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I'm currently writing my blog from our new home in the Drakensberg, South Africa
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Not the only one anymore!
A few weeks ago I did a post on being the only lady on camp at the time. Well, my two friends, Nsia and Amanda have returned to Mwadui, so I'm not longer the only one!Yippee!
From left: Ntsia, Jo and Amanda
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Life in East Africa
Monday, July 30, 2012
Meeting a fellow-blogger
On Saturday I posted about our reunion with friends and old colleagues from the goldmines of Guinea, West Africa. After a wonderful weekend of reminiscing and visiting, Grant and I traveled to London by train. One thing in favour of the UK, is its transport system. Nowhere in Africa, including South Africa do we have buses, trains, taxis and tour buses as efficient as those in England.
Mid-morning on a Monday, the train was empty!
Within fifty minutes, we'd arrived at King's Cross station in London, walked out of the station and caught a taxi to our accommodation near Paddington station! It was Grant's first visit to London and also the first time he'd ridden in a London taxi. Being a blogger, I had to take a photo of the interior, didn't I?
Inside our London Taxi
Here I must just interject about luggage. It took me about thirty years and dozens of
matrimonial arguments to learn to travel light. On this trip, Grant and I each had a small carry-on case which we'd bought in Eldoret, Kenya last year. However, while on the Isle of Man, it was
who bought souvenir tee-shirts, jackets, caps, beanies and other memorabilia, as well as two new helmets for touring on our bike back in SA. In order to get this home, first to East Africa and ultimately to SA, he bought a
tog bag on wheels at Marks and Spencer.
I stood by
and watched while he organized the packing as in the past I'd often been in trouble for buying gifts and curios and overloading the cases!
The small gold cases were compact and easy to maneuver compared to the large blue bag containing most of Grant's stuff bought on the Isle of Man!
Arriving in London brought us one day nearer to meeting a fellow blogger of mine.
Gattina of Writer Cramps
lives in Belgium and she and I have been blogger friends since the beginning of 2009. She is also a cat-lover so you can imagine the connection! As it's quite impossible for us South Africans while living in East Africa, to obtain a
Visa, necessary to visit Europe, Gattina decided to come to London and see me! She and a friend booked to see a musical which included hotel accommodation. (we didn't , unfortunately!) Ironically their hotel was in the street behind ours in Sussex Gardens. We arranged to meet in a pub the next day.
Of course, I knew what Gattina looked like and as she and her friend, Dominique (whom I also "knew" from Gattina's blog) entered the pub, I recognized her
. Originally Grant had been a bit apprehensive about meeting one of "my" friends and originally said he thought he should wait at our hotel while I met with her. He needn't have worried!
As we met
, we all hugged and within minutes of sitting down, were chatting away like old friends - including my normally quiet husband!
Gattina, Jo and Dominique meet in London
The hour-and-a-half flew by and soon it was time to say goodbye but not before we'd invited Gattina and Dominique to visit us in South Africa.
Don't you all just LOVE blogging!
A wonderful week to everyone out there in Blogland!
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Sunday, July 29, 2012
It's a cats' life!
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Saturday, July 28, 2012
Reunion in the UK
While in the UK last month, we had a reunion with friends from days on the goldmines of Guinea, West Africa. Although the time was short, we managed to fit in all everything that had happened since 2006 and also had a great time reminiscing.
The weekend after we'd returned from IOM, we drove down to Wansford in the "shires" with Kevin and Jane, whom I posted about last month. There we met up with Peter and Amanda, Mick and Ronnie. I chided Ronnie as he arrived at the pub where we met without his wife, Morag. He apoligised and said that she was on duty at a retirement home where she does the clinic once a week!
Morag and I were inseparable on the gold mine site where we both worked. After hours we also exercised together in the camp's well-equipped gym, played golf together on the camp's unique four-hole golf course and spent every Saturday together at my home where I held motivational, health and slimming classes for the ladies of the camp.
Friends from the gold mines of Guinea, West Africa circa 2000-2006: Back row:Mick, Jane, Kevin, Grant (slightly hidden) and Ronnie. Front row: Moi, Peter (the Mine Director General, Ex Foreign Legion!) and his wife, Amanda
Grant and I spent the night with Peter and Amanda in their beautiful home on the Nene River. When I first arrived on the gold mine site, Lero, in 2001, Amanda was the only other woman there. She and I became firm friends, walking the three kilometers back from the office to the camp as exercise. She was the one who asked me to run a slimming club camp which; initially she was my only member! Later, as part of my job with the company, I held motivational and slimming and health classes for the dozen or so women who eventually lived on site with their husbands.
The next morning while Peter served us English tea, boiled eggs and toast, Ronnie arrived with Morag! What a lovely surprise. They sat down and joined us for breakfast and Morag, Amanda and I never stopped talking!
Amanda, Morag and Jo. Amanda and Morag live near each other and with their husbands, socialize often. However, this was the first time in five years that we three had met up again!
Amanda and Peter have a beautiful Labrador, Urquhart whom I met as a puppy in 2005! It was wonderful to see this beautiful gentle dog again although he is now eight years old.
Urquhart, Amanda and Peter's the beautiful chocolate Labrador
Mmm, I wonder who is boss in this house!
An hour later, Ronnie and Morag took me and Grant to the Peterborough Station where we boarded the train for London.
As it had done the whole weekend, the rain continued to pour down on Monday!
More about on stay in London soon. I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!
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Friday, July 27, 2012
Winter Sunset over Mwadui
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I wish you all a wonderful weekend!
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SkyWatch Friday
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Safari njema, Wessel!
Once again this week Wessel came to my rescue and helped me with Internet issues. Thanks Wes!
Wessel and Grant
Wessel left site this morning for his rotation break. I thought I'd better do a post wishing him Bon Voyage (
Safari njema
) although he probably won't see this post. He has only one goal and that is to get home to his wife and children in South Africa.
While we were out birding on Sunday, Wessel took the shot of Grant's vehicle with the sun setting behind it
African sunset over the water(Photo: Wessel Prinsloo)
I hope you're all having a wonderful week!
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Birding around Mwadui!
A female Pied Kingfisher
Once again, just before sunset on Sunday, Grant, Wessel (the client IT
who always helps me with Internet issues!) and I drove a short distance outside the mine for a bit of birding. We'd hardly set out when I spotted a Pied Kingfisher calling to its mate nearby. Grant stopped so that I could photograph it. When the bird turned around, I saw it was a female! It just had to be with all that chattering! (The female Pied Kingfisher has only one breast band which doesn't meet in the front. The male has two complete black bands)
I hope you're all having a wonderful week.
BTW, apologies: I forgot to mention that Wessel, sitting at a rear window in our vehicle, was in the best position to take photos of this kingfisher. So photos #2 and # 3 are his. Thanks Wes!
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Birds of Tanzania
World Bird Wednesday
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Caspian Mwadui Guest House
When I returned from holiday in June, one of the Guest House chefs had gone home to North Mara to attend a family funeral. He had only worked here for about ten days. He contacted the HR office from home and said he would not be returning to work. So we were back to one chef, James.
Within a few days Grant had located another chef, Paul. He interviewed him briefly and then sent him to my house here on camp to see what I thought of him. Paul is well over six feet tall but that's where his "greatness" ends. He is soft-spoken, humble and highly intelligent. Within a few minutes of speaking to him, I knew he'd be an asset to the staff.
And he is...
James, who's been with us for almost three months, does all the mzungu cooking: stews, meatloaves, roasts, pies and of course the vegetables. Paul is my curry chef and cooks food enjoyed by the Indian men here. All the food is served together in the dining room, (more about this later) so South Africans enjoy the Indian menu and vice versa!
James and Paul, the two Guest House chefs
Paul and James work well together. Here James (right) places the rice into a serving dish while Paul does the same with the curry
They each have their specialties already: James makes the tastiest roast meat and potatoes, his meatballs are juicy and moist and he is an expert at making fritters from left-over vegetables. I've taught him how to cook a variety of South African favorites like sweet potatoes in a sticky syrup,
(farmer's beans: green beans boiled up with potato, tomato, onion. After it's cooked you drain the water, add a knob of butter, mash it well and sprinkle with a dash of white pepper) carrots, peas and broccoli mixed, and cauliflower cheese.
Paul has taken over Salome's job of baking: mandazi (a very popular East African square-shaped donut), chapatis, pappadums, and American doughnuts that are to die for! Recently I taught him to make poorri (deep fried Indian bread) and I've also taught him how to make banana bread, treacle sponge pudding and banana fritters.
The carnivores at the club made short work of this tray of samoosas
On Saturday afternoon I asked him to make samoosas for dinner. I also wanted to take a tray of these very tasty treats to the club that night. Well, he excelled himself! His samoosas were crisp and although deep fried, they were not at all oily. The meat fillings were juicy and spicy. Everyone enjoyed Paul's samoosas!
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I hope you're all having a wonderful week!
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Monday, July 23, 2012
Snail mail at its best!
The lovely card which friend, Penny sent in February to welcome me to Tanzania
As soon as we moved to Tanzania at the beginning of February this year, my dear friend,
asked for my mailing address. I sent it to her and she told me she'd posted a card to welcome me to my new country. As I'd received cards in the post while living in Kenya (from Penny and other blogging friends) and as they only took a week to ten days from Canada, USA and Europe to East Africa, I eagerly awaited my card! However, as the months went by with no sign of it, I had to accept that items via snail mail were just not going to reach us.
