THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE Citizens who advance...
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Les Underhill and Dieter Oschadleus SCIENCE is often considered the preserve of specialists, academics and researchers. Yet with modern technology, for example, the digital camera, it is possible to involve people in the collection of valuable scien- tific data. Why would scientists be at all inter- ested in getting people involved? One answer is that there are not sufficient resources (human and financial) to collect enough data to answer all the questions that scientists pose. Another is that the involvement of enthusiastic volunteers can expand the types of data captured and create great efficiencies because people are essentially donating their observational skills to scientific projects which are often cash-strapped. It is also desirable to include as many people as pos- sible in processes of knowl- edge production. When citizens are involved in knowledge making, they feel part of a collective enterprise and adventure, not dis- tanced from the ivory towers where there is only space for a few well-qualified people to work full- time on research. Citizen science is the name given to an approach to research which has benefits for both researcher and citizen. One of the values is to pro- vide an understanding of the basic paradigms of scientific method to large numbers of people. In a nutshell, this involves doing what all scientists do: collecting data in a disciplined way in accordance with a well-thought through protocol. The Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at UCT has been developing citizen science for more than 20 years and the benefits of the approach are obvious. Between 1987 and 1991, the first bird atlas project collected 7 million records of bird distribution in southern Africa. Starting in 2007, the sec- ond bird atlas project has collected more than 4 million records. Citizen science enables the collection of data on an unprecedented scale. One example of a citizen science proj- ect undertaken by the ADU was Photos of Weaver Nests. The work began in 2010 and was funded by the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Capacity last week. In this project Dr Dieter Oschadleus and Professor Les Underhill took public awareness and participation to new levels. There are 117 species of weavers, and 112 occur only in Africa and the Indian Ocean islands. The weavers are the most diverse fam- ily of birds: they have a variety of breed- ing systems, from monogamous to polyga- mous; their nests are among the most complex structures built by any animal; most weavers feed on seeds, some mainly on insects; some are extremely rare, but the Red-billed Quelea is the world’s most abundant bird species, charac- terised by the phrase “Africa’s feathered locust”. Underhill com- mented that if weavers occurred in Europe, they would have had at least one PhD to a species, due to the fascinating life histories of this avian family. Many weavers are common and yet not well studied due to a lack of resources and the fairly low number of African PhD students. So citizen scientists can take the gap and provide large amounts of data of the common weavers and this data can be used in a vari- ety of ways. Some weavers present a chal- lenge to food security, so working on these species eventually provides economic kickbacks in the agricultural sector. Some weavers pose a threat to energy security as their nests on transmission lines cause power outages. Range changes in weavers can provide clues to the effects of climate change on birds. Earlier this year the “butterfly atlas” (authored by Silvia Mecenero, Jonathan Ball, David Edge, Michelle Hamer, Graham Henning, Martin Krüger, Ernest Pringle, Reinier Terblanche and Mark Williams) was launched. It is Africa’s first butterfly atlas and took seven years to produce. The atlas offers a complete, integrated database of butterfly distribution records in south- ern Africa, including Swaziland and Lesotho, one of the continent’s most bio- diverse butterfly regions. The project assembled more than 300 000 records of butterfly distribution, historical and mod- ern, and used these to produce as up-to-date maps of butterfly distribution as feasible. The contribution of citizen scientists was to provide photographic records of butterflies through the online Butterfly Virtual Museum (www.vmus.adu.org.za). These records are critical to developing 21st century distribution maps that ulti- mately must supersede the records, dating back to the early years of the 20th cen- tury, provided by the histori- cal specimen data. One of the by-products of the butterfly atlas was a rejuve- nation of LepSoc, the Lepidopter- ists’ Association of Africa (www.lep- soc.org.za), and there is a commitment by the citizen scientists there to continue mapping the distri- butions of butterflies and moths. The atlas operates to raise awareness about the role of butter- flies as pollinators in the ecosys- tem and as an early warning system for threats to the sys- tem posed by climate change. This project provides a model of the three-way partnerships which characterise our modus operandi: gov- ernment, civil society, academics. Each species has been assessed to a conservation status according to the stan- dards of the Interna- tional Union for Con- servation of Nature, a body that assesses how likely a species is to go extinct by assigning set cat- egories and criteria to each species. Last year, the MammalMAP (the Mammal Atlas of Africa) project was launched. This involved using camera traps on a wide scale to take photographs of noc- turnal and