AN APPRECIATION OF ERIC WILLIAMS: THE IGNORED CASUALTIES OF AIDS
ERIC E. WILLIAMS MEMORIAL LECTURE
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
OCTOBER 16,2000

President Maidique, Mr. Consul General, Ag. Director of African New World Studies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me here to pay tribute to my "elder brother," Dr. Eric Williams. I will try to brief you on what my organization, the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, is doing about the orphaned children in Africa and to discuss with you how we can combine the care of these forgotten souls with the prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS.

First, though, and assuming that many of you might never even have heard of Eric Williams, let alone appreciate his lasting contributions and international impact, allow me to read for you just a few verses of a poem I have composed in his honour. I feel that, after careful listening, you will be in no doubt as to why it is we are here tonight, why it is that Florida International University has named this Memorial Lecture after such an illustrious son of the Caribbean soil.

WILLIAMS, ERIC, EUSTACE

Born: 25th September, 1911
Died: 29th March, 1981

The Life of Eric Eustace Williams
Revisited in a Few Verses

Presentation of Eric Eustace Williams

The Man
The Scholar
The Philosopher
The Liberator

Oh God, my God
Great and grand is Your plan
.. for the human race, Lord
Every human being in Your image is made
This has been the case since the beginning of TIME
Yes, Lord, it has been the case since Adam and Eve
All Your obedient and faithful prophets came
.. this to seriously reinforce
In all their thoughts - this they did
In all their words - this they did
Ah, yes, in all their deeds - this they did
What a message to and for the human race
.. this is dear Lord
Every human being is in Your image made
A truly powerful and amazing message...
In Your image, each one of us (on earth - in billions) is made

Oh God, my God
Ah, yes, indeed
How great and grand are your Plans
... for the human race
There is a point You have made CENTRAL to all these plans
LORD..
You sent to us Your BEGOTTEN child, Christ Jesus
Ah, who does not know this
LORD.. We all call You our heavenly FATHER because
... we are indeed Your children
But He, Christ Jesus, is Your only BEGOTTEN SON
He is truly the only BEGOTTEN One
Little wonder His central message was
... and still is
.. yes, and shall be always
"Love thy neighbour as thou lovest thyself"
"Do unto others as thou would have them do unto you"
This is sanctified love for ourselves
But this Golden Rule demands of us
.. we do exactly the same to and for others
What Christ Jesus was teaching, He finally did on the Cross
Yes, Christ Jesus did it in that wonderful hour on the Cross

THE MAN
Oh God, my God
How great and grand are the services of those of Your
.. children who follow these holy teachings as
.. others they lead
Thanks to You dear Lord
For sending Eric Eustace Williams
.. to us in the Caribbean to lead
The twentieth century beat Eric Williams by a mere eleven years
In the year nineteen hundred and eleven he was born to us
He is truly to all of us a gift child
To Thomas Henry and Eliza Williams he is the first-born gift child
Lord..
He was a great gift not only to his parents
He was also a great gift to his country's inhabitants
Yes, thank You Lord - You made him more than that
... he was a rare gift to this world's inhabitants

Oh God, my God
Some will think this is empty praise for the dead.
All doubting Thomases should realise how important is history's
record
And this, dear Lord, You have made it so for both the living and the
dead
Eric Eustace Williams is first-born son to Thomas Henry
.. and Eliza Williams
The colonial government in Trinidad has offered a lowly-paid job to Williams
It is not easy to feed, clothe, accommodate and educate a family of
twelve
Yes, there is frustration, there is disappointment, how can Thomas
.. Henry Williams on that meagre wage care .. for a family of twelve
Hear what Eric Eustace Williams says about "bringing up a family of
twelve
"The daily problem of making ends meet dogged the
family as a whole and determined the fate and
fortune of individual members."

