Main description:

During the first decade of this millennium, many thousands of people in Uganda who otherwise would have died from AIDS got second chances at life. A massive global health intervention, the scaling up of antiretroviral therapy (ART), saved them and created a generation of people who learned to live with treatment. As clients they joined programs that offered free antiretroviral medicine and encouraged "positive living." Because ART is not a cure but a lifelong treatment regime, its consequences are far-reaching for society, families, and individuals. Drawing on personal accounts and a broad knowledge of Ugandan culture and history, the essays in this collection explore ART from the perspective of those who received second chances. Their concerns about treatment, partners, children, work, food, and bodies reveal the essential sociality of Ugandan life. The collection is based on research undertaken by a team of social scientists including both Western and African scholars.

Contributors. Phoebe Kajubi, David Kyaddondo, Lotte Meinert, Hanne O. Mogensen, Godfrey Etyang Siu, Jenipher Twebaze, Michael A. Whyte, Susan Reynolds Whyte

Contents:

Polygraphy vii Introduction. The First Generation 1 Case I. Robinah and Joyce: The Connecting Sisters 25 1. Connections 34 Case II. Saddam: Treatment Programs 47 2. Clientship 56 Case III. Suzan: The Necessity of Travel 71 3. Mobility 80 Case IV. MamaGirl & MamaBoy: Family Matters 95 4. Families 104 Case V. Alice: Keeping a Good Man 119 5. Partners 128 Case VI. Jackie: Children without Grandparents 143 6. Children 152 Case VII. John: Working Contingencies 167 7. Work 176 Case VIII. Hassan: Soft Food and Town Life 191 8. Food 200 Case IX. Jolly: Appearances and Numbers 215 9. Bodies 223 Case X. Rachel: Buckets of Medicine 237 10. Medicine 245 Case XI. Dominic: A Multitude of Adversities 259 11. Life 268 Acknowledgments 285 Bibliography 287 Contributors 299 Index 301