rarer mammals. Part of the funding for this project came from the Oppenheimer Memorial Fellowship awarded to the Animal Demography Unit’s director, Underhill. MammalMAP is unashamedly ambitious in its scope. It may seem hard to believe, but one of the main hindrances to effective mammal conservation in Africa is a lack of good 21st century distribution maps for even quite common mammal species. We do not know their ranges and how these are changing in the face of transformation of landscapes,changes in land use, and changes in climate. The databases of the Animal Demog- raphy Unit contain about 15 million records of biodiversity distribution. A fraction of this data is analysed “in house” by our postgraduate students. But the data is made available to researchers world- wide to undertake a host of research projects, and we wel- come interactions of this nature. Many postgraduate research degrees use the data collected by citizen scientists as a central pillar. Dr Sally Hofmeyr undertook an analysis of two decades of data collected through the Co-ordinated Avi- faunal Roadcounts project, which monitors large terres- trial birds in mostly agricul- tural landscapes. This pro- ject’s main tenet is that biodiversity conservation cannot be confined to pro- tected areas, and that all custodians of land play a critical role. One of the outputs of Hofmeyr’s thesis is a plot providing an index of the abun- dance of South Africa’s national bird, the Blue Crane, which has the core of its range in the Overberg and Swartland. Doug Harebottle used data collected by citizen scientists in a project called the Co- ordinated Waterbird Counts. One waterbird conservation issue which he examined was the decision about when to breach the mouths of estuaries to allow floods out. This cannot be allowed to happen naturally because low-lying properties get flooded. Harebottle undertook a long-term analysis of the Bot River through three breachings. Using additional data collected by CapeNa- ture staff he showed what happens to waterbirds as the system cycles through the tidal phase, with salt water, immediately after a breaching, the transition phase, and the freshwater lake phase. Data from the bird atlas project was a key input to an analysis that guided SAN- Parks to choosing which were the priority bird species to monitor in each of the national parks. Esther Mostert’s transdis- ciplinary study introduced to biology deci- sion analysis approaches developed by statisticians. These new methods mimic how the human brain takes decisions, in situations where competing criteria have to be balanced against each other. One of the four criteria was the fraction of the core range of each species that was within a national park. The larger this fraction, the greater the responsibility of the national park for its conservation. A second criterion was overall range size. Species that are confined to smaller areas need to be watched more carefully than species with large ranges, because they are known to be more susceptible to climate change. Further criteria were based on threat status and taxonomic uniqueness. But two were based on the data collected by citizen scientists. ● Professor Underhill is the director of the ADU. He is a statistician and uses this knowledge to analyse data collected by citi- zen scientists. Dr Oschadleus co-ordinates the bird-ringing unit within the unit. His passion is studying weaver birds, which he does through bird-ringing projects as well as by running the Phown project. Vuyiseka Dubula THE GOVERNMENT is discontinuing the provision of free formula milk at public health facilities. This policy is intended to promote exclusive breastfeeding for all mothers, including those living with HIV. Children who are not breastfed are six times more likely to die from diarrhoea and have a higher chance of contracting respiratory illnesses. Breastfeeding is one of the most important interventions for preventing child deaths. I am 35 years old, HIV-positive and a mother of two. I began my antiretroviral treatment two years before my first daugh- ter was conceived. I was initiated on anti- retroviral treatment in June 2004 and my CD4 count (a measure of how strong my immune system was) was 352 at the time. In healthy people, CD4 counts are usually well above 500. I did not qualify to be on treatment then because at the time the South African treatment guidelines said that patients should only be initiated when their CD4 count was 200 or below. But I convinced my doctor and he put me on treatment. By the end of three months on treatment my viral load (the amount of HIV in my body) was unde- tectable and has stayed undetectable since. I had my first child, a girl, in December 2006 and my viral load was still unde- tectable. I chose Caesarean section anddid not want to breastfeed. My child was neg- ative at six weeks and my husband remains negative. I have just had my sec- ond child, a boy, after nine years on anti- retroviral treatment. I am still on the same regimen that I started in 2004. Again, I chose to have a Caesarean section and to formula-feed my baby. Many women, because of the fact that they come to know about their HIV status during pregnancy, may struggle to make the decision to start treatment. Even when they do start during pregnancy, they may struggle to remain in care after delivery. Our health system must therefore aim to identify women living with HIV with CD4 counts below 500 and offer them treatment, as per the new World Health Organisation guidelines, even before pregnancy comes into the picture. This will free many HIV- positive women to deal with the chal- lenges of taking treatment so that if they