By Dorothy Garcia & Tom Harding
Photo by Tom Harding
For the 1,000 African mothers who today will give birth to a child infected with HIV, probably not much. AIDS is a reality they live with every day, and they most likely face imminent death, or witnessing the death of their child, or both.
In wealthy nations, modern medicine has nearly eliminated mother-to-child HIV transmission through a relatively simple procedure that could also be available to African mothers. To make that a reality, we citizens of wealthy nations must exercise our political and economic power to pressure our governments and pharmaceutical companies to collaborate with African governments. In our day-to-day interactions, we must educate our children, students, friends, family and colleagues to make healthy choices and to understand their power to make positive change.
Last year we spent World AIDS Day in South Africa leading a service learning group to celebrate the opening of our organization’s new center in Khayelitsha. It was a euphoric experience after three years of community collaboration, planning, fundraising and building, and brought to mind Nelson Mandela’s words: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
After the opening, as we moved through the day, we were struck by the widespread collective effort to educate the nation about AIDS. Employees in shopping centers not only wore red ribbons, but t-shirts with potent messages discouraging stigmatization and promoting unity. On television, there were more than the obligatory public service announcements; every television soap opera and sit-com involved plotlines focusing on AIDS-related myths, human rights issues and safe sex practices. And this occurred in a country where just a few years ago the President at the time was, at least to a degree, an AIDS denialist.
Like any day of recognition, World AIDS Day is meaningful only if it spurs us to reflect on the issues and problems, to consider our responsibility, and then to take action toward a solution on that day and days to come.
For the 1,000 African mothers who today will give birth to a child infected with HIV, probably not much. AIDS is a reality they live with every day, and they most likely face imminent death, or witnessing the death of their child, or both.
In wealthy nations, modern medicine has nearly eliminated mother-to-child HIV transmission through a relatively simple procedure that could also be available to African mothers. To make that a reality, we citizens of wealthy nations must exercise our political and economic power to pressure our governments and pharmaceutical companies to collaborate with African governments. In our day-to-day interactions, we must educate our children, students, friends, family and colleagues to make healthy choices and to understand their power to make positive change.
Last year we spent World AIDS Day in South Africa leading a service learning group to celebrate the opening of our organization’s new center in Khayelitsha. It was a euphoric experience after three years of community collaboration, planning, fundraising and building, and brought to mind Nelson Mandela’s words: “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
After the opening, as we moved through the day, we were struck by the widespread collective effort to educate the nation about AIDS. Employees in shopping centers not only wore red ribbons, but t-shirts with potent messages discouraging stigmatization and promoting unity. On television, there were more than the obligatory public service announcements; every television soap opera and sit-com involved plotlines focusing on AIDS-related myths, human rights issues and safe sex practices. And this occurred in a country where just a few years ago the President at the time was, at least to a degree, an AIDS denialist.
Like any day of recognition, World AIDS Day is meaningful only if it spurs us to reflect on the issues and problems, to consider our responsibility, and then to take action toward a solution on that day and days to come.
That’s how we make the impossible possible.
Dorothy Garcia and Tom Harding are co-founding Directors of Art Aids Art, a nonprofit organization promoting health, arts-based literacy and sustainable economic development in South Africa. In North America, Art Aids Art works with colleges and schools to create awareness about South African culture and the AIDS crisis through art exhibits, presentations and student-led chapters. Art Aids Art leads annual social justice trips to Cape Town. For more information, visit www.artaidsart.org.
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