Friday, June 10, 2011

A Lesson from the AIDS Man


Monday, May 30th

            I have been battling with what to write about during our time in Guguletu since all of it was so beneficial and powerful.  This story was one that I continued to battle with on whether I should write about it, but after continuing to think about it for a week I knew that I had to share what I had learned.

            On Monday we traveled to the poverty-ridden township of Khayelitsha to visit to Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) site.  In order to give you some insight into exactly where we were I will tell some interesting facts that I learned.  It is one of the newer townships in the western cape flats created after many of the townships began to become over populated.  To give some background on just how much this township struggles here are some statistics:

*2 rapes are reported each day.  (These are just the reported rapes, many go unreported and may be committed by members of the victims family)
*There is 1 toilet for every 10 homes in Khayelitsha.
*There is 1 tap water for every 20 homes in Khayelitsha.

            This lack of proper sanitation leads to people having to venture out to find a toilet or place to go to the bathroom in the night.  These people that go out to find a toilet have a high chance of being raped when using a public bathroom.  The lack of clean water leaves countless children sick with bacteria infections.  No type of drain system exists in the township either, creating good conditions for homes to flood.

On top of the sanitation problem, the justice system has really let down the citizens of Khayelitsha.  A case from 6 years ago, where a lesbian woman was beaten and murdered by 20 men due to her sexual orientation, has still to be discussed due to continuous postponements.  Sadly, numerous cases such as this exist in the townships.  We later found out that it is also common for lesbians to be gang raped by males who believe that it will change her sexual orientation.  I got sick to my stomach when I heard that these cases are being put off due to sexual orientation and that acts of rape are being targeted towards the GLBT community. 

I wanted to share this information because in my opinion from what I saw of Khayelitsha, it was a more intense type of poverty overall from Guguletu.  It was hard to see all of the shacks and overpopulating after knowing that by the end of the day two women, maybe someone I had even seen that day, would be raped.  It was hard for me to even fathem these facts at first, as I’m sure if you are reading it is as well hard to digest.

            All of these unfortunate stories and statistics lead up to us meeting the AIDS Man, as he said we should call him.  We walked into the TAC building with numerous eyes questioning us as we walked in a mob down the streets of Khayelitsha.  The AIDS Man was actually the first HIV positive person that I have met.  He was wearing his HIV positive shirt and completely comfortable sitting there while talking to us about his journey.  He has taken the path to be open about his HIV positive status to the community, something that can be criticized and feared by members of the community.  As he was speaking, he was so strong in his purpose and positive about his status.  It was personally thought provoking for me when he said, “I’m not sick, but my blood is infected with HIV”.  Many times people, even myself at times, view those who are HIV positive as sick and near death.  But in most cases, being HIV positive is just an obstacle to deal with in life, not a life threatening disease.  By the AIDS Man taking the positive approach to continue to live his life to the fullest, he is really living his life and only lives with HIV in his blood, not as a negative hold over his mindset.  He now works to help others who are HIV positive share their story and get support for ARV’s.


As he was speaking I began to mindlessly write what it might have been like first finding out you were HIV positive and how he dealt with it.

Positivity about being Positive

Rewind back to the second that the negative turned positive.
Imagine Resentment, Pain and Uncertainty.
Join the Number?  Join the Statistic?
No.
Break the mold.
Stand up in the crowd.
Be authentic.
Be positive.
Inspire the rest.

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