Then on Saturday Grant came home with an envelope! Yes, it was my card from Penny! Now wait for it: She posted
in Vancouver
on 24 February . It arrived in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, East Africa on
9 March,
exactly 14 days later. I'd queried my mail at our company HO in Dar on numerous occasions. Every time the facilitator/admin lady would ask the lady who does the company post and I'd get the same answer:
"Hamna" (Swahili for "there is none")
I am thrilled that it did eventually arrive in Mwadui. Thank you, dearest Penny for the lovely picture on the front and the sweet words inside the card.
Grant and I have deduced that perhaps eventually the mailing clerk in HO tidied out her desk and found my mail! Now I'm hoping that my card from
(USA) will turn up as surprisingly as this one did!
As they say:
Only in Africa!
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Sunday, July 22, 2012
Cry my beloved hometown continued and explained
Farmlands just outside our hometown, Marquard, South Africa
As with any type of revolt situation and ensuing chaos, the rumours abound, the tabloids have a field day and ultimately no-one actually knows what originally started the "war".
However, in South Africa overcrowded townships situated on the outer borders of rural towns, are hotbeds of discontent, frustration and disappointment exacerbated by poverty and misery. Apart from lack of decent housing, power and water supplies, there are foreigners operating businesses inside the townships making trade difficult for local entrepreneurs. So not only is the gripe about almost non-existent amenities and services but the attacks are of a xenophobic nature as well. You can read more about this
Of course, the innocent are always caught in the cross - fire.
Apparently the people have been allowed to return to work so hopefully things will soon revert to normal.
Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.
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The life of Riley
Mmmm... Ambrose and Shadow rest after a hard day at the office
Yeow! Ginger is really, really tired!
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Saturday, July 21, 2012
Cry my beloved hometown, continued
In the absence of the normal workers, the Mlungus and a few African employees pitch in and offload the grain feed for the cattle
Continuing with my post two days ago about the chaos and destruction in and around our hometown in South Africa, I want to thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers at this time. Apparently the area is in a state of limbo; most of the businesses in town are closed as people are not able leave their homes in the nearby township, Moemaneng to come to work. The elderly and infirm in town have been advised to stay in their homes or their apartments within the retirement center in town.
However, a business outside town, a large feedlot company has had to continue with or without workers. The
and a few trusty Africans who managed to escape intimidation, literally
pitched in
(no pun intended) and offloaded feed for the cattle and ultimately tended to the thousands of head of cattle on the ranch.
You can read about this company, Sparta Beef,
(Do go into the links provided to see how much Sparta does for the entire community of Marquard and Moemaneng)
I hope you're all having a great weekend.
is the Sesotho/Zulu name for anyone
of African origin, albeit Asi
an, European or Middle-Eastern. In East Africa we foreigners are the
(both words pronounced with OO sounds -
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Thursday, July 19, 2012
Another African Sunset
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SkyWatch Friday
Cry my beloved hometown
From top left to right: the remainder of the concrete islands in the main street; the rioters in front of the historic town hall which was trashed; middle two photos: shop windows and doors were smashed; more senseless destruction in the the streets; and an emergency vehicle rushes an injured shopkeeper to hospital in a town 34km away
The images above are of the [main] streets of our normally peaceful home town, Marquard, South Africa. What started as a strike on Monday, degenerated into a full-scale riot by mid-morning on Tuesday. I could have posted a news link of the cause of this upheaval, but suffice to say it's about the lack of essential services and gripes against the municipalities. Hundreds of youths and school children entered the town from the nearby township and literally trashed and smashed the buildings and streets of Marquard.
I'm adding a link of our beautiful, sleepy
Free State town
and ask that whoever feels so inclined, would pray for the residents of Marquard and the people of Moemaneng township where apparently the destruction and chaos is a lot worse. Emily our house lady and John our gardener live in Moemaneng; I've told them to stay in their homes and not venture into our town until things settle down. Our son, Angus, his wife, Amanda and their two young children, live in Marquard and of course, that is where our home is.
Here's hoping and praying that God will give wisdom to those in authority to resolve these issues that the masses' needs are met as they should be.
Thanks to those of you who are praying for our family, friends and house staff.
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Life in South Africa - Local
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Happy BIrthday Nelson Mandela
Today is the 94th birthday of South African's first democratic president, Nelson Mandela. Fighting for equality from the mid-forties, he was very active in the African National Congress, an illegal political party at the time. In 1963, he and ten other ANC leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment for political offenses, including sabotage. Nelson Mandela remained in prison for 27 years.
While in prison, he continued to fight for justice for all and became a world-famous figure. Upon his release from jail in February 1990, was welcomed back by the world, and ultimately loved by white and black South Africans alike. You can read Nelson's mini-bio
, 1993 (thanks Diane!) Mr Mandela and the last white SA president, FW de Klerk, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (see below)
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
My wonderful new world
Before I start on today's post, I'd like to thank you all for the very kind comments on my post yesterday. I also want to assure you all that I do regularly interact with other women. (Think blogging for one, LOL!) As soon as the young man at the club had taken the photo featured in my post, I picked up my phone and forwarded the image to my two friends who weren't there that night saying I was missing them! They responded immediately saying they missed me too and would be back soon!
Yesterday I also managed to get out of our camp, walk up to the client's camp and visit Tilla, the only other SA lady in town at the moment. We had tea and chatted non-stop for two hours!
I do have Skype and e-mail and am in contact with many of you blogger friends, my sister in Spain and my sister-in-law in South Africa. I also have regular text message contact with my friend, Sonja, in Dar es Salaam, my dear friend, Sue in Kenya and a number of friends in South Africa.
On Sunday afternoon, for the second weekend in a row, Grant, Wessel (my IT friend who helps me with Internet issues) Marnitz, Grant's production manager and I drove out of camp into the bush. We left quite late and were rewarded with wildlife, BIRDS (YAY!) and a magnificent sunset.
One of the mongoose family that I spotted on the side of the road
Last week I posted photos of the buck; we saw a few
this weekend, but I wasn't able to get good photos. I also spotted a little family of banded mongoose (should that be "mongeese" ?) and Grant stopped so that I could get my first ever photo of this delightful little creature.
The lane of trees which lined the village housing a British community in years gone by
Once again we drove through the now non-existent village which I posted about on Sunday. My imaginations runs amok when I think of the families - apparently they were British - that lived here; the women, prettying up their houses to create homes and making gardens, of which I found evidence, (see photo below) while the men worked on the mine in nearby Mwadui!
A couple of bougainvillaea shrubs in this clearing, are proof that someone had a garden here in days gone by
We spotted many birds which I'll post about tomorrow and as we wended our way home, Marnitz saw a pair of Black-backed jackal. Grant had to reverse a long way back by which time the jackal had trotted off onto a side road. We followed them along this road but as the light was fading fast and taking photos through the windscreen, I only managed to get some unclear photos.
Black-backed jackal running along the road in front of the vehicle
The jackal in front, obviously unperturbed by our presence, stopped to lick its hind leg
And then it was time to capture the sunset. I've posted one of the photos and will post the others later this week on Skywatch Friday.
A glorious African sun setting behind an Acacia thorn
This post is linked to Our World Tuesday, a meme started by Klaus until his death last year and continued by Sylvia, Gattina, Arija, Lady Fi and Sandy. Thanks ladies! You can see follow this meme
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Tanzania Wildlife
Monday, July 16, 2012
The only one...
While the men watched rugby on telly (visible top right), and as I was the only lady present, I kept myself busy with handwork!
Recently blogger friend, Eileen asked if I was the only lady on camp. I am the only lady in our company. Every day of the week I see nine men, including my husband, for lunch and dinner or BBQ's. Over the weekends, the men watch
rugby at the club
with employees from the Client company. As there are two other South African ladies, Amanda and Tilla in that camp, (but only Amanda visits the club) as well as Ntsia, my lovely Tanzanian friend from private camp, this is some of the the only times I get to spend with other women!
However, on Saturday I was the only one... Amanda and her husband are in South Africa; Ntsia had work commitments and she and her husband just didn't make it. So there I was, keeping myself busy while the men watched telly. There were a couple of men who weren't watching the game so I had someone to chat to. In fact, one of the younger lads picked up my phone and photographed me, hence the rare photo of moi!
I wish you all a wonderful week.
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Sunday, July 15, 2012
Scenic spot near Mwadui
Last Sunday, Wessel, the Client's IT lad (who's helped me many times with my Internet problems!) took us to a new area and later a dam on the outskirts of Mwadui. Apparently many years ago this area housed an expat community. A thoughtful town planner had planted a lane of trees which, sixty years later are giants. The houses were built in between the trees. If you look closer, you can see the remains of building foundations (bottom left corner of photo)
The lane between the trees clearly visible
Not far from this area we stopped at a huge dam
As we drew closer inspection, we saw a selection of waterbirds enjoying the late afternoon sunshine as much as we were. Above is a family of White-faced duck with a Red-knobbed coot in the background
A White-faced duck glides between the water lilies while I clicked away happily
We drove back with the sun setting rapidly behind the African bush (my post on Friday) and were lucky enough to see a couple of buck near the road.
While we watched this little buck and it watched us in return, another buck appeared as from nowhere and skipped off into the bush
The buck which ran off behind the one in my photo before also stopped and stared at us; we stared back and I took a few photos. I think the top one is a female while this one is her mate
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Scenic Sunday
Acrobatic cat!
Ambrose trying to come down the branch (see arrow point) while Shadow watches from halfway up the tree (click to enlarge photo)
Shadow beats a hasty retreat with Ambrose hot on his tail!
As Ambrose lands on the ground, Ginger gives his ten bob's worth
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Saturday, July 14, 2012
Ten year celebration
and a visit from a friend!
