Unlike many PCVs around the world and in many ways against the wishes of Peace Corps, I really haven't focused on HIV/AIDS because it really doesn't seem like a big problem compared to everything else I see here in Burkina. Malnutrition, malaria, and respiratory infections are all much more serious health issues here and I think its more important to focus on these. People in my community are worried about AIDS but I think its mostly because other groups have talked about it so much. In reality, very few people I know are infected with (or really even affected by) this virus. A little fact that's often tossed around by BF PCVs is that there is a higher percentage of people living with HIV in our capital, Washington DC, then in Burkina Faso.
Even if it doesn't seem like a big issue or concern, I do include some information about this disease when I give health talks and my health center offers to test pregnant women that come in for prenatal consultations. Also twice in the last year, we've had health workers come in from Ouaga and test anyone that wants to be. We have found a few cases and try to work with those individuals to get the help that's needed. There is little that can be done in our village though so they are sent to our regional hospital for further testing and counseling as well as free medication to prevent transmission to their child if its a pregnant woman.
Basically I haven't had many situations involving this disease that really affected me until recently. I'd like to share this story with you to explain just how difficult life can be and to help everyone remember just how lucky we are.
A friend recently asked me to speak with a girl that she said was really sick but didn't really explain the situation. The girl came to meet me and it was obvious something was seriously wrong-she was very skinny with sunken eyes. We talked a bit and she tried to tell me about herself but seemed very confused and her stories didn't all add up. At one point she said she was 18 and later she said 22. She had lived in Cote d'Ivoire for a while with her mom but was most recently with her father in Fada. She met a man at the gold mine there and came with him when he returned home to my village. She said she'd been here 7 years, a year, and later 3 months so who really knows though my friend said she thought she's been here a year. The girl said she didn't have a lot of energy but wasn't too sick. She had been hospitalized a few months ago and they told her she had an illness that she could have got from a cut or wound. (This is true since the virus is spread through blood contact with an infected person but I suspect she became infected through sexual contact.) She said she had medication but it was out and her boyfriend hadn't gotten more.
Over a few weeks and multiple conversations with my friend and I, we learned that her boyfriend refused to help her and she had nothing to eat. He would buy alcohol and meat for himself and make her cook but wouldn't share. He also was forcing her to continue to have sex with him even though she was very weak and tried to refuse. He is aware that she is HIV+ but doesn't use a condom. She wanted to return to her father's in Fada so I agreed to help since this seemed like an awful situation for her here and I was concerned she was near the end of her life.
My friend and I spoke with her boyfriend and his mother and they agreed it was best for her to leave but he said he couldn't help. We tried to contact her family but the number she had was wrong. I asked the PCV in Fada to ask around and we contacted the church there but nobody knew her father. Finally we decided she needed to go since we couldn't contact her family to come get her. I didn't think she was mentally capable of traveling on her own (I learned that mental confusion is common in AIDS patients) and my friend was concerned that her boyfriend would pretend to take her but just leave her on the road somewhere with nothing. I thought about taking her to Fada but have been very busy and traveling a lot for PC stuff plus didn't really feel comfortable doing this. I wasn't sure how her family would react and didn't know if having her show up with a white foreigner would help the situation. Thankfully my friend agreed to take her and I said I would pay for both their transports.
They arrived at the bush taxi lot about midnight and the girl didn't recognize anything after swearing she knew how to find their house. A man approached my friend and asked if she needed help. She explained that they were looking for someone. He said he didn't know the family but would find them. He gave them each a bench to sleep on at the parking lot and said not to ask around because he'd take care of it. The next morning he returned with a man from the girl's family. They recognized each other and he asked what was wrong since she was obviously very sick and had lost a lot of weight. My friend explained she had AIDS and needed to go to a hospital. She told him the problems with the boyfriend and that she needed to eat better. This relative promised to take care of her and to go to see a doctor the next day. He said no one in the family had a phone so my friend gave her number to contact us. We haven't heard anything but she felt the man was sincere and I believe that anything is better than the situation she was in. I don't really think there is a lot that can be done to save her life but hopefully she can be more comfortable, relax, eat well, and know that there are people that love for her.
I felt so frustrated and helpless in this situation because I didn't really think I could do anything. In so many cases here, I have found that all I can do is fight for the underdog and let them know someone does care and wants to help. It never feels like enough though.
I am still concerned about her boyfriend. He said he was tested and is negative but I don't believe this. My friend is concerned that he will start sleeping with other girls in our village and spread this awful disease. She calls him half-crazy but I'd say a jerk is more appropriate. It seems even his mother is concerned about this. I plan to talk to him again and try to convince him to be tested. I want him to understand the severity of this and that he could be giving girls a death sentence if he has unprotected sex with them. Its frustrating that I can't just tell girls that he is HIV+ and to stay away from him. I understand the need for confidentiality but also am disgusted that someone would knowingly put another's life at risk. Again I am frustrated at how little I really can do.
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