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THE
CHALLENGE
The
affected person without timely and visible help determines that
misuse and under use of numbers plays a major role in their not
accessing help. This is the voice of an HIV/AIDS orphan.
Today,
HIV/AIDS orphans serve as statistics in many contexts. Apart from
being quoted on elaborate platforms, nothing tangible trickles down
to many of them. Is it that viable interventions have not been developed?
Or is it a case of being far removed from help?
HIV/AIDS
robbed me of my parents, denying me the comfort of being parented.
Being the eldest child, I had to definitely take their place. I
have to endure on their behalf, the teary eyes of my young brothers
and sisters who are uncertain about the future. The alienating stares
of villagers, neighbors, friends and relatives make my new role
scary. My own memories terrify me. The constant flash backs of my
ailing parents lying helpless and yet in so much pain, repeatedly
haunts me. Those deaths were painfully met but now the emotional
drain that I experience seems to outdo that.
Friends
and foes alike, turned up in large numbers to convey their condolences
after the news of their deaths spread. They wanted to give them
befitting burials. I cannot help wondering where they were when
my parents were ailing, when they lacked money to purchase anti-retrovirals,
when they were bedridden, when in despair from their deteriorating
conditions I rushed them to hospital? Whoever talked about strong,
reliable, extended family ties?!
Collective efforts were only realized during the burials. As the
caskets were lowered into the graves, the crowds steadily reduced.
Soon the place was empty, deserted. The implications of what had
happened then slowly began to be realized. Eating a decent meal
became a miracle, domestic workers had to be let to go, for the
school goers, their case would be sorted out by God Himself. Claims
of unpaid loans and threats to auction the only place we called
“home” began to suffice. The question of estate administrator
too, had to be resolved.
In
that situation I began to entertain thoughts of self-pity. “
Why me?” I pondered. “And why not me?” came the
reply. This is not a circumstance you would wish to befall another.
The consequences that come with it are mind-boggling and will last
a lifetime.
I
strongly believe that society has not come face-to-face with the
complete implications of this challenge and that what we purport
to comprehend may well be a tip of the iceberg. If concerted efforts
are not made to mete the challenge of HIV/AIDS orphans, one can
only guess the extent of the overwhelming situation it may beget.
The
call, therefore, is for HIV/AIDS programme designers to systematically
avail interventions to the growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans. These
should encompass holistic approaches that meet all the needs of
the orphans. Care should be taken to inco-orporate the orphans’
coping mechanisms in order to successfully sustain interventions
and to effectively mitigate against threats and challenges that
these orphans face. Finally, aggressive multisectoral research in
this area of HIV/AIDS orphans cannot be over emphasized. |
