HIV & AIDS IN AFRICA

While my African friends were surprised that stealing is very common in the Western world, when we started discussing HIV, they were also surprised to learn that it wasn’t rife in Europe and Australia. All of them know someone or many people who have died of AIDS. Several had stories of groups of friends who had died from it, having passed it to each other.

I struggled to explain why it hasn’t reached epidemic proportions in the Western world, that I’m aware of. I could only say that we were threatened by it in the 80’s and early 90’s but that, to a certain extent, it was under control. Education is the key I suppose.



One night over dinner, some friends and I were talking about a local orphanage. They told me that of the thirty orphans, 29 had lost their parents through HIV. I commented how tragic it was that these children would also die from AIDS. They said that only one of the children had contracted the virus. I couldn’t understand how this was the case since it was transmitted to the fetus ineutoro. They explained that this isn’t always the case, but in any case, the likliehood was that the parents didn’t have the virus when the child was born.

I was totally confused at this point while my friends laughed in disbelief at my ignorance. I maintained that surely as soon as the parents got together, one of them gave the virus to the other. How could they have acquired AFTER a child was born? My friends all laughed at my naivety – surely it was obvious, the parents got it from a third party as they were unfaithful. I was genuinely surprised that infidelity was so prevalent, indeed such an assumed part of the culture. It couldn’t be so – I made a comment to this effect. My friends assured me it was the case.

As I thought about this, I was curious to know why HIV/ AIDS is such a major problem here. Many friends have told me it’s because of a lack of education. Others have said it’s because one or both parties in many couples are unfaithful. One friend told me of a friend who was unfaithful to her husband (and he was likewise unfaithful to her). The man she was with was married but his wife was unfaithful to him and the man she was with was with many other women. Anyhow, so basically, this originally couple were both with others who were with others, who were in turn with many others. And somewhere along the line, one of them contracted HIV and passed it right along the line until around twenty people had it!

And since then, I’ve been reading up on this and asking questions and unfortunately it seems to be so. Though generally it’s only the women who will agree with it. The men deny it. That said, unfaithfulness isn’t limited to men here, according to most.

Another friend told me about a book she was reading talked about the AIDS route through Africa. While hitching a lift with a truck driver, the writer and driver stopped for a break. The driver said he would be back in a few minutes. Around an hour later, he returned. As it transpired, the truckie had gone off to a prostitute! This is pretty typical along truckie routes which cover Africa and therefore along those routes, up and down the continent of Africa, HIV and AIDS is very prevalent. And of course, when the truckies go home, they spread it to their wives and their future children!

I read only the other day that 56% of pregnant women in Swaziland are infected with HIV and in Lesotho 30% of women aged between 15 and 17 are infected with the virus (Sun Herald March 19th... takes a while to get here).

I meet AIDS orphans all the time, and those statistics speak for themselves. What more can I say?