Clinton Presidential Center "Travel Diary: Bill Clinton from Johannesburg"

I arrived on Monday in Capetown, South Africa. It's been a year since I last visited Africa, and I'm excited to see all the progress we've made since then in our fight against the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

One of the highlights of my trip so far was the 88th birthday party of my dear friend, Nelson Mandela. For the occasion, I wore a shirt emblazoned with the number 46664— Nelson's prison number when he was an inmate for so many years on Robben Island. The number was a reminder of how much Nelson was willing to sacrifice in the name of justice. His life is an enduring inspiration to me, and I was honored to pay tribute to him on this special occasion.

I spent the first three days of my seven nation trip in South Africa and Lesotho, meeting with leaders and health care professionals, inspecting clinics, and seeing what an impact my Foundation's programs have made.

These two nations each have serious HIV/AIDS problems. South Africa has more people living with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world, and Lesotho has a 23.2 percent HIV prevalence rate, the highest of any of my HIV/AIDS Initiative's partner countries.

Read more about the Africa trip

President Clinton with Nelson Mandela at his 88th birthday party
Nelson Mandela's 88th birthday party

With patients at a Lesotho HIV/AIDS clinic

Photo Credit: Ralph Alswang, Clinton Foundation

Yesterday I toured the Carlisle Street Clinic in Durban, South Africa with Bill and Melinda Gates. I'm good friends with Bill and Melinda, and I've been impressed by the terrific work their foundation is doing to fight the pandemic. The facility we visited investigates microbicides, which women can use to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS. I met some patients who have benefited from these treatments, which could be a vital step toward curbing the spread of the disease. I feel more hopeful with each new advance in the fight against AIDS, but we still have a long way to go.

Later that day we went to visit Mafeteng Hospital. During the drive from the airport, I had a chance to admire Lesotho's spectacular beauty. It's dry and cooler than most of Africa, with soaring snow-capped mountains. My HIV/AIDS Initiative provides expertise, lab support, and pediatric AIDS medicines to Mafeteng Hospital, which serves a predominantly rural population of 185,500.

While touring the hospital, I met the most adorable, vivacious little girl, Ariett. When we met, she took my hand and started dancing with me, right there in the clinic's hallway. Without her AIDS medication, Ariett wouldn't be alive today. Thanks to these treatments, she's not just alive— she can dance and play like any other little girl.

In addition to the dedicated health care professionals who work at the hospital, I also met some "expert patients," who live openly with HIV and are on treatment for the disease. These expert patients, many of whom were close to death before they starteed on AIDS treatments, now promote awareness about testings and treatment to others in their communities. It was great to see people who were helped at Mafeteng Hospital try to use their experiences to make a difference in others' lives.

I was also impressed by Lesotho's "Know Your Status" campaign, which raises AIDS awareness and encourages everyone in the country to get tested for the disease. This is an important effort that will go a long way toward showing the spread of the disease in Lesotho, and I hope other nations will follow their lead on this issue.

In the last year, we've accomplished so much. I'm truly inspired when I see healthy children who might not be alive today without the AIDS medicine my Foundation provides and the care they receive at the clinics we sponsor. As I travel onward to Malawi and Rwanda, I'm looking forward to seeing early results from an exciting new program that will help even more people live long, productive lives.