Road Rage

Yes it’s true, road rage exists even in Africa, and we are living proof. Today, Chase, Westin and I were on our way out to a remote village, and our van turned onto a road, and the only truck we saw in probably 30 minutes, tried to run us off the road. Our driver was so angry, that he stopped the van, and he and the truck driver proceeded to go at it for several minutes, yelling, pointing, their “posses” got out of the respective vehicles to back them up—we just sat quietly in the back of the van, minding our own Mzungu business…this wasn’t our fight! It was unbelievable and I can thankfully report that we made it there and back without further incident. We were over an hour on a one lane road, and then another hour on a dirt road, to go to a small village in the Kumali district where we helped with a monthly outreach HIV medical clinic.

We went with a medical team from AOET (one of Assist’s partners in Uganda), the team was made up of six WONDERFUL 20-30 somethings who are doing their best to make a difference in their country. They were so intelligent, full of life, compassionate…just wonderful people to know anywhere, and a complete joy to know in a country that desperately needs people like them working on its behalf.

The purpose of the clinic is to provide free HIV testing, with results in about 10 minutes (why can’t we get medical results that fast in America?), and then counseling and medication if the test comes out positive. I didn’t know what we were in for, but I was excited to go along. I learned that I would be helping with the questionnaire, registering of new clients, and logging results from the tests. Chase and Westin turned into pharmacists and were counting out pills and passing out medicine.

Once again, another experience that I just don’t know if I can adequately put into words for you. We were taking information, and giving tests to people, and the results if positive, would basically be their death sentence. I was stunned when the first 15 clients were young children, and even more stunned when the first positive result of the day was a little six year old child. I had to begin to get numb after a while, because I would ask these people all about their history, the number of children they have, their sexual history, etc. and then refer them to the testing area. Then they would bring the results back to me and I would read on the code whether or not they had tested positive. If it was a positive test, they were referred to one of AOET’s medical personnel, who would lovingly counsel them on safe sex, how not to spread the disease, and medicines they can take to help themselves live longer. My agony increased as I watched “mommy” after “mommy”, who had just told me that they had 4, 5 or more children, receive the positive results of their HIV test. I remember one woman in particular, she had 8 children and she was only 30 years old, and when she received the results, she just sat in the grass with tears streaming down her cheeks for over an hour. She waited and received her counseling and her medication, and I thought my heart would burst in two as I thought of this poor lovely young mother who not only was facing certain death, but another 8 children who would be joining the ever growing list of orphan children in Uganda.

My emotions ran the full gamut. Joy at the school children who came at lunch time to sing us a welcome song; empathy for the grandmothers who were bringing their grandchildren in to be tested, hoping they hadn’t contracted what had killed their parents; agony over the tiny children who tested positive; sadness for the mothers and fathers. I was enraged when woman after woman, during my interview with her, would tell me that their husband had been tested before, but he wouldn’t tell her the results. I will save the status of women in Africa and my opinion of that for another blog entry, but it is just so unfair, because almost every one of these women came back with a positive test.

There were some good results as well…I remember the young mother, just 23, mother of three, a baby at her breast, break out laughing when she received the negative results. She was just beaming…she was the minority. The number of people we tested was approximately 90, and I’m sure that over half of the adults tested positive, thankfully not half of the children tested positive.

The HIV scourge in this continent is just overwhelming. The cause besides the actual virus, is so multi-layered, it is not an easy fix except for a vaccination or cure. People here have no access to the types of education that we have in America, so many of them are so uneducated about the virus, as well as the ways to prevent it. In addition, women here have no rights, so it is virtually impossible for them to refuse unsafe sex. They need to be empowered!

One of my son’s initial responses to our conversation regarding HIV status in Africa was “Well, it’s their own fault!” Once I explained to him the complex situation, his heart turned more compassionate. Please let your heart turn compassionate as well. This situation goes WAY beyond fault and blame. Millions upon millions of people are dying, and millions of children are left to fend for themselves in a terribly difficult land to survive in. They become victims of abuse, disease and starvation. Every child is important, every child deserves to thrive, every child needs our help…what if it was your child?

Ciao,
Cheri