In the first 21 years of his life he recalled he lived in eight houses
These are only two instances that show what were terrible family
experiences

Oh God, my God
How well Your Hand prepares for Your own annointed, Lord
Look at how before his 11th birthday there is truly wonderful
... news for young Eric Eustace Williams
He has won an exhibition from Tranquility
... to Queen's Royal College and enters college - that is
Williams
Immediately in the languages of Latin, Spanish and French - he
excels
... that is Eric Williams
And what a wonderful preparation this success in languages
... was as he went on to undertake higher studies
Heard that ..
At Queen's Royal College he enjoys a distinguished record
... in the classroom - that is Williams
Yes, he is enjoying a similar record of success
... on the playing field - that is Williams
The result - he represents QRC at both cricket and football games
- that is Williams
Now, as a result of all these successes he is made
... Captain of the football team
- who else? - Captain Eric Williams, of course
We are not yet finished with the record of his tremendous
... successes
The College had introduced a system whereby both teachers
.. and students voted individually for who in their
.. opinion had been the best example at the College - ... Who won? Of course, Williams

Oh God, my God
What a wonderful way Your hand
.. leads the annointed on and on, Lord
Thomas Henry Williams was a tremendous positive
.. influence on his child
To the son Eric, the father Thomas, was a positive
.... influence indeed
The two were, to each other, extremely close
Both parents are delighted Eric has become
... a scholarship-winning child
These long-suffering parents see an opportunity
... of making up for all their frustrations
Yes, indeed, they see an opportunity of making up for all their
disappointments
These parents were clearly seeing in their son a budding lawyer
What was wrong if their brilliant son trained to be a doctor
` How much a qualified lawyer, a qualified doctor
.. their lives he could make easier and better
Yes, they continued daily for him prayers to offer
They prayed God Almighty would lead Eric Eustace Williams
.. train to become a good lawyer/doctor

Oh God, my God
These were early days after the end
.. of the Slave Trade in the West Indies
Colonialism wasn't any better a substitute for the Slave Trade
Opportunities for struggling to get to live a better life
... were truly and well closed
... insofar as this to the Blacks applied
There was therefore tremendous joy when on October 19, 1931
... news arrived
...Eric Eustace Williams, son of Thomas Henry Williams had
won the much-coveted
... scholarship, on the poverty-stricken island
After making three attempts to get this scholarship
he succeeded when he was 20 years old
Eric Eustace Williams is now preparing to head for Oxford
It is time to note what his educational background was in Trinidad Important to note is that Williams' education
.. bore no relation to his mother-land, Trinidad and Tobago
Anything West Indian was totally discouraged
Everything British was encouraged
With this background young Williams settled at Oxford
What did Eric Eustace Williams, son of Thomas Henry and
.. Eliza Williams do at the seat of British
.. learning Oxford
Lord God Almighty, we thank You for the provision of his outstanding
record

THE SCHOLAR
Oh God, my God
Great things they have done
Those that in Your Holy Footsteps have walked
Eric Eustace Williams has not done
What his dear and loving parents of him have demanded
But Lord God Almighty, even the scholarship winner
Did not know the Holy Spirit was guiding him
.... towards becoming a new type winner
.... a new type builder
.... a new type worker
He is not going to be a lawyer
He is not going to be a doctor
He is going to be a historian and a teacher
We thank You dear Lord
He selects, on winning his first scholarship
Queen's Royal College, a renowned institute to attend
Here begins preparation for his role in leadership
At this College, Williams finds
Masters, men of the highest academic excellence
They influence a great deal his thoughts

Oh God, my God
You do indeed get Your servants well fortified
Eric Eustace Williams in 1932 arrives in England
You wanted him to learn from various happenings - and he did
Hitler's Nazism, every European country they really and truly
threatened
Europe is facing the Great Depression
Your children in India, Africa, the West Indies and many other
colonies
Are in great numbers to England rushing to get some education
About to set in is the tide of independence demands
.... in all these British colonies and many others

Oh God, my God
Williams is for hard study programmes settled
He chooses as his thesis...
"The Economic Aspects of the Abolition of the West Indies Slave Trade."
Later, the thesis is published..
"Capitalism and Slavery."
This approach shows Williams is already
one of the few Black fearless fighters
What he chooses to present in his thesis
Is a subject extremely sensitive
It is up to this point, taboo for Black intellectuals
Heard that ...
Fearless Williams' work at that great centre of learning, Oxford Challenges seriously, in a manner that far unprecedented
Slave Trade had unleashed cruelty, injustice and
... evil upon human beings by fellow human beings in a
manner unprecedented
Williams, of course, acknowledges the role played by abolitionists
He argued forcefully, though, with the British industrial developments Slave Trade was no longer one of the money-spinners
There was nothing anymore for those Slave Trade beneficiaries
No one came to challenge this assertion by Williams
The world over, his reputation rockets sky-high, especially among the
Blacks

