AIDS On The Rise by Ambrosia Batten
In the Memoir “It Happened on the Way to War”, Barcott talks about leading a double life as a marine and a co-founder of an non-profit organization called Carolina for Kibera. Most of his journey takes place in one of Africa's largest Slums in Kenya called Kibera. At the time of him just beginning his foundation, he was graduating from college and starting in the Marines. During his journey, he often wondered what kind of impact he would have on their community and whether it be a positive impact or a standstill. His foundation raises money to give it to the community leaders of the slum so they can fulfill the needs of the kids and the townspeople of the slum and help the kids become future community leaders. One of the projects that he helped start was a free clinic in Africa along with a friend named Tabitha. The clinic is open to all of those who are sick with illnesses like HIV/AIDS and in need of help. “Tabitha Clinic offers healthcare to all residents on a sliding-fee scale. Over 40,000 patients visit this remarkable clinic in the heart of Kibera every year” (Carolina For Kibera). One of the major health problems in Africa is HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that has hit our world by storm. What is HIV/AIDS you may ask? HIV, also known as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, attacks your immune system that is supposed to help prevent you from getting sick. HIV then turns into AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, only when the number of CD4 cells in your body drops below a certain amount. People become infected with HIV through bodily fluids such as blood, semen, breast milk, and vaginal fluids. HIV can also be passed from mother to child during childbirth or through breast-feeding. For some people it takes a long time for AIDS to develop, for others it takes less time (Kaletra). Africa includes many countries that suffer from the outbreak of this disease, and it has the highest rate of people infected in the world. “Two-thirds of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, although this region contains little more than 10% of the world’s population” (Avert). Along with that, “During 2009 alone, an estimated 1.3 million adults and children died as a result of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the beginning of the epidemic more than 15 million Africans have died from AIDS” (Avert). The lack of basic needs to prevent the spread of infection contributes to the high numbers of patients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. In the memoir “It Happened on the Way to War” by Rye Barcott, Barcott illustrates to his readers the lack of resources in Africa to support its cities. The people of Africa go through many hardships and need resources that we in the United States often take for granted. Therefore, Barcott created a foundation to help start one of the many slums in Africa get the help they need to lead a better life. The question that Barcott and many of us have asked is “How can I make a difference in fighting HIV/AIDS?”
The spread of the disease has led to increasingly higher rates of people infected in Africa than anywhere else. The reason for this spreading of the disease is because many Africans who are infected can't afford to purchase the medicine needed to keep them healthy and condoms to stop the spread of it. Another contributing factor of the spread of HIV is their lack of birth control, because of this many children are born with the disease.
There are many different types of medication that can help a person who is has HIV to live longer, although the medications can have bad side effects such as nausea, headaches, loss of weight, etc. Drugs like Kaletra, Atripla oral, Epzicom oral, and Crixivan along with many others are the drugs that helps with the virus and treating it (WebMD). Though the side effects of these drugs may seem extreme, it still is better than the opposite outcome which is death. Dying with HIV can be prevented if the person is able to get the proper medication and maybe even jobs so they could actually afford the medication.
Why doesn't Africa's governments do enough to help prevent the massive spread of HIV in their countries? There are many reasons for the government not aiding their own country but the one that it all leads down to is the fact that they have such a corrupt government. It all has to do with who's in power and the amount of money that they would receive just to do the right thing. In the book, Barcott said that many of the political leaders who would claim they would help rebuild the city and clean up the streets were seen as corrupt and unwilling to help without a certain fee. So Barcott took it upon himself, along with the help of the donations given by many people in the States and the local community leaders of Kibera, to start a chain reaction that is helping make the people of Kibera’s lives a lot better to live.
There are other non-profit organizations like Carolina For Kibera that help against the war against AIDS. Some are well known because they are publicized by popular idols like Alicia Keys with her Keep a Child Alive foundation. “That is why Keep A Child Alive buys more than just the pills needed to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. It buys the essential nutrition, shelter, support and education to help ensure those pills are taken properly and effectively. It buys the things we all take for granted, but that make all the difference. A bed. A roof. A ride. A book. A smile” (Blake). Another organization that I found to be very informative about the disease and its cause was the AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation),which creates activities and fund-raising to help spread the word of having safe sex and taking care of yourself if you have the virus. Carolina for Kibera uses sports like soccer to help create a healthy ethnic diversity and to stop the ethnic violence within the community. “5,280 boys and girls participate in CFK’s annual soccer tournament. Ethnic diversity is a requirement” (Carolina for Kibera). The foundation teaches many of the citizens how to be more socially and economically responsible and “CFK offers training in financial literacy, business skills and entrepreneurship for residents of Kibera” (Carolina for Kibera).
I believe that foundations like CFK and Keep A Child Alive are great organizations in that they don't just help people with HIV/AIDS get the proper care they need, but they also help the community live better and create more opportunities. Some may say “How can I make a difference?”, but all it takes is a small donation to one of the organizations that are helping with the epidemic and with that donation alone it can save millions of lives.
Bibliography
AIDS Healthcare Foundation. (2011). http://www.aidshealth.org/public-health/prevention-for-hiv-individuals/. Web. 9/17/11
Avert. “The Impact of HIV&AIDS in Africa”. (2011). http://www.avert.org/aids-impact-africa.htm. Web. 9/17/11
Barcott, Rye. “It Happened on the Way to War”. Bloomsbury USA, New York. 9/13/11
Blake, Leigh.“Keep A Child Alive”.(2011). http://keepachildalive.org/our-work/?gclid=CKX_p43LkKsCFSUEQAodyEgstw. Web. 9/18/11
Carolina For Kibera.“What We Do”. Center for Global Initiatives. (2001). http://cfk.unc.edu/. Web. 9/13/11
Kaletra.“What Is HIV”. http://www.kaletra.com/what-is-hiv/default.aspx?s_mcid=google. Web.
WebMD. “Expanding HIV and AIDS Drug Options”. (2011).
http://www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/aids-hiv-medication. Web. 9/21/11
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