by Lisa Z.
June, 2011 marked the first time AIDS activist, Agnes Nyamayarwo , returned to the United States from her native Uganda since 2009. She was here last as one of the keynote speakers at the U2 Conference where she was also a special guest of Bono’s at the U2 360 Show in Raleigh, North Carolina. Agnes first toured the United States with Bono in 2002 on the Heart of America Tour which launched his anti-poverty organization, ONE. Agnes spent her time reconnecting with the American people with speaking engagements in the Dallas area which is near her Mulago Positive Women’s Network headquarters in the United States.
I had the honor and pleasure of conducting a phone interview with Agnes ( though I wish it could have been in person!). She was gracious enough to spend time answering some questions I had for her. So in keeping with our “5 Questions With” format, the following is what I came up with.
1) We all know what Bono has done for Africa with his organizations like DATA and ONE. How has your first meeting with him in the TASO Uganda Clinic in Mulago Hospital in your village of Kampala affected you on a personal level and also all the women of the Mulago Positive Women’s Network?
Agnes: My meeting with Bono really affected me on a very personal level. It was being able to work alongside him and DATA that enabled me to be able to speak on behalf of Africans who were suffering from diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria , TB, etc and the extreme poverty that so many people were living in.
He also funded the initial treatment for myself and 25 of my colleagues in TASO Uganda for two years which kept us alive and able to spread the message of HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness around Uganda.
2) Agnes, you have returned to the USA for the first time since speaking at the U2 Conference in October, 2009. Your work with TASO (the AIDS Support Organization) has put you on the front lines of this battle to end the spread of HIV/AIDS, especially mother to child transmission in Africa. Why is it so important that you return here and speak to us about the current situation in Africa?
Agnes: I felt that it was important for the people of the USA to understand more clearly the current challenges that we are facing in Africa during this global economic crisis. With the potential cutbacks in funding for global health programs that help so many of our citizens in Uganda, we are very concerned that the progress that has been made in the last ten years could be slowly eroded away.
Thus, I wanted my visit to the USA to get this idea across to the American people and to ask them to continue to support our cause.
3) For those who wish to support the Mulago Positive Women’s Network with purchases of your handmade African jewelry and crafts, can you tell us where that money goes when it gets to you in Kampala , Uganda?
Agnes: All the money that we raise through the sale of our MPWN (Mulago Positive Women’s Network) craft items go directly back to the women who make those items. This money is important to us as we use the money to support our children to go to school, to upkeep our homes and to have a meal.
One thing that I wish to share about many of the women in our group is the extreme poverty in which they live. For example, Ida’s home was attacked by termites and she had no money to fight them off. Thus, her small home has no foundation now and is always in danger of falling. She lives with her parents who are very old and several orphans. These people have very little income. We worry about them all the time. We try our best to share with them the little that we have but it is never enough.
4) Agnes, June 27, 2011 was National AIDS Testing Day here in the United States. You were interviewed about the importance of this event by social activist, Shannon Rice-Muruli. We know this disease knows no gender or nationality. It affects all of us around the globe. Can you tell me why this type of event is so important whether you are in the USA or Africa?
Agnes: This day is very important because people need to know their HIV status because it is only by knowing your HIV status that you can take the measures necessary to protect yourself and others. National HIV/AIDS Testing Day is important in order to keep this issue alive in people’s minds that HIV is still with us and that funding for programs that fight it should be continued at their current levels.
5) We’ve spoken about your special friendship with Bono many times here on @U2. Your association with him has involved humanitarian work which included The Heart of America Tour you did with him across the United States in 2002. How did it feel to attend your very first U2 concert in Raleigh, N. C. on the 360 Tour in October , 2009 and receive a special dedication of the song “One” ? What did you think of their music?
Agnes: It was a thrill to see that concert. Knowing Bono as another advocate for Africa for so many years, seeing him onstage performing so energetically is something that I’ll never forget. It turned me into a U2 fan!
One of my favorite songs of U2’s is “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”. I like that song because I wouldn’t have made it on my own without Bono’s intervention in funding my AIDS treatment which also gave me a platform to reach others around the world with our African message.
As for the special dedication of “One” from Bono, it made me feel good to be remembered by him as one of the members of ONE who were there from its inception in Philadelphia in May, 2004 and who continues to support the goals of the ONE Campaign.
Thank you, Lisa, for supporting the women of the MPWN through the sale of our craft items and for doing this interview with me. I hope that our message will reach many more people through this interview. I can’t wait to meet you one day! May God bless you and your family.
It truly was a treat for me to get the opportunity to do this interview with Agnes who has been a true hero of mine for a long time. It was very exciting to be speaking with the woman who was Bono’s inspiration for starting the ONE campaign who I now call my friend. She has done so much in the fight against this devastating disease while battling it herself. She has always done it with dignity and grace. Agnes would also like to thank the @U2 readers for all of their support and kindness to her and the women of the MPWN.
I am writing this piece on the July 4th holiday here in the United States. I am very proud of how much this country has helped in the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty, but I hope and pray we continue to do so in the future. This war is not over. When it comes right down to it, we are all part of the human race which knows no country name or boundary. We are connected simply by what is in our hearts. Agnes and the ladies of the MPWN are my global family who I love dearly and will continue to help in any way I can. After all, to quote my favorite band…
One love, one heart, we get to carry each other.
(c) @U2, 2011.