Oh God, my God
Kindly remind us dear Lord
There is absolutely nothing for nothing
And so there is a price to pay for everything
On December 12, 1938, he, the Degree of Doctor
.. of Philosophy is awarded
Yes, dear Lord, You do Your own guide well indeed

Oh God, my Creator Lord
The way You prepare Your own is amazing indeed
Young Eric Eustace Williams' formal studies at Oxford are completed
The burning spirit of Black nationalism has him unsettled
Remain in England? ... The Black Push says no
Go back to Trinidad? .. The Black Sash says no
The Black Push calls for an American experience
Yes, the Black Sash says..Yes, but only at Howard University
Place
The Sash goes on. Be Associate Professor of Social and Political
Science
His reputation has gone ahead of him as a revolutionary
The students say he is the one who has correctly analysed
... the end of the trade in slavery
We shall hear him, we shall learn from him
Nay, we shall do more - We shall follow him

Oh God, my God
Lord God Almighty, my Creator Lord
How well Eric Eustace Williams You prepared
At Howard, full of Black Students, he exploded
He taught history as it had never
..been taught before
To learn, his students were very eager
To teach, Eric Eustace, son of Williams, was very eager
To teach: the Black man was the equal of anyone else
... in this our ONE WORLD
He put emphasis on West Indian history; he inspired and fired
.... his students with West Indian nationalism; and
.... by the history of the Black man in the New World
Yes, Eric Eustace, son of Thomas Henry Williams has excelled
He has very clear philosophy to guide him in thought

THE LIBERATOR
This development has, him, in a strong position placed
He is able to see and understand the suffering of the Black man
.. in the West Indies
He is able to see and understand the suffering of Black man
.. in the United States
He is able to see and understand the suffering of the Black man
... in the cntinent of Africa and the colonies therein
Above all, Eric Eustace Williams
.. son of Thomas Henry and Eliza Williams
.. is able to think and see how Blacks
.. could come together and break their chains

The life of Eric Eustace Willilams shows us
.. the Spirit of the Living God
.. breathed on him the breath of our Creator
.. the Almighty God
Oh God, my God
Firmly set in Eric Eustace Williams' mind
Is the determination to fight for the FREED
Black man's rightful place in the NEW WORLD
So even as he offers his services
At the newly-formed Anglo-American Commission's offices
His mind is well aware of the fact these offices
... were being run by those who, for the Black man
... created his condition
.. of those horrible chains
In Williams' life, the wise saying "every dark cloud has
.. its own silver lining" repeats itself several times
He uses his time at the Commission to great advantage
He determines to go round the islands so he can get to assess
.. these islands' many and complex problems
As he goes round the length and breadth of the region, he
... conducts studies, does extensive research in many areas as he
... also publishes, to his credit, quite a few documents. He
... is conscious, as he does all this, that he was educated
... at the people's expense. It was they who, him, educated

Oh God, my God
The more young Williams saw as he went around
The more and more he got completely disgruntled
The more he got disaffected, the more his own programmes
... he conducted
In the event, they wrote to him his contract would not be renewed
Yes, Lord God Almighty - wonderful things do happen in Your
world
The writer to Eric firing him will never know what forces
...of West Indian nationalism he unleashed
Eric Eustace Williams straight to the Woodford Square he rushed
To the people who had educated him he had
... to go and explain to them as to
.. why he had been fired
Listen to the Liberator's own words - he exploded
"I was born here and here I stay with the people of
Trinidad and Tobago, who educated me free of charge for 9 years at QRC and for 5 at Oxford, who have made me whatever I am, and who have been or might be at any time the victims of the very pressures which I have been fighting against for twelve years.... I am going to let down my bucket where I am, right here with you in the British West Indies."
The crowd, of course, exploded and, in his favour, cheered and
cheered
What he wrote later, some of us heard
He said
"The roar was heard in London
.... and Washington
... I had crossed the Rubicon."

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a mere sample of a great life. Left for you to discover: Eric Williams the leader, the democrat, the statesman, the man.
As to the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, this has only recently been registered in Zambia and in the USA and we have started the process of registration in South Africa. I am, by no means, pretending to be an expert on HIV/AIDS, because I have just started. In fact, since I came here three weeks ago, I have learned a lot about AIDS.

