Pharmacist helps HIV patients in Rwanda

By Sylvia O'Hagan

To residents of an African country still reeling from unspeakable atrocities that took place more than a decade ago, little acts of humanity mean a lot, discovered Joel Zive, a pharmacist who was born and raised in Ardsley.

Having just returned Feb. 6 from two weeks in Rwanda, where he was part of a humanitarian mission to help set up a pharmacy for a medical study, Zive enthusiastically described his time in a country just starting to recover from the genocide that claimed 860,000 lives in just 100 days. From handing out bananas and muffins to orphans to teaching his translator some very American jargon - "riding shotgun" and "burning rubber" - Zive, 43, found himself immersed in an experience worlds away from bucolic Westchester. He returned profoundly moved by that experience. "I didn't expect it to affect me in this way, but when you see the power of the work you can do to help others, it changes you," said Zive.

Zive, a 1979 graduate of Ardsley High School, lives in Hartsdale within the Ardsley School District. Together with his father, Gerald, an Ardsley resident, Zive manages and runs Zive Pharmacy, which the elder Zive started in 1963. Through the Bronx-based business, Zive has worked with numerous AIDS patients, and has been hired by various drug manufacturers to lecture on AIDS treatment, work which eventually led to his time in Rwanda.

After being partially sponsored to attend and speak at the annual International Aids Conference in Bangkok in July 2004, a first for Zive, who notes that until eight or nine months ago "I never did anything international," met and befriended Dr. Kathryn Anastos at the airport in Bangkok. Keeping in touch, Anastos, a noted specialist in the care of women with HIV and an associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, soon told Zive she was planning to open a clinic for HIV-positive women and their children in Rwanda, some having been infected through atrocities from the genocide. In November, Anastos asked Zive if he would go to Rwanda to help set up the pharmacy for the clinic research project. The pharmacy would be needed to monitor where and when the women would receive their medications in order to do a complete tracking of their treatment. The study was in participation with an organization dedicated to helping women with AIDS, We Act (www.we-actx.org), for which Anastos is the scientific director and principal investigator for Rwanda.

Zive was intrigued by the idea, but admittedly a little reluctant due to the reputation of the country and the prospect of leaving behind his family, wife Ellen and children Jacob, 10, a fifth-grader at Ardsley Middle School, and Rachel, 8, a third-grader at Concord Road Elementary School. "It's not like I'm 22 and have just gotten out of college and joining the Peace Corps... I give my wife a lot of credit for this," Zive explained.

Zive met with Anastos in early January and, upon agreeing to join the project, had just two weeks to get the basics together for a pharmacy setup in Rwanda. Anastos wanted very "simple medicine" for the clinic's patients, despite the fact that today's HIV drugs are "pretty sophisticated," Zive said. He also needed to be able to locate and adapt a software system for what would be the Rwandan pharmacy.

During his preparations, Zive was "really touched" by people on this end who wanted to help. "It really surprised me that people were so generous," recalled Zive. From colleagues and friends came donations of drugs, computer programs, printers and even IT help initiated through an Ardsley neighbor, David Osborn's, contacts, that had Zive loaded and ready to go to Rwanda within the two-week crunch. "People told me, 'You're giving up two weeks of your time, going to a place that's potentially dangerous... helping out is the least we can do'," relayed Zive. "I really didn't think of it that way."

In Rwanda, Zive found his work and his dealings with the Rwandans more rewarding than he had expected. Due to what he said was the respect Anastos had earned, Zive had access to some of the top officials in the country.

"I met with the heads of HIV treatment and drug distribution in Rwanda, and met the country's Minister of Health and Director of Pharmacy," said Zive. There were light moments, like some missteps taken setting up the computers, which had Zive scouting out computer parts in unfamiliar circumstances. "It's not like you can just run out and get what you need in Best Buy," Zive joked. Having only two weeks in the country, Zive was able to execute a modified version of his and Anastos' original plan, and train some native Rwandans in the programs in order to continue the tracking aspect of the clinic project, which is ongoing.

Zive enjoyed working with the clinic's team, which included Rwandan natives and exiles, and the women and children who came for treatment. Zive, who recently earned a doctorate in pharmacy, said his work and dealings in Rwanda had him utilizing more than his formal training. "I'm used to working and negotiating in New York City," explained Zive. "I was able to take all those skills and bring them to Rwanda to help this organization."

While in Rwanda, Zive did take the time to see some of the sights, explore local haunts, visit a genocide memorial and relate his travels to his family, friends and neighbors via e-mail.

"My neighbors were really enthralled from the e-mails I sent them," noted Zive. "I told them about how the denomination you would regularly carry around there was 100 francs... which is about 18 cents in the U.S."

Speaking from his home, surrounded by his proud and supportive family, Zive said he was happy to be back, but "there's a certain emptiness, as I had developed a close bond with these people that I was working with." He joked that everyone is already asking when is he going back, based on the enthusiastic way he speaks of Rwanda. "What happened while I was there was that it became much more than an objective, but an enlightenment," said Zive. "You see where you stand in the world in terms of humanity. If the country can incorporate even some of what I suggested, then the potential to help make thousands of lives better is there. That is just mind-blowing to me."

For more information, or to donate to AIDS care for women and girls internationally, visit www.we-actx.org

Reproduced with permission of The Rivertowns Enterprise. (c) 2005 W.H. White Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Published in The Rivertowns Enterprise on Friday, February 18, 2005