Grant's senior Production Manager, a South African called Thys,* celebrated his tenth year in Mwadui. Although in South Africa, people stay at one specific mine site between thirty and forty years, I've never before heard of an expat staying on one mine site outside SA. As you can imagine Thys has seen many people come and go on this mine. He's recorded their names in a diary and has promised to show me the list some time. He also has a plethora of stories, and we often hear a few of them when he joins us in our new shamba behind our house.
Thys wearing his team's jersey for the match featured on telly with Grant congratulating him on ten year's service
As we usually do on Saturday evenings, last week we congregated at the club for the men to watch rugby on the big screen. As a surprise, the Client had baked a cake for the occasion and at half time Grant called Thys away from his seat in front of the telly. We then presented him with the cake while Grant made an appropriate speech thanking him for his loyal service to the mining industry in general and the company in particular.
Moi, Thys, Grant, Marnitz from Caspian with the client's assistant manager, Kwet
A cake baked in honour of Thys' milestone
Later this week, we had a BBQ in the new shamba behind our house. This time it was to send Thys off on his three-week holiday in South Africa!
Later that evening, friends Ntsia and Rob jouned us for the BBQ which Marnitz had cooked
On Friday just before lunch, Grant phoned me to say we'd be having two extra guests for lunch. Our friend, Johan, from Keirio Valley, Kenya, is now working on a Tanzanian mine two hours south of our camp. He had just flown in from his leave in SA and as he has to pass our town on his way back to camp (well, within about 50 kms!) he and a collegue, Tinus decided to pop in and see us!
Many of my blogger friends will remember Johan as the guy who lived just down the lane from our house in Chebutie Camp in Kenya. He was there on "single status" which means although he's married, his wife and family are back in SA while he works away. It became a tradition for Grant and Johan (who support the same National team) to watch rugby together on Saturday nights and also for Johan to join us for Sunday dinner every week. It sure was good to see him again today!
Johan and Tinus joined us for lunch today!
I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend.
* Note: the name Thys, pronounced "Tace", is short for Matthys, the Afrikaans version of Matthew.
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|The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date. This site is not updated so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information.
NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.
Title: Sao Tome and Principe Human Rights Practices, 1995 Author: U.S. Department of State Date: March 1996 SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE* The Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is a multiparty democracy. The Government is composed of an executive branch, a unicameral legislature (the National Assembly), and an independent judiciary. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who in turn appoints the ministers of the Government. Miguel Trovoada, an independent, was elected President in 1991 for a 5-year term. The Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP), which had ruled prior to 1990 as the sole legal party, won a plurality in free and fair legislative elections in 1994 and formed the new Government led by Prime Minister Carlos da Graca. The Minister of National Defense, Security, and Internal Order supervises the military, many of whose members are part-time farmers or fishermen, and the police. In August a group of military officers attempted a coup d'etat, killing one person and holding the President hostage for a week. The Angolan Foreign Minister mediated an agreement whereby the officers involved in the coup attempt released President Trovoada and received a parliamentary amnesty, endorsed by Presidential decree. As another condition of his return to power, the President agreed to give the military officers' council a greater voice in decisions affecting the military. The economy is based on the export of a single product, cocoa, produced in an archaic state-run system of plantations called "empresas." The Government has privatized some of the state-held land but has had limited success in privatizing state-owned enterprises. The Government began a new structural adjustment program, but the economy continues to face serious difficulties. The annual inflation rate is 35 percent, unemployment is 27 percent, total external debt is 15 times gross domestic product, and the country is highly dependent on foreign aid. Per capita income is less than $250 per year. The Government continued to respect the rights of its citizens. The principal human rights problems continued to be an inefficient judicial system, harsh prison conditions, discrimination and violence against women, and outdated plantation labor practices that limit worker rights. RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing In August military officers seized the presidential palace and killed a guard who sought to stop them. In the settlement restoring civilian rule, the National Assembly passed an amnesty sheltering the officers involved from prosecution. b. Disappearance There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The Constitution prohibits torture or cruel and inhuman punishment. There were no reports of violations such as beatings or other cruel treatment during arrests or interrogations. Prison conditions are harsh but not life threatening. While there is no indication that human rights monitors have requested permission to make prison visits, it is believed the Government would permit such visits if requested. d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile The Constitution provides for procedural protections in case of detention. The President was held hostage for a week by the military but was released after mediation by the Angolan Foreign Minister. There was no evidence of any other arbitrary arrest or detention. Exile is not used as a punishment, and all those exiled under the one- party regime of 1975-1990 are free to return. e. Denial of Fair Public Trial The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the judiciary has returned verdicts against both the President and the Government. The legal system is based on Portuguese law and customary law, with the Supreme Court at the apex. The Government has important appointive and other judicial powers, including setting salaries for judges and all ministerial employees in accordance with standard government salary guidelines. Government salaries are extremely low, and the authorities are concerned that judges may be tempted to accept bribes. The authorities maintain that they continue to respect the independence of the judiciary. The Constitution provides for the right to fair public trial, the right of appeal, and the right to legal representation. In practice, however, the judicial infrastructure suffers from severe budgetary constraints, inadequate facilities, and a shortage of trained judges and lawyers, causing long delays in bringing cases to court and greatly hindering investigations in criminal cases. There were no reports of political prisoners. f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence The Constitution provides for the integrity of the person and the right to privacy of home, correspondence, and private communication. The Government does not engage in intrusive practices, such as surveillance of people or the monitoring of communications. The judicial police are responsible for criminal investigations and must obtain authorization from the Ministry of Justice to conduct searches. Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: a. Freedom of Speech and Press The Constitution provides for freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and the Government generally respects these rights in practice. One government-run and four independent newspapers have published in the past; none appeared in 1995 due to financial constraints and to the lack of printing facilities. Television and radio are state operated. While there are no independent local stations, there are no laws forbidding them. The Voice of America and Radio France International are rebroadcast locally. The law grants all opposition parties access to the state-run media, including a minimum of 3 minutes per month on television. All parties freely distribute newsletters and press releases giving their views and criticizing the Government, the President, and one another. There were no reports of government censorship or threats of censorship from any group, nor any reports of efforts by national security forces to suppress criticism. During the short military intervention in August, national television and radio carried no reporting on the domestic political situation except for press conferences given by the military. International telecommunications continued to function normally. Subsequently, the Government invited Cable News Network to visit the country to prepare a report on the event. b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in practice. The Government requires that requests for authorization of large-scale events be filed 48 hours in advance and usually grants the appropriate permits. c. Freedom of Religion The Constitution provides for religious freedom, and the Government respects this right in practice. There are no restrictions on the activities of foreign clergy. d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation Under the Constitution and in practice, citizens have the right to move freely within the country, to travel abroad, and to emigrate and return. The Government has traditionally welcomed those seeking refuge or asylum. Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government Citizens exercised this right for the first time in free and fair presidential and legislative elections in 1991 and again in the legislative elections of October 1994. These elections resulted in the peaceful transfer of power between political party coalitions. Each of the three principal political parties has significant representation in the unicameral National Assembly. Elections are by secret ballot on the basis of universal suffrage for citizens 18 years of age or older. The Constitution provides for the election of the President, who as Head of State names the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister appoints members of the Government. Following restoration of constitutional government after the August coup attempt, the President asserted that "political forces" had sought to take advantage of the military. He declined to name any persons or parties in this regard. Presidential elections are scheduled for 1996. There are no restrictions in law or in practice on the participation of women in politics. However, women are underrepresented in the legislature. They currently hold 3 of the 55 seats in the National Assembly, and there are no women in the Cabinet. A woman elected in December to chair a major opposition party declared herself an independent candidate for the presidential election in 1996. Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights A small number of local human rights groups have formed since 1991 and operate without restriction or governmental interference. There were no known requests by international human rights groups to visit the country. Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status The Constitution provides for the equality of all citizens regardless of sex, race, racial origin, political tendency, creed, or philosophic conviction. However, the Government has not sought actively to enforce these provisions. Women While the extent of the problem is unknown, violence against women occurs, and medical professionals and officials report firsthand experience in dealing with violence, including rape. They also report that although women have the right to legal recourse--including against spouses--many are reluctant to bring a complaint or are ignorant of their rights under the law. Traditional beliefs and practices also inhibit women from taking domestic disputes outside the family. While the Constitution stipulates that women and men have equal political, economic, and social rights, and while many women do have access to opportunities in education, business, and government, in practice women still encounter significant societal discrimination. Traditional beliefs concerning the division of labor between men and women leave women with much of the hard work in agriculture, with most child-rearing responsibilities, and with less access to education and to the professions. Female literacy is approximately 62 percent (compared to male literacy of 85 percent). Children A number of government and donor-funded programs have been established to improve conditions for children. There has been improvement in maternity and infant care, in nutrition, and in access to basic health services, especially in urban areas. Mistreatment of children is not widespread. People With Disabilities The law does not mandate arrangements to provide access to buildings, transportation, or services for persons with disabilities. Section 6 Worker Rights a. The Right of Association The Constitution provides for freedom of association and the right to strike. Few unions exist in the very small modern wage sector. One confederation, the Independent Union Federation, has been attempting to organize workers on the large state-owned plantations, but it has met with only limited success. Independent cooperatives, on the other hand, have taken advantage of the government land distribution program to attract workers and in many cases significantly to improve production and incomes. Public sector employees still comprise the great majority of wage earners. Government employees and other essential workers are allowed to strike and did so repeatedly. There are no laws or regulations prohibiting employers from retaliating against strikers. There are no restrictions barring trade unions from joining federations or affiliating with international bodies. b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively The Constitution provides that workers may organize and bargain collectively. However, due to its role as the principal employer in the wage sector, the Government remains the key interlocutor for labor on all matters, including wages. There are no laws prohibiting antiunion discrimination. There are no export processing zones. c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, and such labor is not practiced. d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children Employers in the modern wage sector generally respect the legally mandated minimum employment age of 18 years. The Ministry of Justice and Labor is responsible for enforcing this law. In subsistence agriculture, on plantations, and in informal commerce, children do work, sometimes from an early age. e. Acceptable Conditions of Work Working conditions on many of the state-owned plantations--the biggest wage employment sector--border on the medieval. There is no legally mandated minimum wage. The average salary for plantation workers does not permit a decent standard of living, and its real value is constantly eroded by high rates of inflation. In principle, workers are provided free (but inadequate) housing, rudimentary education, and health care, as well as the privilege of reduced prices and credit at the "company store." These arrangements are intended to subsidize food and clothing. Corruption is an everyday fact, however, and international lending institutions have criticized the Government for ineffective administration of these subsidies. Workers are often forced to pay higher prices on the parallel market to obtain the goods theoretically provided at a discount as part of their compensation. The legal workweek is 40 hours with 48 consecutive hours mandated for a rest period, a norm respected in the modern wage sector. The Social Security Law of 1979 prescribes basic occupational health and safety standards. Inspectors from the Ministry of Justice and Labor are responsible for enforcement of these standards, but their efforts are ineffective. Employees have the right under the law to leave unsafe working conditions. *There is no U.S. Embassy in Sao Tome and Principe. Information available on the human rights situation is limited. (###)
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Skyhorse Publishing
Product Reviews
We just finished reading our first book from the Brick Bible Set. My kids absolutely LOVED it! They asked to read another one today, but there are just 6 stories. So we will be done with them in just a few days. I really wish there were more stories. Like maybe several stories in one bigger book. We would use them as part of our everyday schooling if there were more because the kiddos thoroughly enjoyed them! So did I!
