AIDS in Cameroon
The AIDS epidemic in Africa is heartbreaking.
Ruth explained: “Every family is affected. For example, a friend of ours lost a sister to AIDS. Their younger brother, his widow, and the widow’s second husband died of AIDS. Their nephew and his wife also died of AIDS. This leaves one brother healthy to provide for the whole extended family. Just change the names and this story could be repeated a thousand times.”
WEH works with women and girls who, for survival reasons, are forced into sex. “In countries where absolute poverty exists, women and girls are the first victims. They are forced into having sex for just a sandwich. If they have sex without a condom it pays more. The consequences are devastating.”
WEH provides AIDS prevention education to women and girls, especially among the orphans they serve. There is also job training in agriculture, sewing, hair dressing, and tie-dying fabrics.
“Ignorance and superstition are the greatest problems,” said Ruth. “When an AIDS-infected person gets really sick and fails to get well in the hospital or at home, the relatives look toward witch doctors for help. When a person dies, AIDS is not mentioned as the cause. Rather, the person ‘was killed’ by so and so, or they make up some other reason.”
As WEH has won the confidence of the government, more and more orphans have been put in its care. WEH now serves nearly 500 orphans.
WEH does all this work in several rural villages surrounding the city of Douala where Ruth lives. Transportation is a problem. WEH workers have to borrow a car or use public transportation, which is extremely undependable. Ruth said, “Often we use motorcycle taxis, three on the same bike. You can imagine how this limits our effectiveness. Often we walk. And we are very limited in providing transportation for the ill who need to come into Douala to medical health facilities. The villages are cut off from the rest of the world at many levels. In monsoon season, the dirt roads are impassable.”
Please consider helping WEH in their fight against HIV/AIDS.