Day 4: Challenging stereotypes of children affected by HIV
Meet Jacob
Jacob is 18 years old. He has just finished high school and has gained a place at university to study electrical engineering. He is bright and eloquent and has his whole life before him.
But Jacob is also a refugee. He fled his home country of Ethiopia in 2003, making the long and difficult journey to South Africa. He is now living in Johannesburg in a home for young refugees. There are 15 young people in this centre, some as young as 12. They have come from as far away as Congo and Burundi, often having travelled all by themselves.
I visited the house that Jacob lives in today. The building is in one of the poorer parts of the city and is very basic, but provides the young people with support and care. I am ashamed to say that because of where he lives, I was taken aback and shocked when Jacob told me he was hoping to go to university.
Falling through the net
As a refugee, people like Jacob are particularly vulnerable to becoming infected with HIV. Poverty, displacement, a lack of healthcare and finding themselves in
'risky situations' all contribute to this vulnerability.
Once they reach their host country they are often 'hidden' making it difficult to provide them with the services they need. Jacob may have opportunities ahead of him, but I wonder how many others in this city have fallen through the net.
Orphans and abandoned children
Today I also visited a home in Johannesburg that provides care to babies and young children who have been orphaned or abandoned by their parents. Many of the small children were living with HIV. Their mothers had either passed away or had left them at the hospital immediately after birth. The youngest child in this centre was only two weeks old.
When I first got to the home, all that I could see were the stereotypical images of orphaned children; young babies in rows of cots, children with runny noses and stark, bleak rooms. Although it was obvious that those running the home cared for the children greatly and looked after them well, I could not shake these negative images from my head.
But as I was leaving something small but significant happened. A young boy and girl, both about four years old, came running up the steps to the front door. They had come home from school and still had their hats and school bags on.
Anywhere else this would have passed without notice but, in a second, it shattered my stereotypical view of children affected by HIV. Jacob and these two children showed that although some people may be vulnerable, with the right services and care they can live a life that we all would consider to be normal.