HIV

I have been in South Africa for a little while now, but my experience here has not been as effected by HIV as I thought it might be. About 10% of the population is infected, and out of a population of 45 to 50 million that make about 6.6 million of them infected with HIV. That is a huge number of people. I am not totally sure, but the entire population of Colorado may be quite a bit less than 6 million. That would mean my entire state could theoretically be infected with HIV. Even in those terms I can not begin to grasp the reality of that many people being infected by a disease that is terminal.

How has it been possible for me not to be affected every day by this monstrous disease? One way I think is that most people whom I encounter with HIV look and act perfectly healthy. Even though statistically speaking, in a kombi taxi on any given day I am ridding with at least 3 persons with HIV, and I would have no idea who they were.

The other problem is that HIV at the moment, effects mostly black South Africans. Perhaps that is because they make up the majority of the population, so everything would effect them more than it effects other groups. Another reason this population is more heavily effected is because the correlation between the spread of HIV and the apartheid regime. Many of the apartheid laws encouraged the spread of HIV, for example, men were not allowed to live with their families while employed. That meant living in a barracks far from home for most of the month and returning home sometimes weekly, but usually, just once a month. This lifestyle did not encourage fidelity in either partner as you might imagine, nor did it encourage healthy families at home. Both fidelity and a healthy family unit are important factors in preventing the spread of HIV.

But perhaps most importantly, the reason the black South African population can carry a majority of the infections, and have it go unnoticed, is purely economical. Economics based upon up on racism. Their monetary value is usually less than other segments of the population because traditionally they make less money and spend less money. There has been change since apartheid, and there are now more Black South Africans who hold a large piece of the pie economically, but generally speaking they do not. Since it does not readily effect the pocketbooks of the other members of the population, HIV goes unnoticed. However, with more cases of HIV turning into AIDS and then death; it is effecting their pocketbooks. Only by now it is grossly to late.

So as the months continue I am trying to open my eyes wider, and broaden my experience, to include this illusive and deadly disease. I have visited an orphanage filled with parents who have died from AIDS, and I have visited a hospital filled with people who are dyeing of the disease, and I have seen a whole community just outside of Pietermaritzburg who is being brought even further into poverty by HIV related issues. But while I am here at varsity: studying, eating, sleeping, I do not see the effects of HIV. I am trying to bridge the gap between these two competing realities.