HIV/AIDS

One of the departments of BERDO works in HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS rate in Malawi is one of the highest in the world. Not only does the disease itself reduce a person’s quality of life, but it also prevents them from fully participating in development activities. BERDO provides voluntary testing and counseling, training in Home Based Care, training in establishing herb and vegetable gardens for the sick, agricultural assistance, and assistance to AIDS orphans. The office has its own testing equipment, which it also brings to villages that are to far to access it.
I went through the counseling and testing to get a better understanding of the process. First someone talks to you about what the testing is about and asks why you want to get tested. They then prick your finger and draw out a small amount of blood with a thin tube. The blood is placed on two different HIV tests. They look a bit like pregnancy tests. One line and you are negative, two lines and you are positive. I was not that worried about being positive for the HIV virus before, but sitting and waiting the ten minuets it takes for the results to show is a little nerve racking. Before you know the result they ask you what you will do if you are positive. It is a scary thought. You think of how your life would change. Everything you wanted to do in life jeopardized. Oh please let there only be one line. Indeed after 10min. only one line appeared and I was told I was negative. Sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, this is not the result that about 40% of the people visiting the testing centre get. Another hardship of the disease is the stigma that is attached to it. The people with AIDS are sometimes accused of being sexual deviants or drug users. Probably so people can feel as if it couldn’t happen to them. There is also a lot of anger for those that find out they are infected. A co-worker of mine told me how they had questioned a person who had found out they are positive about what they would do now that they knew. He replied that he would try and infect as many other people as he could. There is fear about dying alone and anger that might not be directed anyone in particular. Some people also see it as if they are already inflected they don’t need to be careful any more, and so engage in unprotected sex despite the other person’s status. BERDO works with communities to try and eliminate the myths and stigmas, as well as provide education on how to protect them selves.