Included in the set is:
Noah's Ark
David and Goliath
The Christmas Story
Joseph and the Colorful Coat
Daniel in the Lion's Den
Jonah and the Whale
We got this book in yesterday and my 7 year old son read it to me before dinner. It's simple text and tells you about the water cycle. My son already knew the information but it was great to reinforce it.
What was awesome about this book was that the pictures were SO cute!!! Every little animal, fish, and raindrop was just so adorable! It prompted my son to go get tracing paper and trace some of the illustrations (as well as draw his own) and he made his OWN book about the Water Cycle by stapling the pages together!
He also was intrigued by the beautiful illustration of a Kingfisher, so he looked up information about it on his iPad. We learned so much about them!
So while this book was very simple it still worked perfect for my 2nd grade son because he did outside research as well as used to beautiful illustrations as a jumping board to be creative and create his own variation of the story!!!
I got this book for my 7 year old son. He read it to himself when we first got it and we talked briefly in the car. I noticed him reading/looking through the pictures again the next day, as well.
The book talks about boundaries, having a positive self-image of your body, being confident, saying assertive, talking to trusted adults if you feel uncomfortable, etc.
I think it was beneficial and I'm glad he has it.
My 7 year old son is obsessed with Legos, so I bought him this book because of the Lego illustrations. He loves it! Sometimes he reads the stories and sometimes he just goes through and looks at the pictures. This is a great way to introduce history to your child/students! :)
My 7 year old son is obsessed with Legos, so I bought him this book because of the Lego illustrations. He loves it! Sometimes he reads the stories and sometimes he just goes through and looks at the pictures. We read a story before bedtime and have really been enjoying it. :)


text:
Monitoring the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy programmes: methods to estimate coverage
Suivre l'élargissement des programmes de traitement antirétroviral : méthodes d'estimation de la couverture
Seguimiento de la expansión de los programas de tratamiento antirretroviral: métodos para estimar la cobertura
J Ties BoermaI,1; Karen A StaneckiII; Marie-Louise NewellIII; Chewe LuoIV; Michel BeusenbergI; Geoff P GarnettV; Kirsty LittleIII; Jesus Garcia CallejaI; Siobhan CrowleyI; Jim Yong KimI; Elizabeth ZaniewskiII; Neff WalkerIII; John StoverVI; Peter D GhysII
IThe World Health Organization, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
IIThe Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, Geneva, Switzerland
IIIInstitute of Child Health, University College London, London, England
IVUNICEF, New York, NY, USA
VImperial College, London, England
VIFutures Group, Glastonbury, Connecticut, CT, USA
This paper reviews the data sources and methods used to estimate the number of people on, and coverage of, antiretroviral therapy (ART) programmes in low- and middle-income countries and to monitor the progress towards the "3 by 5" target set by WHO and UNAIDS. We include a review of the data sources used to estimate the coverage of ART programmes as well as the efforts made to avoid double counting and over-reporting. The methods used to estimate the number of people in need of ART are described and expanded with estimates of treatment needs for children, both for ART and for cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. An estimated 6.5 million people were in need of treatment in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2004, including 660 000 children under age 15 years. The mid-2005 estimate of 970 000 people receiving ART in low- and middle-income countries (with an uncertainty range 840 0001 100 000) corresponds to a coverage of 15% of people in need of treatment.
Keywords: Antiretroviral therapy, Highly active; HIV infections/epidemiology/drug therapy; Data collection/methods; Needs assessment; Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole combination; Developing countries (source: MeSH, NLM).
Le présent article fait le point des sources de données et des méthodes utilisées pour estimer le nombre de personnes sous traitement antirétroviral et la couverture des programmes de traitement antirétroviral dans les pays à revenu faible ou intermédiaire, ainsi que pour suivre les progrès accomplis en direction de l'objectif des 3 millions de personnes sous traitement en 2005 fixé par l'OMS et l'ONUSIDA. Les sources de données utilisées pour estimer la couverture des programmes ainsi que les efforts consentis pour éviter une double comptabilisation et une notification en surnombre sont passés en revue. L'article décrit les méthodes utilisées pour estimer le nombre de personnes ayant besoin d'un traitement antirétroviral et l'élargissement de leur domaine d'application à l'aide d'estimations des besoins d'enfants, en matière de traitement antirétroviral, comme de prophylaxie par le cotrimoxazole. On estimait à 6,5 millions le nombre de personnes ayant besoin d'un traitement dans les pays à revenu faible ou intermédiaire à fin 2004, dont 660 000 enfants de moins de 15 ans. L'estimation obtenue mi-2005 de 970 000 personnes sous traitement dans les pays à revenu faible ou intermédiaire (plage d'incertitude: 840 000-1 100 000) correspond à une couverture de 15 % des personnes à traiter.
Mots clés: Therapie antirétrovirale hautement active; Infection à VIH/épidémiologie/chimiothérapie; Collecte données/méthodes; Evaluation besoins; Triméthoprime-sulfaméthoxazole, Association; Pays en développement (source: MeSH, INSERM).
Se examinan en este artículo las fuentes de datos y los métodos utilizados para estimar el número de personas abarcadas por los programas de tratamiento antirretroviral (TAR) y la cobertura de los mismos en los países de ingresos bajos y medios, así como para vigilar los progresos hacia la meta «tres millones para 2005» establecida por la OMS y el ONUSIDA. Se incluye una revisión de las fuentes de datos utilizadas para estimar la cobertura de los programas de TAR, así como las medidas tomadas para evitar la doble contabilidad y la sobrenotificación. Se describen los métodos empleados para estimar el número de personas necesitadas de TAR, ampliándolos para estimar las necesidades de tratamiento de la población infantil, tanto para el TAR como para la profilaxis con cotrimoxazol. Al final de 2004 necesitaban tratamiento en los países de ingresos bajos y medios unos 6,5 millones de personas, incluidos 660 000 menores de 15 años. La estimación de que a mediados de 2005 recibían TAR unas 970 000 personas en los países de ingresos bajos y medios (margen de incertidumbre: 840 000 - 1 100 000) corresponde a una cobertura de un 15% de las personas necesitadas de tratamiento.
Palabras clave: Terapia antirretroviral altamente activa; Infecciones por VIH/epidemiología/quimioterapia; Recolección de datos/métodos; Evaluación de necesidades; Combinación trimetoprim-sulfametoxazol; Países en desarrollo (fuente: DeCS, BIREME).
On 1 December 2003,WHO in partnership with UNAIDS launched the "3 by 5" initiative, which aimed to mobilize the world to provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) to 3 million people in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2005.1 The 3 million target was based on an analysis published in 2001, which indicated that this figure would correspond to about a 50% coverage of adults in need of treatment.2 At the end of 2003, an estimated 400 000 people in low- and middle-income countries were on treatment and almost half of those were living in Latin America. ART coverage in Africa and Asia was below 5%.
Estimation of health service coverage such as the Millennium Development Goal indicators of measles vaccination and skilled birth attendant coverage is mostly derived from population-based household sample surveys. If no such data are available, coverage has to be calculated from an estimate of the numerator (i.e., the number of people receiving or using the service) and the denominator (i.e., the estimated number of people in need of such services). Even for well-established programmes such as immunization and tuberculosis control, this method may give unsatisfactory results, because of under-reporting, over-reporting or methodological and technical problems with accurate estimation of the denominator.
Population-based surveys, however, are not a suitable data source for the estimation of ART coverage, since population prevalence is relatively low, reporting biases are likely, and there are ethical issues associated with stigma and discrimination. Estimates of the number of people on ART and the corresponding coverage are based on service statistics and estimates of the need for treatment.3 In this paper, we describe the procedures and methods used to monitor progress towards "3 by 5" and provide an estimate of treatment coverage achieved by the end of June 2005. For the first time, children are included in overall estimates of the number of people in need of treatment.
