A fine mess of contradictions

World AIDS Day

I feel ignorant. I am ignorant. But I am less ignorant than most of the world. I don't mean large areas of the developing world where there are HIV/AIDS rates of up to 35% in one nation. These people have witnessed the devestation of AIDS on their own. They know the dangers, but there may be social stigma, financial problems, lack of medical facilities, or male/female relationships that allow a virus that people know about to spread. I believe education is vital but I also know there must be something more. You can scream at the top of your lungs that AIDS exists but it doesn't cure anyone and maybe no one will listen. That is why journalism is increasingly hard for me, because without this profession people might not even know about AIDS devestation, but it still continues, exists and isn't going away and I don't know if talking about it and not doing anything is where I should be right now.

But here in Canada do people really know? Do people care? There are 58,000 Canadians with the virus. When I spoke to people at the AIDS Committee of London for a radio story they told me that immigrant populations are at increasingly high risk because they think that Canada doesn't have an HIV/AIDS problem so they contract it here because of unsafe sex. Females are also increasingly at risk. And everyone makes bad decisions and gets into bad places in their lives, but we know about it, we have an obligation to help those at risk.

I have been home from Africa for about a year now and I still think about it every single day. I want to go back, see how things are changing, see all the positive things that have emerged. I read the BBC and all it talks about is death and devestation, which may very well be true, but maybe because of all of this many of the people I met have a voracity for life that I have witnessed nowhere. Because they have had to fight for it and we haven't, at least not in the same way.

So I guess World AIDS Day is a reminder for people to keep trying. I don't have HIV or AIDS myself so I cannot judge or pretend I understand but I pray for courage for those affected. For children born and unborn, for mothers, for fathers, for grandmothers who are holding down families. I want to tell everyone affected here in Canada, or India, or Africa or the many other places affected worldwide that no one is giving up. Not here. So you all can't give up either. I'm not an optimist by any means, but there is hope.

posted by Kate @ 8:40 PM