I can still feel the sting of the heat of the sun as I stand there, leaning against the post that holds up the make shift straw veranda of this quaint shanty. I catch her shyly peaking around the corner in the background, one huge, beautiful brown eye peering up at me with a mixture of curiousity and fear. She can't help but crack a toothy smile as I sneak a quick silly face behind the backs of the adults talking around me. She's in a ruddy little dress and completely barefoot, but absolutely adorable with her close cut hair and ornamental necklace.
The discussion turns to Swahili around me so I can try and follow along. From what I can gather, the family that we have stopped to visit, has been in this area for about four years now, displaced by the violence that followed the 2007 elections. The mama, a spindely mother of five, is in late fourties/early fifties. She talks animatedly to my counterpart, who tries to relay information to me in English when she can. We ask her some typical questions about different health topics and how their family addresses them. Eventually we get to the HIV/AIDS section of the questionnaire.
"Have you known anyone who has been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS?"
Mama pauses.
She looks fornlornly sideways at the little angel with three fingers in her mouth. She had.
In fact, she was bearing the burden, consequence of this epidemic. The story she tells is one of her neighbor, the little girls mother.
The two mamas had become fast friends when the former's had moved into the area. The girl's mother had found out about a year later that she was infected with HIV, but when she got tested she was already into stage three and her health was in a critical state. As a single mother with three children, she didn't have time to slow down, she had to keep her kids fed and pay for their education. The punishment for being a good mother ended up costing her her life.
The older two kids were old enough to go to boarding school, but the youngest, the one standing before me was taken in by the kind neighbor women and her husband. Currently they are struggling to care, school, and feed eight children, three of which are not their own.
Worldwide, an estimated 34 million women and men are living with HIV/AIDS. 22.5 million of them citizens of Sub-Saharan Africa—where 3 people die every minute from complications related to HIV/AIDS. These statistics while overwhelming, are terrible reminders of the pervasiveness of HIV/AIDS. Sadly, numbers tend to cloak the emotional truths that each number represents. This story is just one of the millions of stories of struggle, courage, and all too often terrible loss.
Today is World AIDS day. A time to remember those loved ones who have been lost to HIV/AIDS by telling their stories and honoring their legacy, but also a time to celebrate the living and bring hope for the future. Yes, please wear the red ribbon and support the cause visibly, but please feed your words with action!
Donate. Write letters to government officials telling of the importance to support research funding and aid/education programmes for community members living with HIV or AIDS. Volunteer at a local event.
Just do.
An HIV/AIDS free generation is possible.