decide to become pregnant they do not have the added burden of starting treat- ment during a challenging time. I understand the overwhelming evi- dence that supports breastfeeding. I sup- port this for those mothers who can do it, even under challenging conditions, like during work. I salute them. But most work environments make it difficult to breast- feed. I am a full-time working mother whose job requires travelling outside the province where I reside. Sometimes I work overtime. My days are busy. If I was unemployed and had a husband who earned enough for both of us then maybe I would consider breastfeeding. I do not know how women who are actively seeking a job or are full-time employed manage to breastfeed. I know for sure it would not work for me. Balancing the risk of my child getting HIV through breastfeeding against the risk of death from causes other than HIV, in particular diarrhoea, is not easy. Recent studies have shown that giving antiretrovi- rals to either the HIV-positive mother or HIV-exposed infant can significantly reduce the risk of transmitting HIV. Hence women living with HIV who choose to breastfeed must make sure that their viral loads are undetectable for the duration of breastfeeding. Early antiretroviral initia- tion for women is the key to making the new breastfeeding policy successful. We also need to change how workplaces support breastfeeding women. Women need to be counselled about the impor- tance of sticking to their antiretroviral treatment while breastfeeding, so their viral load does not become detectable, increasing the risk of transmission. But I have done all that I can to reduce the risk of transmission for both my kids. I do not feel I am under pressure to breast- feed because of my culture. We need to educate communities about the benefits and risks of both feeding options without forcing a decision upon women. Conditions for women vary and we need to take this into account. Formula milk must not be taken off shelves and it must be made available in public health facilities for mothers who choose to use it. We must keep options open for women. ● Dubula is the general secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign. You can follow her on Twitter @VuyisekaDubula. This arti- cle first appeared on www.groundup.org.za 11 INSIGHT CAPE TIMES FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2013 Citizens who advance science THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE “I’VE come to spread the word,” I say. The teenagers eye me suspiciously. “Can I have a hallelujah?” There are some muted hallelujahs. My first sermon isn’t going well. Maybe I’m being too liberal with my hallelujahs, but aren’t hundreds of hallelujahs and multiple amens the name of the evangelical game? I tell the teens about the day I saw the light and about my baptism. “Salvation can be yours too,” I preach. “You can be saved. I was also a nonbeliever, but then I was converted. Hallelujah!” Someone in the back row yawns. One pupil rolls his eyes. Oy vey, I think, this is a tough crowd. My religion is turning 100 this year and although there are millions of adherents worldwide it’s the job of believers to convert the sceptics. I’ve managed to lure 30 pupils to my sermon at Westerford High School. “I’ve come to spread the word,” I say again. “Word,” replies a pupil, schooled in the language of street. Ahh, I should speak their own language. “Instead of a ‘hallelujah’, give me a ‘word’,” I say. “The symbol of my faith is the cross!” “Word,” shout 30 teenagers. Me: Cross. Them: Word. Me: CROSS! Them: WORD! “Solving a clue is a spiritual experience,” I continue. I want to tell them it’s like an orgasm of the mind, but they are pupils so instead I say it’s like chocolate mousse to the power of tiramisu. “But Crosswordism is not an easy religion. There will be dark moments when your belief is tested to the max and the crossword gods torture you with impossible clues, but if you have faith you will find salvation.” I tell them the story of Segg (9,4) – the hellish clue that haunted me and nearly caused me to become a doubter. Segg (9,4). I stared at it until my head hurt, my eyes watered and my nose throbbed. Segg. These four harmless letters were driving me to distraction. Segg. Segg. Segg. I stared at it like it was one of those 3D puzzles whose blurry image suddenly comes into focus if you look at it hard enough. I looked, but all I got was a pounding headache. I turned to Google for help. Wikipedia told me it’s a Hungarian word (the plural is seggek) and means “arse”. “Hungarian arse”? That’s nine and four letters, but it didn’t fit the grid. A cryptic crossword puzzle is like a boxing match. The grid is the ring; your opponent is the compiler – who can sometimes be the devil – with whom you lock mental horns. You trade blows. He leads with an anagram, follows through with a homophone and connects with a well-timed pun. Your defence is to see through his cunning guise and crack his code. Which brings me back to Segg (9,4). I was on the ropes. I went to bed that night in a terrible mood. Thoughts of Segg interrupted my sleep. I woke up the next morning with bloodshot eyes and a bad attitude. I stumbled into the kitchen. “Dad,” said my son. “What?” I barked. “Can you make me scrambled eggs?” Eggs? The penny dropped. “Scrambled eggs,” I yelled. “Hallelujah!” I took my boy in my arms and danced him around the room. “Dad, you really are a loser,” he said. I didn’t care. I was on a crossword high. I was a believer again. Hallelujah. I mean, Word! Crossword Gods are eggsacting masters, Amen! Word! T WO weeks ago, this column addressed the issue of thresholds, critical mass and tipping