AIDS: What am I to do?
The first time that I came face-to-face with AIDS was in Uganda. The year was 2002.
With camera in hand, I was winding my way through a dark, muddy village of thatched-roof huts, as a local pastor led us to meet a family. Or what was left of one, after the ravaging effect of AIDS had taken its’ toll.
But the family was not completely destroyed. A glimmering seed of hope still existed- in the form of 4 small children. But the parents had been killed by the virus, leaving the children to be raised by their elderly grandmother. A difficult job for her, and a long road ahead for the kids.
I soon learned that this scenario was known as the “Missing Generation” in Uganda. Because nearly an entire generation of children were left to fend for themselves in a country where education and health services were still uncommon. I tried to imagine the effect this would have on Uganda for years to come. Not to mention in the short term, once I left the country and returned quietly back to my own.
So what did that mean to me, a Christian, as I sat comfortably at home in my suburban, college town? Let’s just say that I am still figuring it out.
But that was only my first experience. There have been many more. The most recent of which was in an urban slum in Cambodia. When again I found myself following a local pastor down narrow, dark alleyways flooded by sewage and trash.(see below) The water grew deeper as we approached the home of the family we’d come to visit, when suddenly we were pointed towards an alleyway, completely submerged in water. This alley lead to the home of a mother named Navy and her two children. All of whom were infected with aids. They must walk daily through this infected water to reach their home, (see below) with infected sores on their legs as proof. So we stopped at this point in our journey- we didn’t come prepared to wade in and get wet. We met with the family on dry ground instead.
I wondered, “why would they live in such an awful location, in a seasonal floodplain on the outskirts of town”? They were too poor to live anywhere else. Did I really think they had a choice? So after talking for a while we prayed for them, which seemed like the only logical option. It was difficult, but I also took pictures, with the hopes of adding a face to this harrowing disease.
Through all of my encounters I’ve found an undeniable pattern: that this disease takes it’s prey on the poor. The same poor that Jesus instructs us to serve. I hope these pictures will grant you inspiration to seek out some way you can help. Images from Cambodia below…
A mother and her children. Infected with aids. They must walk daily through polluted water to reach their home.
Victim of HIV
A pathway through the urban slums of Cambodia.
Victim of HIV