as PEPFAR and USAID) to address the crisis, and I will compare the policy changes of these programs with the administration change from Bush to Obama. I will assess the dispensation of monetary aid as well as the success of any relief programs being administered in Africa.  I will reference the websites of the programs and assess news articles critiquing the effectiveness of each. I will also interview Furman faculty who have intimate knowledge of this subject.

Lending a Helpful Hand: Foreign Aid

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uncle sam foreign aid

As Furman students, we often get trapped in the “Furman bubble” and sometimes neglect to see what is truly going on in the world around us.  We often take things such as our education and health for granted.  My goal in this blog over the semester is to focus on various aspects of the United States and international organizations assisting in foreign countries with an emphasis on education and health aid among other human interest topics.  My sources will include USAID, IRC, World Bank, the UN and UNICEF as well as interviews from experts, classmates, and professors.  By doing this I hope to provide valuable insight into this aspect of U.S. foreign aid and hopefully enable my peers to be educated and formulate their own opinions on international issues.