Estimating the number of people on antiretroviral therapy
To estimate the number of people on treatment, we have used data from most recent report received from the Ministry of Health or WHO country office, or other sources from within countries. Usually, countries keep track of the number of sites providing ART and the number of people on treatment in those sites. At the end of each calendar year, data are requested by WHO from all 152 World Bank classified low- and middle-income countries. For the mid-2005 update, we focused on obtaining data from the countries with the largest unmet need for treatment.4 Overall, updates were received from 35 of 152 low- and middle-income countries, which accounted for 88% of the unmet need for antiretrovirals.
Since ART programmes are quite new and still being rolled out, many countries do not yet have standardized national patient-monitoring systems that require regular reporting of numbers of new patients on treatment, adherence rates, number of defaulters, loss to follow up and deaths. In many countries, the Ministry of Health currently obtains information about the number of people on treatment by directly contacting the sites providing treatment.
The level of detail in the data varies between countries. WHO seeks information on numbers of people who are currently on treatment i.e., the number of people who continue to collect their drugs in line with the recommended schedule. However, some clinics and countries report cumulative data on the number of people starting treatment. The difference between the two numbers will reflect losses due to discontinuation of treatment or death. In addition, the double counting of people who change clinics and are reported as new patients will result in over-reporting. WHO also requests disaggregated data on the number of people on ART by age and sex: i.e., number of children, adult men and adult women. Currently less than one-third of countries report such detail.
Another source of uncertainty in data on the number of people on treatment results from the difficulty of measuring how many people access ART through the private sector. Data from not-for-profit organizations may be reported in the overall public-sector figures, or they may be reported separately. Data from private companies that have programmes to provide ART for their workers with advanced HIV infection are reported separately. Insurance companies may provide additional data. People may also access antiretrovirals through local pharmacies and private clinics that do not report patient numbers via the usual channels.
The United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are major funders of ART programmes in low- and middle-income countries. PEPFAR focuses on 15 countries and provides estimates of the number of people on treatment every 6 months, with use of data compiled at the country level from reports by PEPFAR-supported clinics. These data and those provided by the Global Fund are used to cross-validate the data reported by the countries' Ministries of Health in countries. PEPFAR and the Global Fund also work together to avoid double counting of people on treatment. In December 2004, 63 000 people on treatment were thought to have benefited from both PEPFAR and Global Fund initiatives. Some authors have wrongly assumed that these 63 000 patients were counted twice in the WHO/UNAIDS estimate of 700 000 people on ART by the end of 2004.5 However, WHO/UNAIDS estimates are based on country summary-reports of data from treatment facilities; they are not calculated by adding up and double counting data from parallel reporting systems.
Country reports usually include data collected up to a time point 24 months before the middle (or end) of the year. We derive midyear estimates from simple linear projections of reported numbers, using the trend between the two most recent reported numbers as an indicator of growth. We applied this procedure to information from 35 countries that had provided new data for the first half of 2005. The monthly growth rate in the number of people on treatment takes into account drop-out due to deaths or non-adherence, when such data are available.
To express uncertainty in the estimates of people on ART, we used the following procedure. For the midyear country-reported data (public sector only or public and private sector combined), we allowed an uncertainty margin related to the strength of the monitoring system. A margin of plus or minus 5% was allowed if site-specific numbers were reported (4 countries). For countries that reported data on the number of service delivery points only, we allowed an uncertainty margin of 10% (22 countries). And for countries for with partial or no detail available, we used an uncertainty margin of 25% (9 countries). For private sector numbers, which were separately reported in some countries, we used uncertainty ranges from plus or minus 10% (details on the sources available; 1 country), 25% (only limited detail; 2 countries) or 40% (incomplete or no detailed information available; 7 countries). We chose these ranges arbitrarily.
For countries that did not report new data from the first half of 2005, we used two scenarios to obtain a probable lower and upper uncertainty limit for the estimated number of people on ART. The lower estimate assumes no growth, which implies that the number of people initiating treatment is equal to the number of drop-outs due to non-adherence or death. The upper limit assumed the linear growth observed in 2004 had continued to mid-2005. We used the midpoint between these two scenarios as a point estimate for mid-June 2005.
Antiretroviral treatment needs in adults
UNAIDS and WHO have developed standard methods to estimate the size and course of the AIDS epidemic, which in turn generate estimates of HIV prevalence, incidence and mortality.610 These methods, as well as those used to estimate the number of people in need of treatment, were based on recommendations of the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling and Projections (http://www.epidem.org). Briefly, it involves a multistep process that starts with the estimation of the size of the epidemic. HIV prevalence curves are generated from empirical data for each country and translated into estimates of adult HIV incidence and AIDS-mortality, and child HIV incidence, prevalence and AIDS mortality, based on assumptions about time from infection to illness and then death for adults and children and the probability of mother-to-child transmission. The methods developed have been implemented in three software tools: the WORKBOOK,8 the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP)9 and Spectrum.10 All models estimate the size of incident cohorts for every year since the beginning of the epidemic. The past course of the epidemic will affect the proportion of people living with HIV who need treatment. For example, in a young and growing epidemic a smaller proportion of people living with HIV will need treatment than in a mature or declining epidemic. Uncertainty ranges around the estimates have also been provided.11
WHO recommends that in resource-poor settings, adults and adolescents with HIV should start ART when the infection has been confirmed and there are clinical signs of advanced disease (HIV disease stage IV, irrespective of CD4 cell count; stage III with CD4 cell count less than 350 cells per µl) or laboratory evidence of severe immuno-suppression (CD4 cell count less than 200 per µl or, if not available, lymphocyte count less than 1200 µl with symptomatic disease).12 There is little direct evidence about the time from seroconversion to clinical AIDS or any of the above treatment eligibility criteria. A study in Uganda estimated the median time from seroconversion to an AIDS diagnosis at 9.4 years; median time from seroconversion to death was estimated at 9.8 years. The actual time to the development of AIDS is probably shorter than 9.4 years as patients in the Ugandan study were only evaluated for signs and symptoms at visits that were scheduled every 3 months.13 Because of the scarcity of direct data on the time from seroconversion to treatment eligibility, the method for estimating the number of adults in need of treatment has been based on estimates of the time from treatment eligibility to death in the absence of ART.
Only a few studies in resource-poor settings have estimated the time from clinical and laboratory benchmarks to death, in the absence of ART, yielding an average survival time of just under 1 year for people with AIDS (median 9.8 months, range 619 months) and for people with CD4 cell count less than 200 per µl (median 10.9 months, range 738 months).14 Again, the actual times to death associated with these benchmarks is likely to be longer than those cited, since patients in these studies were only evaluated for signs and symptoms and CD4 counts at discrete visits. To try and correct for this bias, these data have been compared to findings in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) in which CD4 counts were measured at regular intervals.14, 15 In the SHCS, median CD4 cell count in patients with a CD4 count below 200 cells per µl was 100 cells per µl, while a median CD4 count of 200 cells per µl was recorded in patients with CD4 cell counts between 250 and 150 cells per µl. The SHCS data indicate that survival was 3.2 times longer in the group of patients with a median CD4 cell count of 200 cells per µl than in the group with a count below 200 cells per µl. Application of the SHCS survival-time ratio of patients with a median CD4 cell count of 200 per µl versus those with a median CD4 cell count of 100 per µl, suggests that average survival of patients with CD4 cell counts below 200 per µl in resource-poor countries is at least 2 years.14 These data, therefore, suggest that adults with advanced HIV infection who fit eligibility criteria for treatment would be expected to die of AIDS in about 2 years if they do not receive ART.
The number of adults with advanced HIV infection who are eligible for treatment is estimated as the number of people who will die in the current and next year, in the absence of ART. Spectrum software calculates the total number of adults in need of ART by adding the number of adults newly in need of ART in a given year, the number of adults who were on treatment in the previous year and survived into the current year, plus those who were in need last year, but have not yet been put on treatment. Recent analysis from studies in four continents has shown that patients in low-income countries have a somewhat lower survival time on ART than do patients in high-income countries.16 To calculate estimated needs for 2005, it was assumed that about 90% of adults on ART survive to the following year. Median time on treatment is expected to be about 6 years. For the estimates of children in need of ART, we have taken into account lower fertility in HIV-infected women and rates of contraceptive use.
Therefore, there is substantial uncertainty in the estimates of HIV prevalence, and the number of AIDS cases and deaths due to AIDS11 as well as uncertainty related to the assumptions used to make estimates. Furthermore, the need for ART is underestimated as people aged 50 years and older are not yet included in estimates because current models provide estimates of HIV prevalence only in people aged 1549 years.
Antiretroviral and cotrimoxazole treatment needs in children
A recent study in Côte d'Ivoire demonstrated that 2-year survival of children on ART in developing countries is similar to that in developed countries, ranging from 73% to 98% for children with CD4 cells <5% and > 5% of total lymphocytes, respectively.17 Results from a study in Zambia showed that cotrimoxazole prophylaxis can reduce mortality in HIV-infected children older than 1 year by as much as 43%.18
For the calculation of treatment needs in children, new methods were added to the Spectrum modelling programme. Since there are no large-scale studies of disease progression in children in developing countries, we constructed a schedule of disease progression for infants and older children based on data from Zambia on mortality in HIV-infected children and the proportion of that mortality attributable to the development of moderate-to-severe disease.18, 19 This analysis suggested that of all children with vertically-acquired HIV, the cumulative probability that they would advance to moderate-to-severe disease was about 36% in year 1, 50% by year 2, 65% by year 5 and 91% by year 10. Mortality in those with moderate-to-severe disease is very high in the first 2 years of life 90% and 70%, respectively and about 50% thereafter. Therefore, we modelled progression to moderate-to-severe disease and the need for ART as all those HIV-infected children who would die from AIDS within 2 years in the absence of ART.
