Besides
seeing someone die from cancer the next worse thing I’I've seen with my own eyes
was when I saw someone dying of AIDS. We were at a hospice in Northern Uganda
and there was the most emaciated women laying on a mattress with a blank look
on her face. Her cheekbones protruded through her thin skin. Her lips were
pulled back making her teeth stick out abnormally. It would’would've only been days
before she passed from this earth.
I’ve
just started re-reading a book ‘The Price of Stones’ by Twesigye Jackson
Kaguri.Here he describes how and why he started a free primary school for
orphans of HIV/AIDS in Southern Uganda. I was given the book by him last year
on our way to Kenya. It was so inspiring because many of the challenges we have
(he is a Ugandan living in the US) in our work he also experienced. Beyond that
though he expresses the devastation in his village from the pandemic of
HIV/AIDS.
 |
| Jackson Kaguri |
World
AIDS Day is held on December 1st every year giving the world an opportunity
to fight against HIV and support those living with the disease. It’s also an
chance to remember those who have died.
The
HIV/AIDS statistics for Kenya are quite staggering:
- Number of people
living with HIV 1,600,000
- Adults aged 15
to 49 prevalence rate 6.1%
- Adults aged 15
and up living with HIV 1,400,000
- Women aged 15
and up living with HIV 820,000
- Children aged 0
to 14 living with HIV 200,000
- Deaths due to
AIDS 57,000
- Orphans due to
AIDS aged 0 to 17 1,000,000
Here in
Kenya it is still taboo to talk about HIV/AIDS, it is simply known as ‘being
sick’. There are many voluntary counselling and testing centres (VCT’s) where
they do HIV testing, treatment and care. Even though awareness of HIV and AIDS in Kenya is high, many
people living with the virus still face stigma and discrimination. Studies have
shown that although people are aware of the basic facts about HIV and AIDS,
many are not informed of the more in-depth knowledge that addresses issues of
stigma.
 |
| Those living with Hiv/Aids face stigma and discrimination |
I have seen posters in school
staffrooms stating ‘Don’t discriminate against a teacher just because they have
HIV’. There is a long way to go in educating the public about this disease.
I’ve seen posters advertising a cure
for HIV/AIDS by a local doctor. There are stories abounding that if you sleep
with a virgin (or several of them) you can be cured. It seems to be easy to
advertise about it but not talk about it.
The more we can talk about it the
better informed we can be. We can do away with myths (http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/top-10-myths-misconceptions-about-hiv-aids) and
instead be informed. We can help community groups and individuals act in a more
educated way.
In
our line of work (the development field) we meet many people who have HIV/AIDS.
They would much rather live with silence on the matter than to have the stigma
attached with it. They become prisoners of their condition and circumstances.
They are worried they will be shunned by their family and friends so they say
nothing. The silence is all they can hold on to.
This
coming year we would love to hold separate forums for men and women on HIV/AIDS
so that we can break the chains of silence. We want to see men, women and
children free to be who they are. We live in a world that is broken, hurt and
in pain. Our role as Afri-Lift is to take people by the hand and help them into
the way of freedom.
 |
| Help us break the silence |
No comments:
Post a Comment