While it may be true that the best way to learn about a topic is to witness it firsthand, that option is not always available. In the case of somebody like me, who is living in the United States but aspiring to learn about Nigeria and the situation with HIV and AIDS, the best way to learn is to sit down and listen. Luckily for me, Creighton University has a few people worth listening to.

I met Father Andrew E. Ekpenyong, or simply Father Andrew, during a summer Physics 212 laboratory. Father Andrew was my lab instructor and a student in the Physics Master’s program at Creighton University. I was a rambling student, lost in the midst of electromagnetic waves and lenses. He was, above all, patient. What is more: when I contacted him several years later to relate to him the nature of this assignment, he graciously agreed to share his time and his insights with me. Without hesitation, he dedicated over an hour of his week to helping me.

This page provides a glimpse of the dialogue I had during my interview with Father Andrew, and some of the data I have collected since then. He told me a brief version of the story of Nigeria’s struggle with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and his perspective on how to help. Most of the insights are his, supplemented by standing resources I discovered on the internet.