Today, 1. December, is World Aids Day. Today we are reminded
of the large number of people still affected by the disease. But with statistics
reminding us of the magnitude of the problem, I sometimes tend to forget about
the people, the individuals living with the disease. The human faces behind the
statistics.
I actually know quite a few people living with HIV – no wonder
really since more than 1 in 10 adults in Zimbabwe are HIV positive. But being
in Harare you would not always know about people’s status as ARV’s
(antiretroviral drugs) are now available to most people.
However, that is not always the case when you get out of Harare – the further away you get from the bigger towns the less likely people are to have access to ARVs. Furthermore some 3/4 of ARVs available in Zimbabwe come from donors and should the donor for one reason or another pull out, the Zimbabwean government doesn’t have the resources to supply everyone with drugs. This is one of the worries aired by the director of the National Aids Council in November.
Recently I visited a remote rural area in the Zambezi Valley. It was dry and the heat unrelenting. The main challenge people faced there was access to water – for drinking, for washing, for the cattle and for growing crops. And then there was a long list of other challenges such as access to education, access to health care and just about every other developmental issue in the book – and of course HIV was also one of them.
However, that is not always the case when you get out of Harare – the further away you get from the bigger towns the less likely people are to have access to ARVs. Furthermore some 3/4 of ARVs available in Zimbabwe come from donors and should the donor for one reason or another pull out, the Zimbabwean government doesn’t have the resources to supply everyone with drugs. This is one of the worries aired by the director of the National Aids Council in November.
Recently I visited a remote rural area in the Zambezi Valley. It was dry and the heat unrelenting. The main challenge people faced there was access to water – for drinking, for washing, for the cattle and for growing crops. And then there was a long list of other challenges such as access to education, access to health care and just about every other developmental issue in the book – and of course HIV was also one of them.
In one village, after inspecting a borehole that a charity had helped build, a lady came up to me and asked me to come with her. She said there was a girl who wanted her photo taken but she was in a hut so we had to go there. On the way she told me that this girl was bedridden because of HIV and couldn’t come out.
When we got to the hut family members had helped her on her feet and put her in the door opening. Her name was Fungai. And Fungai was indeed very sick. I felt slightly uncomfortable/surprised that they wanted me to take these photos, but I carried on not knowing what else to do. As she was sitting there she was staring intensely at me and I was wondering whether she really wanted her photo taken. Her eyes were very intense and it was obvious that she had been (was) a very pretty girl. Most likely that’s what got her into trouble.
I noticed that her lips were moving as if she was saying something, but I couldn’t hear her. After taking a few shots I went over to her and showed her the photos – she took a quick glance at them as if to pretend she was interested, but most of the time she was looking at me.
And then I heard what she was whispering – clearly not effortlessly. She kept repeating one word in Shona: rubatsiro, rubatsiro – help (me), help (me).
I don’t know what she wanted me to do – and I am sure that
she didn’t know either. To her my white skin and the fact that someone from
outside was there, probably amounted to the closest thing to help she was ever going
to get.
I am pretty sure that this girl never had access to ARVs – chances are she doesn’t even know what ARVs are. Of course I know – but how was I to help her with ARVs?
Fact of the matter is also that the walls of probably every hut in the village would have a similar story to tell about a daughter, a son, a mother, a father, a brother or a sister. So even if I could have helped her it doesn’t solve the big problem.
I am pretty sure that this girl never had access to ARVs – chances are she doesn’t even know what ARVs are. Of course I know – but how was I to help her with ARVs?
Fact of the matter is also that the walls of probably every hut in the village would have a similar story to tell about a daughter, a son, a mother, a father, a brother or a sister. So even if I could have helped her it doesn’t solve the big problem.
After showing her and her family the photos – pretending not to hear and understand what she was saying – I told her ‘Good luck’, got up and walked away.
That night, lying in bed, all I saw was her eyes staring at me every time I closed my eyes.
Today I am thinking of her again. It’s been a few months and I don’t even know whether she’s still alive.
What I do know is that HIV is still a huge problem and even if some countries have stopped categorising HIV/AIDS as a terminal disease and are now calling it a chronic disease for which you have to stay on medication for the rest of your life, in a country like Zimbabwe it is still very much terminal.
SOME FACTS:
- Between 2002 and 2006 it is estimated that the Zimbabwean population decreased by four million people
- Between 2002 and 2006 it is estimated that the Zimbabwean population decreased by four million people
- Infant mortality has doubled since 1990
- Zimbabwe has a higher number of orphans, in proportion to its population, than any other country in the world, according to UNICEF. As many as one in four children in Zimbabwe are orphaned as a result of parents dying from AIDS.
To hear the story of Esther, a young HIV positive girl, go to http://zimbabweschildren.org/ - she becomes part of the orphan statistics during the filming of the documentary.
To hear the story of Esther, a young HIV positive girl, go to http://zimbabweschildren.org/ - she becomes part of the orphan statistics during the filming of the documentary.