points, used in the environmental and scientific sense. Sadly, it seems as though little tip- ping points are being reached almost daily when it comes to our beleaguered natural environment. Two potential tipping points materi- alised this week, one very local, one of potentially global importance. The first was the decision on Wednes- day by a full sitting of the City Council to recommend that the province approves the alteration of Cape Town’s urban edge to allow for the alienation of 280 hectares of the Philippi Horticultural Area. The city argues that this is a small part of the 3 200ha farming zone, land that is already degraded, polluted, invaded, and that the owners want to sell because of, among other things, lack of physical security. While the practical considerations may favour the use of the land for housing, there is a much bigger principle at stake here. That principle is that the alienation of agricultural land close to the urban cen- tre of one of Africa’s major cities is simply daft. It is a short-sighted, profit-driven and short term solution to a long term problem. Cape Town is a magnet for in-migration from poorer parts of South Africa and the rest of Africa, and the sooner we come up with integrated housing solutions, the bet- ter. Like the rest of the planet, we face the challenges of climate change and changing water and food security scenarios. To start chipping away at one of our most produc- tive farming areas, close to the city centre and not carbon hungry miles away, flies in the face of what it means to be an innova- tive world class World Design Capital. OK. I’ve got that off my chest. Now to turn to the other tipping point. The WWF is a global organisation not normally in the business of starting inter- net petitions. It is often criticised by more vocal groups for being too cautious and cor- porate in its conservation activism. Which is why it is a significant moment when it does launch a global appeal like the one announced yesterday, aimed at stopping oil exploration in the Virunga National Park. For those who don’t know it, think Gorillas In The Mist: the park is in the east- ern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and stretches from the Virunga Mountains in the south, to the Ruwenzoris in the North, and is bordered by Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Uganda’s Ruwenzori Mountains National Park and Queen Eliz- abeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda. It is Africa’s oldest national park, estab- lished in 1925, and a Unesco World Heritage Site. Although I haven’t been into the core Virunga area, I have explored the similar surrounding areas in the Ruwenzoris, the Ishasha area of QENP and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. It is a treasure trove of biodiversity. But it is constantly under threat from the ongoing civil war in the DRC, poaching, land invasions, and now oil prospecting. In its motivation for launching the peti- tion, the WWF said, in a report released yesterday, that “Africa’s oldest national park could be worth US$1.1 billion a year if developed sustainably, rather than being given over to potentially-damaging oil extraction. Virunga National Park has the potential to generate 45 000 permanent jobs through investments in hydropower, the fishery industry and ecotourism”. The WWF statement said that “in June, the Unesco World Heritage Committee called for the cancellation of all Virunga oil permits and appealed to concession holders Total SA and Soco International PLC not to undertake exploration in World Heritage Sites. Total has committed to respecting Virunga’s current boundary, leaving UK-based Soco as the only oil com- pany with plans to explore inside the park… Environmental impacts from oil extraction could threaten Virunga’s fresh- water ecosystems, rich forests and rare wildlife, the study found. The park is home to over 3 000 different kinds of animals, including critically endangered mountain gorillas. “This is where we draw the line. Oil companies are standing on the doorstep of one of the world’s most precious and frag- ile places, but we will not rest until Virunga is safe from this potential environ- mental disaster,” said Lasse Gustavsson, executive director of WWF International. “Virunga has snow fields and lava fields, but it should not have oil fields.” I don’t sign online petitions. I think they are generally a waste of time. But I signed this one. Sign it at www.wwf.panda.org [email protected] Another week, another set of environmental tipping points and crises Breast may be best, but leave the choice open to all mothers MAN FRIDAY Tony Weaver ANGRY UTTERANCES Jonathan Ancer FOR THE RECORD: The Animal Demography Unit at UCT has compiled databases on weavers, butterflies and Blue Cranes. It is desirable to include as many people as possible in knowledge production ‘‘
Transcript of THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE Citizens who advance...
Les Underhill and Dieter Oschadleus
SCIENCE is often considered the preserveof specialists, academics and researchers.Yet with modern technology, for example,the digital camera, it is possible to involvepeople in the collection of valuable scien-tific data.
Why would scientists be at all inter-ested in getting people involved? Oneanswer is that there are not sufficientresources (human and financial) to collectenough data to answer all the questionsthat scientists pose. Another is that theinvolvement of enthusiastic volunteerscan expand the types of data captured andcreate great efficiencies because people areessentially donating their observationalskills to scientific projects which are oftencash-strapped.
