Wisdom of the Lost

I have realized that while I am not a part of the richest people here I do not know what it is like to be in poverty. I know little struggles, like not having hot water, or not having any money for food and having to make what you have work, but I do not know having everything taken away from me. The people in Manila that have nothing, I envy their courage but I think to pity them would make them seem less strong. I believe that those that have nothing and still make their lives work are nothing short of spectacular. These people that can make something out of nothing and still be able to live their lives are people to be admired. Those without a home, living under the bridge, are people that deserve something better but until their day comes they are staying strong and doing what they have to do in order to survive. That type of tenaciousness is something that I would like to learn from them. The people that live like this are indeed worthy of compassion and assistance. In the dictionary to pity someone is to have a sympathetic sorrow for one distressed, suffering, or unhappy. Society today has turned this word into something demeaning. To people today feeling pity for someone makes them feel like less of a person and, until I actually read the definition of the world, I believed that also. I now see the word in a different light and, in taking in the situations of these people, I know now that I cannot feel sympathy for them because I have not experienced anything even close to what they have to go through. To sympathize with someone implies that you can closely understand what the person is going through and how they might feel about it. I know that I can never say that I have felt anything like that in my life and I could not even begin to guess at how they must feel. I will say that I pity those people but by no means does that make them less than they are. They are strong human beings that, while they are not growing up with the material items that people have, they are getting something that is more rewarding.

So, first of all I would like to say that I really was inspired and touched by the trip and all of the pictures and videos. Having said that I have a couple of questions that kind of run together. I know that some of these questions may sound harsh but I'm just really curious about your opinion.

1. Given the amount of children that are HIV positive in South Africa (which is about 280,000 below the age 15 in 2007) and having seen everything that you have seen (when it comes to their living conditions) would you suggest that the children/adults that do not have access to the necessary medicine to keep the risk of transmitting the disease to their children down to about 2% not reproduce? If not, how would you try to help and stop the vicious cycle of HIV positive children giving birth to HIV positive children.

2. A study was conducted in 2006 and 1,370 men were polled in Africa. About 1/5 of them admitted to raping a woman. When a woman is raped she does not have the choice to suggest that the rapist uses a contraceptive and she can contract the AIDS virus as well as get pregnant. When this happens and she is diagnosed as being HIV positive she can go through severe discrimination. This discrimination can include being left and being thrown into economic instability. When this happens her chance of getting Antiretroviral treatment gets slim to none as well as nevirapine, a way to reduce the transmission of the virus from mother to child. Do you have any idea how people can be educated on the discrimination that goes on with the diagnosis of HIV as well as the education on the virus? Also, do you think that the education about discrimination will help make the process of getting the information on AIDS to the public easier?

3. How do you think the children left orphaned by the AIDS virus can be helped? In 2007 about 1.4 million children were orphaned by HIV.

So these are the longer versions of the questions that I sent to Travie. I still have more to ask but just for now I guess I'll just answer these.

1. I, first of all, believe that the medicine that can help lower the risk that a woman has to transmit the virus to her child and the preventative measures that can be taken should be sought after and used in every case that can possibly be used no matter what her economic status. Although I have no authority (and believe that no one on this earth does) to tell someone whether they should or should not be able to reproduce I believe that the women being allowed to reproduce would only perpetuate the cycle of spreading AIDS. The less children that grow up with AIDS, lose parents to AIDS, and are exposed to it will help keep it from getting spread. If a child loses it's parents to AIDS they are thrown into poverty and will often fall into the hands of prostitution, therefore helping spread AIDS. I know that it is cruel but if something were to be done to keep babies from being born HIV positive I think that the epidemic would be helped.

2. I believe that the education of discrimination and the measures to help squash it will aid in the spread of awareness. When people are faced with losing their job, family, or friends they are less reluctant to share their situation with someone. Many people that share the virus with others do not want people to know that they have the virus to keep from facing discrimination.

3. This question is a bit harder to answer. I do not believe that there is ever an easy answer to dealing with the amount of children that are in the world alone. Finding a home for them all is something that is close to impossible and if you did happen to find a good home for them would the home be a safe and healthy place for them to grow up? Probably not. Leaving children by themselves to starve is considered a cruel solution but I sometimes wonder what is worse. Letting the child live as best they can by themselves or to put them in the hands of someone that will make their lives a living hell. I cannot chose a course of action for the children, I can only say that making sure the mothers and fathers are in a healthy relationship with each other as well as being healthy themselves is something that is very important in the life of a healthy child.

So I'm researching things to be passionate about and, at the same time, following Travis McCoy on his very eye opening experience. I have always wanted to help people and one thing that has always been something that bothers me is when people do not get the respect that they deserve. One of the things that I noticed when I started to do more research on the AIDS epidemic is that the women, as well as other HIV Positive people, are being discriminated against because of their diagnosis. The children were a main concern for me at first but I now realize that you have to try and get to the women in the world before you can accurately get to the problem with the children. I researched the epidemic in the three places that Travie visited (Africa, Asia, and India). The things that I learned are shocking and a little disturbing as well as something that makes me feel angry. These Statistics are amazing:

• In Africa there was a poll that was conducted in 2006 with about 1,370 men and about 1/5 of them admitted to raping a woman.
  
• Also in 2006, about 29.1% of pregnant women were infected with HIV.
• In 2008, babies that were infected perinatally was about 39,000 and babies infected through the breast milk of the mother was about 26,000. (I had no idea that the breast milk was a way to transmit the virus but it makes sense when you think about it.)
• In 2007 there were about 280,000 children under the age of 15 that were living with AIDS.
• 1.4 million... thats MILLION children were orphaned because of AIDS in 2007 also.
  
• In Asia about 3/4 of the people do not have access to medicine.
• In 2006 25% of people have been refused medical treatment because of being diagnosed as being HIV positive in India.
  
• If you don't have preventative medicine while pregnant you have anywhere between 20-45% chance of passing it onto the child.
  
• With drugs and formula feeding the percentage is reduced to about 2%
• A single does of medicine can reduce the risk by half.

These statistics are alarming and something that I believe people should be aware of. I realize that these statistics are not for the USA but it still can effect us. The discrimination is what I believe to be the main problem when it comes to getting the spread of AIDS awareness. When people are afraid of getting their feelings and situations out about things that are as private as being HIV positive people will keep it hidden.

So I have never really gotten into this blog thing but I'm trying to try something new. I was reading Travie's blog and it got me thinking that I never really keep things up, nor do I really have a position that I am fighting for. Interesting things are all around me and there are truly interesting people that have awesome opinions and awesome views on things that they are passionate about. I want to be one of those people. I want to find something that I am passionate about and I want to be able to share it with those that I care about as well as those people that I can help influence.