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WSU professors confront Rwanda's
`second genocide'

I

n Kigali, Rwanda, Wayne State University
professor Mark Luborsky works past dark
in a building overlooking a lit courtyard.
Nothing is unusual about the setting except
that 14 years ago, tens of thousands of Tutsis
were slaughtered in that courtyard. Along
with Professor of Anthropology Andrea Sankar,
his wife and collaborator, Luborsky regularly
endures the 38-hour trip from Detroit to Kigali
to study Rwanda's HIV epidemic, often called
that country's second genocide.

"People speak of the thousands of siblings,
parents and neighbors murdered in that
courtyard," Luborsky says. "Yet life goes on.
The power of Rwanda is that people can come
together, acknowledge the trauma, and then
build on it to create something better."

Future research interviewers in a week-long training retreat conducted by
Dr. Mark Luborsky (top row, far right) and his team.

policies translate to individuals.
Luborsky and Sankar are social anthropologists
who bring a thoughtful cultural perspective
"We tried to remain alert to huge
to their consultations with the Rwandan
misconceptions that even the well-educated
government. A few years ago, HIV rates
visitor can have when working in another
were estimated at 13 percent of the adult
culture," Luborsky says. "We learned that the
population, making Rwanda one of the top
Rwandan ministry did not
10 most-affected
field-test its prevention
African countries.
programs before
Today Rwanda has
implementing them. So
one of the lowest
we introduced cutting-
transmission rates in
edge tools for survey,
the world. Much of
intervention research
this success come s
and field testing so the
from the country's
programs fit the people."
willingness to
The nation's health
collaborate with
ministers soon realized
researchers like
that few Rwandans had
Luborsky. "They
the skills to conduct
have great pride in
research and field testing.
being Rwandan,"
So Luborsky's team trained
he says, "and they
a cadre of professional
use that pride
research interviewers, the
to clear huge
The team's Canadian translators
first national association
roadblocks to
improvement — not entertain rural children with pictures
of such experts in the
hide behind them." from a digital camera.
country.

Three years ago, the Rwandan government
invited Luborsky's research team to apply
its expertise and skills toward preventing
the spread of HIV. This marked the first time
Rwanda had ever used social science and
anthropology research to understand the
people's perspective and how government

At Wayne State, Luborsky has a joint
appointment between the anthropology
department and the Institute of Gerontology.
At the institute, he directs aging and health
disparities research, overseeing a $3.3 million,
five-year grant designed to close the wellness
gap between older African Americans and

other ethnic groups. He is also editor of Medical
Anthropology Quarterly, the first international

journal published through a Wayne State
institute. He divides his time between Ann
Arbor and Philadelphia, where he is a member
of Folkshul Temple. He says without hesitation
that being Jewish is fundamental to who he is
and what he does.

"As far back as I can remember, my academic
pursuits have gone hand-in-hand with the
Jewish tradition of tikkun olam or world repair,"
he says. "A scholar's work should make the
world a better place for himself and future
generations. Jews appreciate the horror of
oppression, so we must lead the way to an
improved and more peaceful world for all."

Lofty ideals combine with stark realism when
Luborsky visits Kigali, Rwanda's capital. By
4:30 each afternoon, the air thickens with
smoke from wood fires for cooking; no one
can afford cleaner-burning coal. Electricity and
water are luxuries; the city is dark and residents
fetch their own water. Genocide and HIV have
made orphans of nearly one million Rwandan
children, so intact families try to compensate by
adopting a number equal to their own.

"Rwandans barely have reliable sanitation, food
and power," Luborsky says. But he adds that,
"In the short time we've been there, we've seen
improvements in roads, markets, schools and
phone service. The good works Rwandans do
each day will rebuild the country they love."

Have you had a hip fracture in the past eight years?

If the answer is yes, and you are 55 or older, then we're looking for you!

Wayne State University and the Institute of Gerontology are conducting research to learn how
individuals rebuild their lives after a hip fracture.

Participants receive $40

• No travel necessary
• No physical or invasive tests

Mark Luborsky, PhD, principal investigator. For more info call-toll free (866) 665 5501.

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WAYNE STATE
UNIVERSITY

Institute of Gerontology