It is also desirable toinclude as many people as pos-sible in processes of knowl-edge production. Whencitizens are involved inknowledge making,they feel part ofa collectiveenterprise andadventure, not dis-tanced from theivory towers wherethere is only space fora few well-qualifiedpeople to work full-time on research.
Citizen science is the namegiven to an approach to researchwhich has benefits for both researcherand citizen. One of the values is to pro-vide an understanding of the basicparadigms of scientificmethod to large numbersof people. In a nutshell,this involves doing what all scientists do:collecting data in a disciplined way inaccordance with a well-thought throughprotocol.
The Animal Demography Unit (ADU) atUCT has been developing citizen science formore than 20 years and the benefits of theapproach are obvious. Between 1987 and1991, the first bird atlas project collected7 million records of bird distribution insouthern Africa. Starting in 2007, the sec-ond bird atlas project has collected morethan 4 million records. Citizen scienceenables the collection of data on anunprecedented scale.
One example of a citizen science proj-ect undertaken by the ADU was Photos ofWeaver Nests. The work began in 2010 andwas funded by the Programme for theEnhancement of Research Capacity lastweek. In this project Dr Dieter Oschadleusand Professor Les Underhill took publicawareness and participation to new levels.There are 117 species of weavers, and 112occur only in Africa and the Indian Oceanislands.
The weavers are the most diverse fam-ily of birds: they have a variety of breed-ing systems, from monogamous to polyga-mous; their nests are among the mostcomplex structures built by any animal;most weavers feed on seeds, some mainly
on insects; some areextremely rare, but theRed-billed Quelea is the
world’s most abundantbird species, charac-terised by the phrase
“Africa’s featheredlocust”.
Underhill com-mented that ifweavers occurred in
Europe, they wouldhave had at least one
PhD to a species, dueto the fascinating lifehistories of this
avian family. Manyweavers are common
and yet not well studieddue to a lack of resources
and the fairly low number ofAfrican PhD students. So citizen
scientists can take the gap and providelarge amounts of data of the common
weavers and this data can be used in a vari-ety of ways. Some weavers present a chal-lenge to food security, so working on thesespecies eventually provides economickickbacks in the agricultural sector. Someweavers pose a threat to energy security astheir nests on transmission lines causepower outages. Range changes in weaverscan provide clues to the effects of climatechange on birds.
Earlier this year the “butterfly atlas”(authored by Silvia Mecenero, JonathanBall, David Edge, Michelle Hamer, GrahamHenning, Martin Krüger, Ernest Pringle,Reinier Terblanche and Mark Williams)was launched. It is Africa’s first butterflyatlas and took seven years to produce. Theatlas offers a complete, integrated databaseof butterfly distribution records in south-ern Africa, including Swaziland andLesotho, one of the continent’s most bio-diverse butterfly regions. The projectassembled more than 300 000 records ofbutterfly distribution, historical and mod-ern, and used these to produce as up-to-datemaps of butterfly distribution as feasible.
The contribution of citizen scientistswas to provide photographic records ofbutterflies through the online ButterflyVirtual Museum (www.vmus.adu.org.za).These records are critical to developing
21st century distribution maps that ulti-mately must supersede therecords, dating back to theearly years of the 20th cen-tury, provided by the histori-cal specimen data.
One of the by-products ofthe butterfly atlas was a rejuve-nation of LepSoc, the Lepidopter-ists’ Association of Africa (www.lep-soc.org.za), and there is acommitment by the citizen scientiststhere to continue mapping the distri-butions of butterflies and moths.
The atlas operates to raiseawareness about the role of butter-flies as pollinators in the ecosys-tem and as an early warningsystem for threats to the sys-tem posed by climate change.This project provides amodel of the three-waypartnerships whichcharacterise ourmodus operandi: gov-ernment, civil society,academics.
Each species hasbeen assessed to aconservation statusaccording to the stan-dards of the Interna-tional Union for Con-servation of Nature, abody that assesses howlikely a species is to goextinct by assigning set cat-
egories and criteria to each species.Last year, the MammalMAP (theMammal Atlas of Africa) project was
launched. This involved usingcamera traps on a wide scaleto take photographs of noc-
turnal and rarer mammals. Part of thefunding for this project came from theOppenheimer Memorial Fellowshipawarded to the Animal Demography Unit’sdirector, Underhill. MammalMAP isunashamedly ambitious in its scope.
It may seem hard to believe, but one ofthe main hindrances to effective mammalconservation in Africa is a lack of good21st century distribution maps for evenquite common mammal species. We do notknow their ranges and how these arechanging in the face of transformation oflandscapes,changes in land use, andchanges in climate.