Children in need of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis were defined as all children of unknown HIV status born to HIV-infected mothers and all children known to be HIV infected. In countries where only antibody tests are used for testing, HIV status cannot be confirmed in a child born to an HIV-infected mother until the age of about 18 months.20 Therefore, in these settings children in need of cotrimoxazole are all those younger than 18 months born to HIV-infected mothers and all HIV-infected children over the age of 18 months. In countries where early antigen detection (e.g. with polymerase chain reaction) is available, children in need of cotrimoxazole are defined as all those detected as HIV positive.
The 1-year survival rate in children on treatment was assumed to be 90% for ART, 91% for cotrimoxazole, and 94% for the combination of ART and cotrimoxazole.17, 18, 19
Estimates of coverage and treatment need, June 2005
Table 1 shows the number of people on treatment (with uncertainty range) by June 2005, with estimated need for treatment and coverage. Overall, the estimated number of people on treatment has increased from 700 000 to 970 000 (range 840 0001 100 000). The largest increase in number of people on treatment has been in sub-Saharan Africa from 310 000 to half a million over 6 months.
In low- and middle-income countries, nearly 6 million adults (i.e., people aged between 15 and 49 years) are in need of ART. Most of these people live in sub-Saharan Africa (4.1 million); 1.1 million live in Asia, and 450 000 in Latin America and the Caribbean. Overall, treatment coverage in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean is 11%, 14% and 62%, respectively.
Globally, 660 000 children (i.e. younger than 15 years) are in need of ART, including 270 000 children aged 018 months (Table 2). Four million children are estimated to be in need of cotrimoxazole; early diagnosis could reduce this number to 2.1 million and allow treatment cessation in uninfected children. The greatest need for treatment and prophylaxis in children is in sub-Saharan Africa, with 600 000 children in need of ART, and 3.5 million children in need of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis.
Since the launch of "3 by 5" in late 2003, the number of people on ART in low- and middle-income countries has more than doubled, from 400 000 to about 1 million people at the end of June 2005. Major progress was made in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, with treatment numbers tripling in 18 months. However, coverage is still low and the total numbers fall well below the target set by the "3 by 5" programme of 1.6 million people on treatment by the middle of 2005.
Improvements to the quality of monitoring systems are urgently needed and all countries must establish standardized patient-monitoring systems. Because of the lack of standardization, the current estimate of the number of people on treatment has a wide uncertainty range. Data on drug shipments to low- and middle-income countries reported by the pharmaceutical industry could provide an external source of validation. Information from research and development companies, collaborating under the Accelerating Access Initiative, and reports from producers of generic drugs indicate that about one million patient-equivalent-units of triple drug therapy were distributed in the first quarter of 2005.
In sub-Saharan Africa, available data still support the broader analysis on equity by gender and age presented in the December 2004 progress report, although much more systematic reporting is required to obtain a better picture.4 Almost 6 out of 10 adults on treatment are women, reflecting an equitable distribution since more women than men are infected. Children are still under-represented in treatment numbers. For instance, reports from Malawi and Mozambique indicate that 5% and 7%, respectively, of those on treatment are children, yet overall, 13% of those in need of treatment in sub-Saharan Africa are children.
Despite major programmatic obstacles, including lack of early diagnosis, affordable drug formulations for young children, and trained medical staff, there is an urgent need to increase provision of ART to children. The establishment of an estimated need for treatment in children should help advocacy and programme planning for children. These estimates, as well as those made for adults, will not be perfect. The choice of the cut-off point of 2 years prior to death for the estimation of treatment needs from the models is currently considered a good match with treatment initiation criteria, but new studies on CD4 cell counts and disease progression, clinical patterns and treatment-seeking behaviour may lead to changes in the cut-off point in the future.
Just as estimates of HIV prevalence and deaths have uncertainty, so too do the estimates of treatment needs. Previous work has tried to quantify this uncertainty and it suggests that although global estimates of the number of people living with HIV are quite robust (of the order of plus and minus 10%), estimates for individual countries will vary much more depending on the quality of the data and the type of epidemic.11 Countries are strongly involved in the estimation process, which is accompanied by regular consultation between countries and WHO and UNAIDS, and a biannual global effort to train country staff in the estimation methods and software.
Additional work is also needed to address limitations of the current models to estimate treatment needs. In children, the higher mortality in the first year of life compared to later in childhood needs to be taken into account, as does the effect of cotrimoxazole treatment on disease progression and mortality. In adults, methods need to be developed to estimate the need in people aged 50 years and over. Furthermore, recommendations on when to initiate treatment may change over time and affect the need estimates.
Accurate monitoring will be an essential basis for the rapid expansion of treatment programmes in low- and middle-income countries. WHO, UNAIDS, UNICEF and partners will continue to work with countries to provide the best possible information on progress in the scale-up of treatment for both adults and children. As monitoring systems become more established, the treatment numbers will be provided with increasing certainty and greater disaggregation, and include essential information on treatment outcomes.
We would like to thank the many people and institutions that contribute to the regular updates of treatment data. These include our colleagues in countries' Ministries of Health, in WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF including their regional and country offices, and in international nongovernmental organizations. We are also grateful to our colleagues at the Global Fund and PEPFAR for their crucial assistance in harmonizing and validating the reports. We want to acknowledge the many national programme staff and collaborating institutions for data on the status of the epidemic. We also want to thank the many researchers, epidemiologists, demographers, and public health experts of the UNAIDS Reference Group on Estimates, Modelling and Projections.
Competing interests: none declared.
1. World Health Organization and UNAIDS. Treating 3 million by 2005: making it happen. Geneva: WHO; 2003.
2. Schwartlander B, Stover J, Walker N, Bollinger L, Gutierrez JP, McGreevey W, et al. Resource needs for HIV/AIDS. Science 2001;292:2434-6.
3. World Health Organization, UNAIDS, GFATM, USAID, Measure, FHI. National AIDS Programmes: a guide to indicators for monitoring and evaluating national antiretroviral programmes. Geneva: WHO; 2005.
4. World Health Organization and UNAIDS. "3 by 5" progress report, December 2004. WHO; 2005. Available from: http://www.who.int/3by5/progressreport05/en/
5. Bate R. Slippery AIDS statistics: why loose HIV numbers create false hope and bad policy. American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Available from: http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.22469/pub_detail.asp
6. Walker N, Grassly NC, Garnett GP, Stanecki KA, Ghys PD. Estimating the global burden of HIV/AIDS: What do we really know about the HIV pandemic? Lancet 2004; 363:2180-5.
7. UNAIDS Reference Group on Modelling and Estimation. Improved methods and assumptions for estimation of the HIV epidemic and its impact: Recommendations of the UNAIDS Reference Group and Estimates, Modelling and Projections. AIDS 2002;16:W1-16.
8. Walker N, Stover J, Stanecki K, Zaniewski AE, Grassly NC, Garcia-Calleja JM, et al. The workbook approach to making estimates and projecting future scenarios of HIV/AIDS in countries with low-level and concentrated epidemics. Sex Transm Infect 2004;80 Suppl 1:i10-13.
9. Ghys PD, Brown T, Grassly NC, Garnett G, Stanecki K, Stover J, et al. The UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package: a software package to estimate and project national HIV epidemics. Sex Transm Infect 2004;80 Suppl 1:i5-9.
10. Stover J. Projecting the demographic consequences of adult HIV prevalence trends: the Spectrum Projection Package. Sex Transm Infect 2004;80 Suppl 1:i14-18.
11. Grassly NC, Morgan M, Walker N, Garnett G, Stanecki KA, Stover J, et al. Uncertainty in estimates of HIV/AIDS: the estimation and application of plausibility bounds. Sex Transm Infect 2005;81:279-80
12. World Health Organization. Scaling up antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings: treatment guidelines for a public health approach. Geneva: WHO; 2004.
13. Morgan D, Mahe C, Mayanja B, Okongo JM, Lubega R, Whitworth JAG. HIV-1 infection in rural Africa: is there a difference in median time to AIDS and survival compared with that in industrialized countries? AIDS 2002;16:597-603.
14. Schneider M, Zwahlen M, Egger M. Natural history and mortality in HIVpositive individuals living in resource-poor settings: a literature review. Available from: http://www.epidem.org/Publications/unaids%20HQ_03_463871%20final.pdf
15. Mocroft A, Vella S, Benfield TL, Chiesi A, Miller V, Gargalianos P, et al. Changing patterns of mortality across Europe in patients infected with HIV-1. EuroSIDA Study Group. Lancet 1998;352:1725-30.
16. Dabis F, Schechter M, Egger M, and ART-LINC/ART-CC STUDY GROUPS. Response to highly active retroviral therapy in low- and high income countries: analysis of clinical databases from 4 Continents. Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; 2005 February 2225; Boston, USA.
17. Fassinou P, Elenga N, Rouet F, Laguide R, Kouakoussui KA, Timite M, et al. Highly active antiretroviral therapies among HIV-1-infected children in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. AIDS 2004;18:1905-13.
18. Chintu C, Bhat GJ, Walker AS, Mulenga V, Sinyinza F, Lishimpi K, et al. Cotrimoxazole as prophylaxis against opportunistic infections in HIV-infected Zambian children (CHAP): a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2004;364:1865-71.
