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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| January 14, 2004 |
HIV/AIDS: A Global Tragedy – Machingura |
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| Machingura recounts how he became involved in the HIV treatment cause |
In the case of HIV/AIDS, the statistics tell a powerful story in their own right: 10,000 people die every day, 42 million people are infected around the world. By 2010 that number is expected to rise to 100 million - and a massively disproportionate 70 percent of these people will live in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that three million in this region currently need treatment - a paltry 50,000 get it. Many voices in the mass media would have us living in fear of the threat of terrorism, but the above figures lead us to a different conclusion - HIV/AIDS is the biggest single threat to humanity.
In the soft light of the onboard theatre, ushered in by soothing African rhythms, Machingura opened his presentation with this stark and confronting claim. However, in a session that focused more on the personal than the didactic, he admitted that far from jumping on to the HIV activist stage, he was initially not even motivated to become involved in the cause. The catalyst that thrust him into the limelight was something he shared quietly and almost reluctantly - the death of his sister in 1999. In his own words, "She was bright, passionate, outgoing and the mother of three beautiful children". She was diagnosed with HIV in 1998, presumably contracted from her husband who subsequently disappeared. Without treatment, her life with the disease was short. She died the following year, aged 28.
In Harare, Zimbabwe, as in many places where the disease has hit hard, discrimination against people living with HIV is still a sad fact of life. The family struggled to deal with the hand they had been dealt, talking of the tuberculosis, cancers and the constant headaches their daughter suffered, but almost never allowing HIV into the conversation. The drain on the family was apparent. Valuable work time lost to care for her put already unaffordable medication even further out of reach, adding to the distress of watching someone you love fade before your eyes. |
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| Machingura leads the audience in a song to spread the message |
Unfortunately, this story is far from uncommon in a country where the pandemic is decimating the sexually active age group, which also happens to be the most productive economically. The result is crippled economies and an explosion in the number of AIDS orphans left vulnerable without a means of livelihood, either in the care of the aged who are ill-equipped to provide for them, or simply cast out on to the streets. In the case of girls, this often forces them to exchange sex for life's most basic necessities, putting them in the highest risk group to become the next generation of infected.
In industrialized countries, where treatment access is a given, it is common for people to become HIV positive and live healthy, active lives for well over 20 years. In sub-Saharan Africa, the story is very different. An AIDS diagnosis carries the weight of a virtual death sentence - the average life expectancy of an infected person being a mere five years. Infection rates in Africa are some of the highest in the world with the disease spreading like proverbial wildfire through communities with poverty, gender inequalities and armed conflict providing the fuel. The worst part of this sad saga is that it is stoppable - political inaction being the main obstacle to widespread treatment access and prevention education programmes.
At this point, Machingura broke from the standard lecture format to a medium he feels more comfortable in - music. Weaving his way through the room he pulled the participants to their feet with a call and return number which succinctly and powerfully emphasized the interconnectedness that we all share, in terms of the fact that it is not simply an "African problem", rather one that we all face as human beings. |
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| Fundraising campaign for HIV treatment access was a central part of the onboard activities |
"The line between being HIV positive and negative is a thin one", says Machingura. "How many times might you have been infected?" When it comes to matters of the heart, human frailty may win out over science-based HIV prevention strategies in more cases than we like to admit. Speaking to the mainly Japanese audience, Machingura expressed disappointment at the lack of condom vending machines in public places and the lack of awareness and prevention campaigns. A show of hands in response to the question of who had taken an HIV test illustrated how little impact the WHO warnings of a potential explosion in the number of HIV cases in Japan have had in affecting behavioural change. Asia is seeing a silent epidemic. Sex is prevalent in our media. Society says, "Have lots of sex.", but rarely condones frank and open discussion about the implications of this stance.
Machingura ended with a plea. "History will judge us harshly. If we are silent about this epidemic, it will be like the German people were as the holocaust was taking place in their midst. Let us talk openly about HIV. Overcoming the barriers to talking about HIV is the first step to overcoming this crisis that we are all facing together." |
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