The databases of the Animal Demog-raphy Unit contain about 15 million
records of biodiversity distribution.A fraction of this data is analysed“in house” by our postgraduatestudents. But the data is madeavailable to researchers world-wide to undertake a host ofresearch projects, and we wel-come interactions of thisnature.
Many postgraduateresearch degrees use the datacollected by citizen scientistsas a central pillar. Dr SallyHofmeyr undertook an analysisof two decades of data collectedthrough the Co-ordinated Avi-faunal Roadcounts project,which monitors large terres-trial birds in mostly agricul-
tural landscapes. This pro-ject’s main tenet is that
biodiversity conservationcannot be confined to pro-tected areas, and that all
custodians of land play a critical role. One of the outputs of Hofmeyr’s thesis
is a plot providing an index of the abun-dance of South Africa’s national bird, theBlue Crane, which has the core of its rangein the Overberg and Swartland.
Doug Harebottle used data collected bycitizen scientists in a project called the Co-ordinated Waterbird Counts. One waterbirdconservation issue which he examined wasthe decision about when to breach themouths of estuaries to allow floods out.This cannot be allowed to happen naturallybecause low-lying properties get flooded.Harebottle undertook a long-term analysisof the Bot River through three breachings.Using additional data collected by CapeNa-ture staff he showed what happens towaterbirds as the system cycles through thetidal phase, with salt water, immediatelyafter a breaching, the transition phase, andthe freshwater lake phase.
Data from the bird atlas project was akey input to an analysis that guided SAN-Parks to choosing which were the prioritybird species to monitor in each of thenational parks. Esther Mostert’s transdis-ciplinary study introduced to biology deci-sion analysis approaches developed bystatisticians. These new methods mimichow the human brain takes decisions, insituations where competing criteria haveto be balanced against each other. One ofthe four criteria was the fraction of thecore range of each species that was withina national park. The larger this fraction,the greater the responsibility of thenational park for its conservation.
A second criterion was overall rangesize. Species that are confined to smallerareas need to be watched more carefullythan species with large ranges, becausethey are known to be more susceptible toclimate change. Further criteria werebased on threat status and taxonomicuniqueness. But two were based on thedata collected by citizen scientists.
● Professor Underhill is the director of
the ADU. He is a statistician and uses this
knowledge to analyse data collected by citi-
zen scientists. Dr Oschadleus co-ordinates
the bird-ringing unit within the unit. His
passion is studying weaver birds, which he
does through bird-ringing projects as well
as by running the Phown project.
Vuyiseka Dubula
THE GOVERNMENT is discontinuing theprovision of free formula milk at publichealth facilities. This policy is intended topromote exclusive breastfeeding for allmothers, including those living with HIV.
Children who are not breastfed are sixtimes more likely to die from diarrhoeaand have a higher chance of contractingrespiratory illnesses. Breastfeeding is oneof the most important interventions forpreventing child deaths.
I am 35 years old, HIV-positive and amother of two. I began my antiretroviraltreatment two years before my first daugh-ter was conceived. I was initiated on anti-retroviral treatment in June 2004 and myCD4 count (a measure of how strong myimmune system was) was 352 at the time.In healthy people, CD4 counts are usuallywell above 500. I did not qualify to be ontreatment then because at the time the
South African treatment guidelines saidthat patients should only be initiated whentheir CD4 count was 200 or below.
But I convinced my doctor and he putme on treatment. By the end of threemonths on treatment my viral load (theamount of HIV in my body) was unde-tectable and has stayed undetectable since.
I had my first child, a girl, in December2006 and my viral load was still unde-tectable. I chose Caesarean section anddidnot want to breastfeed. My child was neg-ative at six weeks and my husbandremains negative. I have just had my sec-ond child, a boy, after nine years on anti-retroviral treatment. I am still on thesame regimen that I started in 2004. Again,I chose to have a Caesarean section and toformula-feed my baby.
Many women, because of the fact thatthey come to know about their HIV statusduring pregnancy, may struggle to makethe decision to start treatment. Even when
they do start during pregnancy, they maystruggle to remain in care after delivery.Our health system must therefore aim toidentify women living with HIV with CD4counts below 500 and offer them treatment,as per the new World Health Organisationguidelines, even before pregnancy comesinto the picture. This will free many HIV-positive women to deal with the chal-lenges of taking treatment so that if theydecide to become pregnant they do nothave the added burden of starting treat-ment during a challenging time.
I understand the overwhelming evi-dence that supports breastfeeding. I sup-port this for those mothers who can do it,even under challenging conditions, likeduring work. I salute them. But most workenvironments make it difficult to breast-feed. I am a full-time working motherwhose job requires travelling outside theprovince where I reside. Sometimes I workovertime. My days are busy.