My first experience with some of the difficulties in dealing with HIV dates back to 1986, when my fifth-born son lost his struggle to AIDS after 2 years. Since I was the president of my country, I had to share with my countrymen the fact that my son had died from HIV/AIDS. Because of my personal experience during this tragedy, I have since been invited to many conferences to try and share with many people the experiences in dealing with this difficult situation.

Mr. Chairman, Africa today has over 30,000,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. The majority of these people are living in Sub-Saharan countries. In 1999 there were about 5.6 million newly-infected people globally. The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to spread throughout the world. In Sub-Saharan Africa it is the leading cause of death. Current estimates are that by the year 2004, 14 million more people may develop AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa unless we do something very quickly.
These figures are indeed alarming but it is important to bear in mind that even a 0.5% rate of HIV/AIDS is still a disaster for any developing country without the necessary counseling and preventative programmes. There should be no complacency. Prevalence rates of 0.5% have often shot up to 8%, and beyond, in a very short space of time. No region in Africa must relax in this struggle.

But the effects of HIV/AIDS should not be viewed only in numerical terms. The impact of this disease continues to be felt and, in many cases, begins to be felt only after the demise of one or both parents. These are the aspects of HIV/AIDS that have yet to be addressed because the victims often have no voice and no vote. These are the orphans of the AIDS epidemic. Few, if any, families want to adopt them because of financial constraints or fear of contracting the disease. These children are often ignored by the extended family system which is supposed to take care of them. Most of these orphans turn to the streets where they try to survive under the most difficult circumstances.

Longterm studies on the impact of AIDS indicate that whenever AIDS strikes, the agricultural output falls in rural areas. Food security is threatened and hunger takes root. In city areas, food also becomes scarce. In addition, children are forced out of school and elderly parents may have difficulty being cared for. The extended family system collapses. We are soon reaching a stage when many old men and women in our rural areas could become destitute, because all their children have died and there is no one to care for them. We may need to house these people.

Mr, Chairman, statistics have the tendency of either encouraging or, sometimes, totally discouraging us. There are a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have begun to receive some positive results in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Uganda, for instance, has reduced the prevalence rate of new infections in the 15-29 year olds to 8% and below, from a high of 18%. Other countries may soon begin to register positive results. It will be a slow and difficult battle but I can see some light at the end of this dark tunnel. It is quite clear that an open AIDS policy plus a multisectural approach to HIV/AIDS is key to reducing the prevalence rate.

These two approaches are being repeated in a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and I have every hope that the rate of new HIV infections will begin to fall. I must, however, caution this gathering that, although the rate of new infections will dramatically drop as many countries take up their programmes, we still have a long and difficult battle against HIV/AIDS and its effects, which will continue to be with us for decades to come. We have to re-double our efforts.

For years the struggle against HIV/AIDS has been marked by many differences of opinion. These differences continue today. Among the differences that have evoked strong arguments are the origins of AIDS, the different ways of preventing vertical transmission, the affordability of drugs. In Third World countries, even, the accuracy of HIV/AIDS statistics has evoked serious debate. It is quite obvious that these differences of opinion will continue and, indeed, more research will continue to yield results. However, we have to take action and act decisively in the struggle against its impact. We have, in each of our countries, thousands of children who have lost their parents in the epidemic. What future will they inherit? They will need schools, they will need skills training and they will need jobs. Although all our efforts have been targeted on the infected, we must not ignore the orphans since they are often innocent bystanders in this epidemic. How will they survive the epidemic themselves? Can we afford to have "orphaned and infected" children? No. Clearly, we have to save these children.

HIV/AIDS Impact on Families/Orphans

Sadly HIV/AIDS affects more than one member of a family. In some families, other siblings will also acquire the infection and these are usually the oldest in the family. The end result is an orphan problem of unimaginable proportions. Sub-Saharan Africa has already 1.5 million children orphaned in a single year, 1997. Many of these children will join the poverty-Aids-ignorance cycle.
Although many statistics in Sub Saharan Africa may show some shockingly high figures in terms of orphans, they do not fully reflect the amount of suffering many families go through long before their parent or parents die. By the time the parents die there is hardly any money for the surviving children. This will obviously mean a drop in the level of education, food availability, etc. Many of these children experience a drop in their living standards.

