Day 1: Any community, Any country
It took a 16-hour journey and a considerable amount of stress to get me here, but I have now been in Johannesburg for almost a day.
By this point, I would have hoped to be able to give a wealth of insight into the HIV pandemic. But I can't. Most of my day has been spent running around, trying (and failing) to set up interviews, editing documents and writing a newsletter. Anything but discussing the issue of HIV and AIDS.
But that's not the whole story. I don't have anything pertinent to say about HIV because the issue is just so huge and I am lost on where to start. The statistics are staggering; 33 million people are living with the disease and around 15 million children have lost their parents because of HIV. And it doesn't stop there; about four million new people are infected every day. Capturing the reality of this situation is an impossible task.
33 million stories
Media courses I have attended have always told me to explain a complex issue through the story of one person. But when there are over 33 million stories to tell, where do you begin?
During the questions at the end of the first presentation that was held today, two people mentioned that they were HIV-positive. One was a white, western man, the other a black, African woman. For me this demonstrated perfectly the fact that HIV can affect anyone, from any community, in any country.
These two individuals were confident to speak out, with no drama, no sensationalism, just the facts;
"I am a person living with HIV." For me this showed a strength I'm not sure I would ever have.
It also demonstrated a little about the communities in which they had come from. It was in stark contrast with what a doctor from Afghanistan had to say about his country.
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan there are officially only 69 people who are HIV positive. However, there is no system of surveillance and so figures are likely to be much higher.
As the doctor explained, Afghanistan has all the risk factors that make high rates of HIV likely. Large numbers of displaced people, high levels of drug use, a massive increase in the commercial sex trade and a culture of violence. Women are the most vulnerable, but unlikely to have the knowledge or access to the healthcare they need. With a shattered infrastructure and little understanding of HIV, how do you begin to solve this problem?
This shows the scale of the problem that the consultations hope to tackle. But, there is not one problem, just as there is not one story. Instead there are several problems all woven together. And although I hope that I learn a little more every day that I am here, I know that I will never truly be able to grasp the whole issue.