If I was unemployed and had a husbandwho earned enough for both of us thenmaybe I would consider breastfeeding. I donot know how women who are activelyseeking a job or are full-time employedmanage to breastfeed. I know for sure itwould not work for me.
Balancing the risk of my child gettingHIV through breastfeeding against therisk of death from causes other than HIV,in particular diarrhoea, is not easy. Recentstudies have shown that giving antiretrovi-rals to either the HIV-positive mother orHIV-exposed infant can significantlyreduce the risk of transmitting HIV. Hencewomen living with HIV who choose tobreastfeed must make sure that their viralloads are undetectable for the duration ofbreastfeeding. Early antiretroviral initia-tion for women is the key to making thenew breastfeeding policy successful.
We also need to change how workplacessupport breastfeeding women. Women
need to be counselled about the impor-tance of sticking to their antiretroviraltreatment while breastfeeding, so theirviral load does not become detectable,increasing the risk of transmission.
But I have done all that I can to reducethe risk of transmission for both my kids.I do not feel I am under pressure to breast-feed because of my culture.
We need to educate communities aboutthe benefits and risks of both feedingoptions without forcing a decision uponwomen. Conditions for women vary andwe need to take this into account.
Formula milk must not be taken offshelves and it must be made available inpublic health facilities for mothers whochoose to use it. We must keep optionsopen for women.
● Dubula is the general secretary of the
Treatment Action Campaign. You can follow
her on Twitter @VuyisekaDubula. This arti-
cle first appeared on www.groundup.org.za
11INSIGHTCAPE TIMES FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2013
Citizens who advance science
THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE
“I’VE come to spread the word,” I say. The teenagers eye me suspiciously. “Can I have a hallelujah?” There are somemuted hallelujahs.
My first sermon isn’t going well.Maybe I’m being too liberal with myhallelujahs, but aren’t hundreds ofhallelujahs and multiple amens the nameof the evangelical game?
I tell the teens about the day I saw thelight and about my baptism. “Salvationcan be yours too,” I preach. “You can besaved. I was also a nonbeliever, but then Iwas converted. Hallelujah!”
Someone in the back row yawns. Onepupil rolls his eyes.
Oy vey, I think, this is a tough crowd. My religion is turning 100 this year
and although there are millions ofadherents worldwide it’s the job ofbelievers to convert the sceptics. I’vemanaged to lure 30 pupils to my sermon atWesterford High School.
“I’ve come to spread the word,” I sayagain.
“Word,” replies a pupil, schooled in thelanguage of street.
Ahh, I should speak their ownlanguage. “Instead of a ‘hallelujah’, giveme a ‘word’,” I say.
“The symbol of my faith is the cross!”“Word,” shout 30 teenagers. Me: Cross. Them: Word.Me: CROSS! Them: WORD!“Solving a clue is a spiritual
experience,” I continue. I want to tell themit’s like an orgasm of the mind, but theyare pupils so instead I say it’s likechocolate mousse to the power oftiramisu.
“But Crosswordism is not an easyreligion. There will be dark momentswhen your belief is tested to the max andthe crossword gods torture you withimpossible clues, but if you have faith youwill find salvation.”
I tell them the story of Segg (9,4) – thehellish clue that haunted me and nearlycaused me to become a doubter.
Segg (9,4). I stared at it until my headhurt, my eyes watered and my nosethrobbed. Segg. These four harmlessletters were driving me to distraction.Segg. Segg. Segg.
I stared at it like it was one of those 3D puzzles whose blurry image suddenlycomes into focus if you look at it hardenough.
I looked, but all I got was a poundingheadache.
I turned to Google for help. Wikipediatold me it’s a Hungarian word (the pluralis seggek) and means “arse”.
“Hungarian arse”? That’s nine and four letters, but it
didn’t fit the grid. A cryptic crossword puzzle is like a
boxing match. The grid is the ring; your opponent is the compiler – who cansometimes be the devil – with whom youlock mental horns.
You trade blows. He leads with an anagram, follows
through with a homophone and connectswith a well-timed pun. Your defence is tosee through his cunning guise and crackhis code.
Which brings me back to Segg (9,4). Iwas on the ropes. I went to bed that nightin a terrible mood.
Thoughts of Segg interrupted mysleep. I woke up the next morning withbloodshot eyes and a bad attitude. Istumbled into the kitchen.
“Dad,” said my son.“What?” I barked. “Can you make me scrambled eggs?” Eggs?The penny dropped. “Scrambled eggs,” I yelled.
