Children in southern parts of Africa go to funerals at lunchtime, after school and on the weekends, says Stephen Lewis. “You drive down the roads of many of the urban centres in Africa today and see a clutch of students in their bright uniforms and you think they’re in a schoolyard. And then you suddenly see they’re in a cemetery.”

Lewis, the United Nations envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, was the closing speaker at the Engineers Without Borders national conference in Toronto. He talked about the urgent need for aid in HIV/AIDS-ridden African countries and congratulated the group on concentrating on achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals.

He dotted his speech with stories about his experiences in Uganda, Cameroon, Mozambique, and other “ravaged” countries to illustrate some shocking statistics. For example: of the 8.6 million people between the ages of 15 and 24 living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, 67 per cent are women and girls.

“The numbers are grotesque. Grotesque,” Lewis emphasized in a loud voice, throwing his fist against the top of the podium. “The only thing more grotesque than the numbers is the targeting of one sex. This is a real battle about gender equality.”

He noted sexual violence, communicable diseases, the inability of young girls to go to school, the absence of property and inheritance rights and perpetual discrimination around household duties, as some of the struggles faced by African women.

“I just can’t believe what I see every time I travel to the continent. I just can’t believe it.” Lewis shakes his head, his voice rising. “You look to the agricultural sector and there are homes which have no more household food security because the women who do the farming are too ill or have died. You look at the teaching sector, and there are more teachers dying than those that are graduating from teacher’s college. You look at the health sector and see that the levels of infection are identical to that of the general population. You look at the private sector where companies are hiring two or three people for every job to be sure they have one person to fill the job. You see in front of your eyesâe¦the erosion of the capacity of a country.”

He pointed to the investment, financial and trade mechanisms that manipulated and were imposed in ways that ravaged those economies. In the 1980s, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and individual donors from the North persuaded many developing countries to take on a package of measures, in return for loans. This restructuring of economies has systemically not included local citizens in the decision-making process. The negative effects are most felt by the poor, workers, women, farms, food security and the environment.

“And now the World Bank says to the world, ‘We were wrong. Structural Adjustment was an error.’ But the damage done to the fabric of the societies is still felt to this day.”

Lewis said it is important to understand the legacy of such imposition and “not to make the assumption that somehow these countries have twisted and manipulated and battered themselves. Because, in truth that has happened from time to time, but the distortion of the economies, the poverty you see, the struggle you attempt to overcome, that’s in very considerable measure an inheritance of the economic lunacy which we imposed on so many of those countries for so many years.”

In an attempt to reverse such lunacy, the UN drafted a set of eight development goals in 2000, to be achieved by 2015. The goals are to:

  • eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
  • achieve universal primary education;
  • promote gender equality and empower women;
  • reduce child mortality, improve maternal health;
  • combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
  • ensure environmental sustainability;
  • develop global partnerships for development.

Engineers Without Borders is a Canadian charitable organization made up of engineers, geographers, environmentalists and people from all sorts of backgrounds, who are passionate about contributing to international development. Lewis said he was impressed that the model “without borders” is spreading. Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders, was the first group to use the model when it formed in 1971.

EWB began three years ago on a napkin in a coffee shop to work toward such goals. Co-founders George Roter and Parker Mitchell wanted to set up an organization of individuals who can change the world by applying their expertise. They also wanted to make Canada a world leader in international development.

Roter said there are 160,000 engineers in Canada. He said EWB could make significant differences in the world if they can change the way engineers think about development. “We need to give the government ammunition that will allow them to make the changes Canadians demand — to meet the Millennium Goals,” said Roter.

Stephen Lewis expressed belief in our government’s focus to give aid to Africa. He encouraged the group to continue writing letters to Paul Martin, reminding him of the urgent need for Canada to support Africa. “Because like all Liberals, he needs reminding,” said Lewis, who received a gust of hearty chuckles from the crowd. “I think Paul Martin is a natural multilateralist. I think he actually cares about the United Nations. I think he would like to carve out a better place for Canada internationally. He’s a very able person and has much more broad experience than his predecessor,” said Lewis to the crowd of mainly young adults. From his meeting with Martin, Lewis said, “He seems to be absolutely committed to getting generic drug legislation. I don’t doubt his sincerity about that for a second.”

But Lewis went on to say that such Millennium Goals as eradicating extreme poverty by 2015 are inconceivable. “Overall the poverty is deepening and intensifying in many developing countries and the rift between the have and have-nots is ever more profound.”

EWB has sent over 60 young Canadian engineers to work on 30 projects in 20 countries in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, South America and parts of Europe. The Canadian government, corporations and individuals financially support it.

Avi Caplan, a technology-in-society student at the University of Waterloo, volunteered in Uganda last summer. He worked on an information, communications and technology project, “cross-fertilizing” resources such as tool designs between villages for carpenters and metal workers. His words to those interested in volunteering abroad? “Just go! But don’t go as a tourist, some parts are dangerous. Go as a volunteer.”

Back in the ballroom, Stephen Lewis left the podium on an encouraging note. “There is a renaissance in this cynical and difficult world of young people engaging in international development.” His hands reached out. The audience soaked up his every word. “It’s exciting to see the idealism, which throbs now in this kind of collectivity — that you’re not overcome by all the cynical behaviour of so much of the political apparatus. That you understand that you can break through that apparatus and establish contact at the community and village levels where people’s lives are so profoundly affected. And boy, do they need you. And you need them.”