Beyond the African HIV/AIDS Discourse: Engagement in a Transformative Educational Paradigm

Dealing with HIV/AIDS is complex. However; limiting our analysis of the persistence and spread of the disease to the biomedical African HIV/AIDS discourse is insufficient to explain the situation. This paper analyses the HIV/AIDS situation in the fishing communities of the Tanzanian side of Lake Victoria; in East Africa. It confirms that the African HIV/AIDS discourse is not efficient enough to deal sustainably with HIV/AIDS epidemic in the area. The paper proposes an open HIV/AIDS discourse is proposed; based on the transformative paradigm

HIV/AIDS Shaping People's Livelihoods Promotion Processes: The Case of a Village Highly Affected by HIV/AIDS in Bukoba Rural District; Tanzania

Whereas HIV/AIDS has been largely explained and addressed based on the biomedical and African permissive sexuality thesis perspectives; they are not exhaustive. This paper argues that a meaningful life discourse complements the existing approaches to improve our understanding of the reality of HIV/AIDS. Both of the older discourses have resulted into different practices in the livelihoods promotion processes of the people. The paper tries to explain these practices and how have they influenced people's livelihoods promotion processes. The study is conducted in a highly HIV/AIDS affected area; using the life stories; which are analysed through content analysis. The results indicate that there are different practices according to the different discourses. The article concludes by arguing that looking at the practices and their intentions; some people have been shaped to promote HIV/AIDS; others to suppress it; others to alleviate it; and others to collaborate the more in general community livelihoods promotion processes. Key words: HIV/AIDS discourse; social arena; strategic actors; strategic rationalities; coping mechanisms; adaptive mechanisms; organising practices