19. Newell ML, Coovadia H, Cortina-Borja M, Rollins N, Gaillard P, Dabis F for the Ghent International AIDS Society working group on HIV infection in women and children. Mortality of infected and uninfected infants born to HIV-infected mothers in Africa: a pooled analysis. Lancet 2004;364:236-46.
20. Blanche S, Rouzioux C, Moscato ML, Veber F, Mayaux MJ, Jacomet C, et al. A prospective study of infants born to women seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1. HIV Infection in Newborns French Collaborative Study Group. N Engl J Med. 1989;320:1643-8.
(Submitted: 5 July 2005 Final revised version received: 3 November 2005 Accepted: 7 November 2005)
1 Correspondence to Dr Boerma (email: email@example.com).


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Finally made it to this cafe style Korean on Bold Street. It was pre-theatre and i was on me tod, so just had a bowl of diabolical (in a good way) kimchi and a beef bibimbap. Which was fine, and generous with the ingredients, and the egg was perfect, but the bowl wasn't hot enough to get the rice crunchy on the bottom.
The soft drinks menu is extensive - had a very nice cold ginger tea.
Everybody else (who were all Asian) was having either hot pots or barbecues. The latter in particular looked very generous with the meats, though they do that annoying thing of charging separately for lettuce and spring onion and chilli. They have an intriguing 'splendid cephalomappa' option. I think that's a plant?
Will be back with reinforcements to try it out, and have a hankering for the nice looking spring onion pancakes and charcoal skewers.


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Business Centre
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While the expertly implemented Euphoria physics engine and responsive analog-based controls elevate the overall experience, Backbreaker's iffy AI and lack of the official NFL licence hold NaturalMotion's football sim back from becoming a worthy rival to EA's iconic Madden franchise.
When you chart the trajectory of their dominance over the past two decades, EA's Madden NFL franchise parallels the success of the NFL: Both are highly lucrative properties whose monopoly-like influence has been challenged with little success. Would-be upstarts like the United States Football League (which counted Donald Trump as an investor) and Vince McMahon's XFL tried to take on the NFL but couldn't beat it at its own game. Similarly, Madden faced stiff competition from classics like Tecmo Bowl and 2K Sports' NFL2K series, but thanks in large part to an exclusive deal with the NFL, it's grabbed an unrelenting stranglehold on the market. Any competitors wind up dead and buried in a matter of months.
To have a chance in a genre that starts and ends with Madden, a competing football game needs a good gimmick. Thankfully, Backbreaker's calling card brings something new to the table: The Euphoria physics system, which powered games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Its realistic modelling of in-game physics is a revelatory experience when applied to a sports title; for all of the improvements Madden's made over the years to improve realism, tackles still feel more like a collection of polygons colliding together than an organic crush of pads, bodies, and helmets. Backbreaker's contact looks and feels a lot more like Sunday NFL action, and the realism extends to just about every facet of player movement. For instance, I attempted to juke a couple of onrushing linebackers during one running play, but ended up tripping over my own two feet in the process. That was embarrassing, but it also seemed like a far more true-to-life result than Madden's endless spin moves and high-stepping celebrations.
Backbreaker also brings the action directly onto the field, eschewing Madden's only-from-the-offense perspective. It's immensely satisfying to line up on the edge, anticipate the snap count, blow by the left tackle, and crush the QB; it's a feeling Madden, with its canned TV-style presentation, can't really match. But the field-level perspective can frustrate at times, too, especially on running plays, where I found it hard to anticipate the actions of oncoming linebackers. It's far better on passing downs, where I actually found Backbreaker's right-analog-stick controls a lot more effective than Madden's standard face-button passing option; for me, it definitely cut down on the easily picked-off floaters down the middle of the field.
Where Backbreaker falters is in its AI, though: Outside of their strangely stout run defenses, Backbreaker's computer opponents don't offer much of a threat. Even on the hardest difficulty, I was able to move the ball against some of the game's stronger defenses. And I don't mean after mastering the game's nuances -- I mean within my first few hours. So, it's clear that any challenge will have to come from online competitors, but this leads to the classic conundrum: Without a large online player base, the game can't get any traction, but gamers won't hop online in large numbers unless they know the game is popular enough to support a community.
Compounding the problem is that lack of licensed teams. Madden's success is built on stars and name recognition: When I take control of the San Francisco 49ers, I know Frank Gore's aggressive running style on offence and Patrick Willis' explosive, intense leadership on defence are the keys to victory. I see this every week during the NFL season, and it holds true to form in-game. But Backbreaker's filled with no-name players on made-up teams; worse, there's very little variety to their skill sets. Almost every player, from the quarterbacks to cornerbacks to even the kickers and punters, look like bulked-up hulks. After playing through an entire season as the New England Militia -- Backbreaker's all-too-obvious incarnation of the New England Patriots -- I still didn't feel a meaningful connection to any of my players.
In its current state, Backbreaker neither matches Madden's polish nor overcomes its monopoly on the NFL license; in fact, its shortcomings highlight several reasons why Madden remains so appealing. But on a positive note, it definitely exposes a few flaws in EA's gameplan, and that's where you can draw one last comparison between Backbreaker and defunct NFL competitors like the USFL and XFL. To this day, you can see the ripples of those long-dead leagues in the NFL: high-priced free agency, the two-point conversion, challenge flags, and the overhead broadcast camera all came about partly because the NFL felt pressure to put a more entertaining and fan-friendly product on the field. I'm not sure Backbreaker has a future as a franchise -- it'll take a lot of polishing before it can compete, and even then, the lack of the NFL license hampers it -- but you can bet EA will take some inspiration from some of its innovations. That's a victory that won't show up on the scoreboard, but for fans of football games, it's something worth celebrating.
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Sharp PN-40TC1 Huddle Board
Brainstorming, innovation, problem solving, and negotiation have all become much more productive and valuable if people can easily collaborate in real time with minimal friction.
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The print quality also does not disappoint, it's clear, bold, doesn't smudge and the text is perfectly sized.
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The Huddle Board's built in program; Sharp Touch Viewing software allows us to easily manipulate and edit our documents (jpegs and PDFs) all at the same time on the dashboard.
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The biggest perks for me would be that it comes with easy to use and comprehensive programs that make the collaboration process a whole lot more intuitive and organic
Brother PocketJet PJ-773 A4 Portable Thermal Printer
I rate the printer as a 5 out of 5 stars as it has been able to fit seamlessly into my busy and mobile lifestyle.
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It's perfect for mobile workers. Just take it out — it's small enough to sit anywhere — turn it on, load a sheet of paper, and start printing.


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SME's Manufacturing for the Future (Mfg4) event will be hosted in Hartford, CT, May 6 to 8, 2014. This event features manufacturing professionals from aerospace, defense, medical and "micromanufacturing" industries.
The event gives professionals the opportunity to collaborate, network, gain knowledge and explore innovative applications and technologies, a press release from ThomasNet states.
Mfg4 is also co-located with both Medical Manufacturing Innovations and MicroManufacturing conferences. These two events, with more than 250 exhibitors, will offer a wide range of medical and bio-medical technologies that have diverse applications.
"Following selection and problem definition there exists a critical period where prototyping, testing, and capabilities determine the design intent," said Christopher Kaye, vice president of research and technical innovation at U.S. Endoscopy. "By encouraging innovators to collaborate, we are able to recognize difficult problems from the start without compromising the final deliverable."
For more information, visit Mfg4.


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After a scoreless first half of play in which FC Dallas placed plenty of offensive pressure on the Red Bulls' back line, the tides turned significantly when the teams stepped onto the pitch for the final 45 minutes.
New York closed out the final 10 minutes of the first strong and showed that same sense of attack to start the second. It didn't take long for the Red Bulls to register the goal that allowed them to take the lead and ultimately walk away with a 2-0 victory at Pizza Hut Park.
It all came to form rather quickly. Mehdi Ballouchy, fresh off the bench at the 59-minute mark to replace an injured Dax McCarty, sent a pass into the box hoping to find his mark. Joel Lindpere slipped behind the defender, met the ball, and sent it home past Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to give the Red Bulls a 1-0 lead.
Here's a replay of the goal that allowed the Red Bulls to take the lead, courtesy of Lindpere's left foot:


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Such are the ironies of Conrad's earliest short stories, which are not apprentice work but miniature masterpieces in their own right. As astoundingly original in construction as the great novels that were to come, these tales are in many ways more challenging and more disturbing still. A sense of human existence as surprising and often perplexing informs every page of this remarkable collection. Complex, arresting, and unsettling, these are indeed "tales of unrest".
©1898 Charles Scribner's Sons; (P)1982 Jimcin Recordings
"Very poor sound quality"
I had just finished "Within the Tides" and was really looking forward to listening to this book. Unfortunately this seems to be a digital dub from a consumer grade cassette recording. I gave up after five minutes because the sound was so bad, and the reading so flat.
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Maths up to 12th grade-Higher Secondary
Science up to 5th grade - Primary
Reasoning Logic up to Bachelors in Engineering MBA Students
10 Years - Teaching
5 Years - Own Institute teaching Maths/ Science For classes till XII and For Maths Olympiad
MSc - IIT Roorkee
We have an Institute DakshGlobal where I conduct following programmes ;
Maths tuition ; till class xii.
Science tuition ; class xii.
Maths olympiad.
Logic and rreasoning skills for be/mba students
We provide personalised attention to each student, hence we have only 10 students in a batch.
In addition we also provide ON LINE TUTIONS/COACHING.
Pricing: Rs900/month till Class X
Rs 1000/month for Class XI and Class XII.
