The Face of Aids In Haiti

 

Monday, December 11, 2006

The Face of Aids In Haiti

Supposedly eight million people live in Haiti. Four million are under 14 years of age.

We are in the 25th year of the AIDS pandemic. Haiti has lost 400,000 people to AIDS during this time.

Experts see no end in sight for children orphaned by AIDS. Also, one-fourth of children born to HIV/AIDS infected mothers are carriers themselves. Even though highly active antiretrovirals are advertised as available for kids in Haiti, they are harder to come by than some would believe.

In the streets of Port-au-Prince one used to see mainly boys darting in and out of traffic wiping windshields and begging. Now there are many girls begging for money for themselves and their families.

Orphanages in Port-au-Prince are filled to capacity with beautiful children with sad looks on their faces. They need to be held.

In 2006, Maria wrote about pediatric AIDS in Haiti and quoted from The Brothers Karamazov-- 

"But then there are the children, and what am I to do about them? That's a question I can't answer. . . Listen! If all must suffer to pay for the eternal harmony, what have the children to do with it, tell me, please? It's beyond all comprehension why they should suffer, and why they should pay for the harmony."

Ivan in The Brothers Karamazov