“Hallelujah!” I took my boy in my armsand danced him around the room.
“Dad, you really are a loser,” he said. I didn’t care. I was on a crossword high.
I was a believer again. Hallelujah. I mean,Word!
CrosswordGods areeggsactingmasters,Amen! Word!
TWO weeks ago, this columnaddressed the issue of thresholds,critical mass and tipping points,
used in the environmental and scientificsense. Sadly, it seems as though little tip-ping points are being reached almost dailywhen it comes to our beleaguered naturalenvironment.
Two potential tipping points materi-alised this week, one very local, one ofpotentially global importance.
The first was the decision on Wednes-day by a full sitting of the City Council torecommend that the province approvesthe alteration of Cape Town’s urban edgeto allow for the alienation of 280 hectaresof the Philippi Horticultural Area. The cityargues that this is a small part of the3 200ha farming zone, land that is alreadydegraded, polluted, invaded, and that the
owners want to sell because of, amongother things, lack of physical security.
While the practical considerations mayfavour the use of the land for housing,there is a much bigger principle at stakehere. That principle is that the alienationof agricultural land close to the urban cen-tre of one of Africa’s major cities is simplydaft. It is a short-sighted, profit-driven andshort term solution to a long term problem.
Cape Town is a magnet for in-migrationfrom poorer parts of South Africa and therest of Africa, and the sooner we come up
with integrated housing solutions, the bet-ter. Like the rest of the planet, we face thechallenges of climate change and changingwater and food security scenarios. To startchipping away at one of our most produc-tive farming areas, close to the city centreand not carbon hungry miles away, flies inthe face of what it means to be an innova-tive world class World Design Capital.
OK. I’ve got that off my chest. Now toturn to the other tipping point.
The WWF is a global organisation notnormally in the business of starting inter-net petitions. It is often criticised by morevocal groups for being too cautious and cor-porate in its conservation activism. Whichis why it is a significant moment when itdoes launch a global appeal like the oneannounced yesterday, aimed at stopping oilexploration in the Virunga National Park.
For those who don’t know it, thinkGorillas In The Mist: the park is in the east-ern Democratic Republic of the Congo, andstretches from the Virunga Mountains inthe south, to the Ruwenzoris in the North,and is bordered by Volcanoes NationalPark in Rwanda and Uganda’s RuwenzoriMountains National Park and Queen Eliz-abeth National Park (QENP) in Uganda.
It is Africa’s oldest national park, estab-lished in 1925, and a Unesco World HeritageSite. Although I haven’t been into the coreVirunga area, I have explored the similarsurrounding areas in the Ruwenzoris, theIshasha area of QENP and the BwindiImpenetrable Forest in Uganda. It is atreasure trove of biodiversity.
But it is constantly under threat fromthe ongoing civil war in the DRC, poaching,land invasions, and now oil prospecting.
In its motivation for launching the peti-tion, the WWF said, in a report releasedyesterday, that “Africa’s oldest nationalpark could be worth US$1.1 billion a year ifdeveloped sustainably, rather than beinggiven over to potentially-damaging oilextraction. Virunga National Park has thepotential to generate 45 000 permanent jobsthrough investments in hydropower, thefishery industry and ecotourism”.
The WWF statement said that “in June,the Unesco World Heritage Committeecalled for the cancellation of all Virungaoil permits and appealed to concessionholders Total SA and Soco InternationalPLC not to undertake exploration in WorldHeritage Sites. Total has committed torespecting Virunga’s current boundary,leaving UK-based Soco as the only oil com-pany with plans to explore inside the
park… Environmental impacts from oilextraction could threaten Virunga’s fresh-water ecosystems, rich forests and rarewildlife, the study found. The park is hometo over 3 000 different kinds of animals,including critically endangered mountaingorillas.
“This is where we draw the line. Oilcompanies are standing on the doorstep ofone of the world’s most precious and frag-ile places, but we will not rest untilVirunga is safe from this potential environ-mental disaster,” said Lasse Gustavsson,executive director of WWF International.“Virunga has snow fields and lava fields,but it should not have oil fields.”
I don’t sign online petitions. I think theyare generally a waste of time. But I signedthis one. Sign it at www.wwf.panda.org
Another week, another set of environmental tipping points and crises
Breast may be best, but leave the choice open to all mothers
MAN FRIDAYTony Weaver
ANGRYUTTERANCESJonathan Ancer
FOR THE RECORD: The Animal Demography Unit at UCT has compiled databases on weavers, butterflies and Blue Cranes.
It is desirableto includeas many peopleas possiblein knowledge production
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