Geographical Area Covered: Indore
Available for online teaching: yes
Available for one-to-one, Private teaching: yes
Available for House teaching(Teacher travels to you): no
Gender: Female
Address: Fh269, scheme 54, vijaynagar, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Pin code: 425010
Phone: 9303108151


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JavaScript Tip of the Week for May 20, 1996: All about Windows (no, not the OS) | 3
msgWindow=window.open("test.html", "NameofWindow", "toolbar=no, width=350, height=400, directories=no, status=no, scrollbars=yes, resize=no, menubar=no")
To see what this window would look like, press this button:
The HTML file test.html simply said "This is a window created with JavaScript." If you wanted an image in the window, however, you would have to include an absolute reference to the image. This means that if you had a file in your directory called photo.gif, and your homepage was located at "http://www.domain.com/~mypage", the SRC of the IMG tag would have to be "http://www.domain.com/~mypage/photo.gif".
There are many other things that can be done with windows. You can write information to them, such as form data, and you can use them as remotes to navigate around a site. I'm sure there are about a million other ideas for using them, but I'm not going to go over all of them this week.


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Administrators have this morning been called into Granville Technology Group, which owns the Time and Tiny PC brands and the Computer Shop retail outlets.
Around 1,500 employees stand to lose their jobs as the group finally cracks under the financial weight of producing low-cost PCs in an ever-tightening market. Speaking to the BBC, administrators Grant Thornton UK LLP said: "The group has fallen victim to the continued price deflation in the personal computer market."
Rumours had been rife throughout the week that Granville's fortunes were faltering. An email sent out by an unofficial employees group enumerated several serious financial woes – not all of which have been substantiated – including the withdrawal of credit facilities and the imminent closure of the Groups high street PC outlets.
The latter did in fact happen yesterday, when the doors of all 78 Computer Shop branches were shut, at the time temporarily.
There are reports that the situation at Granville's Lancashire headquarters is tense, with police being called in and a number of employees locked in one of the company's facilities.
This morning the company said, "Our first responsibility is to our customers and staff," promising further statements at 11am and then midday. So far no further comment has emerged. All members of the board except the non-executive chairman are understood to have resigned.


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Notes: Bernie checks in with Torre
Notes: Bernie checks in with Torre
Bernie Williams, the longtime veteran outfielder and a cornerstone of the team's four most recent World Series championship rosters, had checked in to wish his club luck for the coming season.
"It was very nice," Torre said. "It certainly put a smile on my face. He was the same guy: 'How you doing, you ready to go?' He's a caring individual, and I think that's what makes him so special."
Williams, 38, did not accept a standing non-roster invitation to the Yankees' Spring Training, and Torre has expressed regret that Williams didn't report to Tampa, Fla. As the manager has said, no one will ever know what could have happened in that camp.
So as the Yankees and Devil Rays lined the chalk at Yankee Stadium on Monday, an April chill cutting through the air, Williams was miles away, preparing for the reality of missing his first Opening Day experience in 16 years. After a brief conversation, Torre passed the telephone along to some of Williams' longtime teammates.
Mariano Rivera, who has now dropped his belongings into Williams' corner locker as the longest-tenured player in pinstripes, was nowhere to be found.
But both Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada were nearby and found their way to the line, greeting their soft-spoken former teammate, exchanging new cell phone numbers and accepting his well wishes for the coming season.
"He sounded pretty positive," Posada said. "Bernie's going to miss it more than us."
Jeter said that the concept of Williams not being in a Yankees uniform was "weird at first," but he believes the team has -- for the most part -- adjusted to the reality.
Small reminders do pop up now and again, though; Jeter said that Williams always used to take the seat behind the captain's on Yankees team charters, passing the hours of flight by strumming some licks on his guitar.
"I didn't have to listen to that [on] this trip," Jeter said.
Torre said that Williams still has not completely ruled out the idea that he could play in the Major Leagues this season. Posada said he believed that Williams would be physically capable of pulling off a return, though the Yankees -- as of now -- do not appear to have any place for Williams to play.
"It's all up to him," Posada said. "I have no idea. It'd be a tough thing to do, especially being 38. I'm pretty sure he can do it if he puts his mind to it."
You know what to do: In his role as team captain, Jeter said he did not have any special words of inspiration for the Yankees' experienced roster, which assembled with seemingly equal parts anticipation and excitement for Monday's ceremonies.
"There's no speech or anything," Jeter said. "We've got a lot of veterans on this team, a lot of guys who have been here before. I think everyone is just eager to get to games that count."
Even so, as the Yankees counted the minutes until the 83rd season opener at Yankee Stadium unfolded, even Jeter admitted to some nervous energy coursing through his veins.
"You get butterflies," Jeter said. "You get excited. Everyone's a little bit excited just because it's the first game. You look forward to getting this game out of the way so you can get into a routine of playing every single day, but this is special, especially here in New York."
The pageantry of a Yankee Stadium opener traditionally presents sights to behold and remember, and Monday's event did not disappoint.
Sgt. First Class Mary Kay Messenger, a West Point soloist, performed the national anthem, while a giant American flag was unfurled in the outfield by 40 West Point cadets. A flyover by two U.S. Navy F-18s, piloted by the Strike Fighter Squadron 34, punctuated the experience with an exclamation point.
"Opening Day is always significant," Torre said. "Even though it only counts as one game in the standings, you try to make your decisions with that in mind. All the hoopla, once that's over with, then it's baseball."
First time around: If Jeter -- cool as anyone under pressure -- can be swept up in the atmosphere of Opening Day, consider, then, how some of the Yankees who haven't been through countless openers, heated contests against the Red Sox and, yes, World Series battles may have felt.
As the ceremonies neared, first baseman Josh Phelps buttoned his jersey just outside his locker. At the other end of the clubhouse, reliever Sean Henn sat on a stool with his hands folded.
The two seemed calm, considering they were about to be introduced to a capacity crowd. The right-handed-hitting Phelps -- who logged a start over Doug Mientkiewicz against Tampa Bay lefty Scott Kazmir -- said that nerves would overtake him a bit as the first pitch neared, but he said it could be a good thing.
"If you don't have a little bit of anticipation and some jitters, then it's time to move on," Phelps said. "If you don't get excited for Opening Day, there's something wrong."
Catcher Wil Nieves, who talked with Henn a bit about the excitement throbbing in the clubhouse, voiced his feelings as game time drew closer.
"It's a blessing," Nieves said. "Last year, I made the team, but I didn't get to come here. We opened in Oakland, and it's not the same. I can't wait to run to the line when they call my name."
Not an issue: Torre said he had no sentimental thoughts as he departed Legends Field and headed north for New York, even though there is a possibility that he may have done so for the final time.
Torre, 66, has been the Yankees' manager since 1996 and is as much a mainstay as almost anyone in the organization, though he is now beginning his final year under contract. He said that his employment status is off in the distance as a subject that does not consume him, a tactic he learned back in his days as the manager of the Mets, when he decorated the office at Shea Stadium as though he'd be across town forever.
"I never think about more than what's happening now and what I'm loyal to," Torre said. "I really haven't thought, in walking through this thing so far, that I won't be doing it again."
Firsts of the year: Carl Pavano threw the first pitch of the Yankees' season -- a ball, high and away to Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford -- at 1:10 p.m. ET.
The Yankees' first batter and hit belonged to leadoff man Johnny Damon, who singled off Kazmir to open the game, and Jason Giambi drove home Damon and Bobby Abreu with the first runs when he singled in the bottom of the first.
The Yankees' first official "whoops" belonged to Alex Rodriguez, who dropped a foul Ty Wigginton popup in the first inning and was charged with an error for prolonging the at-bat.
Coming up: Andy Pettitte will make his return to New York after three seasons in the National League on Wednesday as the Yankees face off against the Rays in Game 2 of a three-game series. Right-hander Jae Seo will start for Tampa Bay, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.
Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Caleb Breakey, an associate reporter for MLB.com, contributed to this report. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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News Brief: Camdessus says Thailand has Made Impressive Progress in Implementing its Economic Program
January 23, 1998
Camdessus says Thailand has Made Impressive Progress in Implementing its Economic Program
Michel Camdessus, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said today "Together with other members of IMF management and staff, I have had extensive discussions with the Finance Minister of Thailand, Tarrin Nimmanahaemenda, and his delegation in Washington this week. These discussions have confirmed that the Thai authorities have made impressive progress in implementing the economic program that is supported by a stand-by credit with the IMF and by financing from the international community. In particular, the program's quantitative performance criteria continue to be met, external current account adjustment has been more rapid than anticipated, and structural reforms in a number of areas are well underway, most importantly in the financial sector. Given the deterioration in the economic environment in the region since the program was originally formulated, and its implications for economic activity, this has been especially commendable.
"I have also reviewed with Minister Tarrin various proposals for additional measures
that can be taken to consolidate the progress that has been made. These will be developed more
fully during the forthcoming IMF mission that will arrive in Bangkok in early February and stay
for about 2 weeks. This mission will conduct the second review, when all aspects of the
program will be comprehensively reviewed to allow Thailand, through its own efforts, and with
all the support we can catalyze from the international community, to be able to promptly and
fully overcome the present crisis. In particular, the macroeconomic framework of the program
will be adapted to the changed economic environment, to take into account the more rapid
external adjustment that is underway, and to incorporate the impact of the changed economic
outlook on budgetary revenues; the need for a stronger safety net will also be assessed. I am
confident that such flexible adaptation of Thailand's economic program will better assure
the achievement of its objectives, prevent an excessive contraction of economic activity, and
allow for an early recovery of Thailand's economy," Camdessus said.
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