Education
The education of these orphans will usually grind to a halt because of the inability to pay school fees. Other educational pre-requisites become unaffordable. Since the pandemic started, many teachers have died and this means that the quality of education is already suffering. Some of these children are withdrawn from school long before they are orphaned.

Health
Because of the extreme poverty in which the orphans find themselves, they cannot afford health insurance of any type and they have no access to health care. The only time they may have access to health care is if they contract TB, which is, indeed, too late.

Distinguished Guests Ladies and Gentlemen: Let me perhaps share with you the setbacks one country has suffered since the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Exactly 36 years ago this year my country gained Independence from Great Britain. At that time in the entire country, there were only 3 qualified medical doctors, 97 other graduates. The first government after Independence, which I was privileged to lead, set up very ambitious development programmes by investing in education. We built two universities, which started producing all our required skilled manpower and, indeed, Zambia became a net exporter to our neighbouring countries. The majority of the experienced manpower has perished because of the epidemic. This has set the country back by 30 years or more.

Zambia is part of the Sub-Saharan region, which is experiencing the worst epidemic in the world. At least 1,000,000 may have already perished, among them farmers and teachers. More may die in the next 10 years. The death rate will be very high. Because of the transmission from mother to baby, children are affected and there has been an increased infant mortality rate.

Effect on Life Expectancy
Twenty years ago the life expectancy of the average Zambian was 50. Life expectancy after Independence had increased by 15 years. Today, since the pandemic took hold, it is a mere 30 years. All the gains of child immunization, control of communicable diseases, plus education, have been reversed.

Impact on the Economy
In Zambia HIV/AIDS affects the most productive adults between 20 and 40 years. People are dying earlier and are often followed by their children under 5 years old. Because of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the economically active, poverty will and still continues to rise. There is a close relationship between AIDS and poverty in Zambia and the neighboring countries. Sectors, such as agriculture, will be affected but the results may take long to show. The farmers who are dying are those with good farming skills who we trained at Agricultural Colleges. Our economy will shrink.

Health Care
In 1964 my government embarked on a very ambitious programme of building hospitals in all major cities. The programme meant that we could afford to provide health care to the majority of our patients. Today, however, HIV patients occupy more than 50:1 of the bed space. Our success has been totally reversed. The costs of treating the affected patients also have become too high. The budget for health continues to rise.
Industry
In spite of an attractive investment climate in Sub-Saharan Africa, little new investment is forthcoming because of rising labour costs and a rapid turnover of skilled manpower. Absenteeism, due to poor health, is another discouraging factor. Zambia has no adequate social security system to cover all this, so the employer ends up picking up all the costs involved, including medical and funeral expenses.

What can be done about Orphans?
· Most strategies, aimed, to date, at combating the HIV/AIDS impact on orphans, have quietly been left to churches or some other non-governmental organization which often have no resources to support any large scale programmes.
· More assistance for orphanages, for new-born babies whose mothers have died in the post-natal period, will be required. Some presently receive as many as 4 neonatals per day.
· A community based orphan outreach programme may be the only way to look after the thousands who will be orphaned. This is basically what the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation is about. Among our other programmes on prevention and awareness, we hope to raise enough funding to actively support, both financially and otherwise, extended family care of these orphans so that institutionalization is no longer an option.
· An active counseling programme for orphaned children will be part and parcel of our HIV/AIDS prevention programme, particularly with respect to coping with the death of both parents. Orphaned children, themselves, are vulnerable to being infected. This may be planned for in the community or school setting (i.e. boarding schools). With the large numbers of orphans added to the ongoing epidemic, psychosocial counseling should be available in every school in Africa.
· This is a massive effort which will need the participation of ALL Governments, non-governmental organisations, multi-lateral donors and local communities - whether African or not. While this is an enormous task, with limited resources, it is no more than what we are all called upon to learn in this transitory journey we call "Life" - namely, that we ARE our brother's keeper: what affects one, affects all. So, we should not be discouraged but put everything in prayer: God will always help those who help themselves!

Thank you and God bless you all.

For further information or to make a donation write:

Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation
3447 Robinhood Rd.
Winston Salem, NC 27106
Tel: 336-774-1700
Fax: 336-774-1701
email: renco@ix.netcom.com