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1 AIDS, Orphans, and the Future of Democracy in Africa Amy S. Patterson Nengomasha Willard teaches eleven- and twelve-year-olds in rural Zimbabwe. Fifteen of his forty-two pupils have lost one or both of their parents to AIDS. He is worried about the impact of such a loss on all fifteen students, but particularly on one young boy who lost his father and then, at his mother’s funeral, cried constantly. Willard says the child does not want to participate in school or youth activities. “He just wants to be alone.”1 In Kenya, a woman whose sister died of AIDS, and who cares for her own children and her sister’s children, describes how her sister was treated after she became a widow: “After my sister’s husband died, she turned to her in-laws for help, but they told her to move from the house. She sold vegetables to make money and stayed outside the property much of the time. They treated her this way because of the property, which they wanted. She became a useless person to them, the same as the children.”2 Because of the high rate of HIV/AIDS in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, children as young as eight are taking care of siblings. They 13 You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. face ostracism from the community, exclusion from schools and living areas, and loneliness. One orphaned head of household said, “Neighbors do not want us to join them . . . because we are identified as children whose parents died of HIV/ AIDS and there is a rumor that we are infected with the virus. . . . People talk about us negatively everywhere, and we feel ashamed.”3 These brief examples illustrate the great personal, economic, and social impact of HIV/AIDS on individuals and families. Yet, these stories also show that AIDS (and its social and economic implications) may cause individuals to change how they view themselves within the community. Those left behind after relatives die of AIDS may withdraw from the community, become worthless in the eyes of others, or feel ashamed because they are excluded from communal activities. As AIDS shapes the relationships that people have with their communities , individuals then change their view of their rights and responsibilities as citizens within the political realm. These new forms of political identity can influence how individuals participate in politics. Most political scientists have neglected the intersection of politics and AIDS in Africa.4 However, AIDS influences political actions because it constrains state resources, changes the nature of political communities, and reconfigures how individuals view their rights and responsibilities within those communities . Examining the impact of AIDS on individual citizens and political communities is crucial, since Africa experienced a wave of democratization in the 1990s. Because individuals, either alone or through the organization of civil society, played a key role in facilitating democracy in many African states, it is important to understand how AIDS influences individual notions of citizenship.5 This chapter investigates how one consequence of AIDS— the increased number of African orphans—may affect Africa’s 14 / The Children of Africa Confront AIDS You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. democratization process. This work defines an AIDS orphan as any child under the age of fifteen who has lost one or both parents to AIDS.6 How might AIDS shape the ability of these young people to learn democratic values, such as participation, tolerance, compromise, accountability, transparency, and political efficacy? Political Socialization and Democracy in Africa Democratization efforts in Africa began in 1990 with the emergence of a sovereign national conference in Benin and the release of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Prior to 1990 most African regimes were one-party states (e.g., Kenya and Tanzania ), military regimes (e.g., Ghana and Nigeria), or semidemocracies that controlled the electoral process (e.g., Botswana and Senegal). By 1997, however, only Nigeria, Somalia, Swaziland , and Zaire had not held a competitive multiparty election at the national level.7 On one hand, elections have become a simplistic measure of democracy and a vehicle through which African states have gained international...

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