So, alot of you don’t really know what I do for a living. You know that I’m a ‘girl who works with computers’. You think that’s pretty cool and stuff. Hehe. I’m okay with that.
My official title does include the word “IT” and stuff, but there’s an element to it that many of you, I know, don’t always get.
Yes, I work for what is often termed “an AIDS organisation”.
When I started here, about six years ago, as a little Web Admin, I didn’t get it entirely. I knew HIV existed, I knew people got sick, I knew people died. I didn’t know how big it was. It was just numbers to me. I knew it was about sex.
All of you just screeched a little. Heh.
When I started here and told people, they would raise one eyebrow and ask “so like does that mean you have AIDS?”
No, dudes. I don’t have AIDS. Or HIV. Or TB. Or allergies. In fact, I probably only have a good dose of anaemia. Does that help?
It led to a lot of misconception. Like:
“OH MY GOD YOU WORK WITH AIDS PEOPLE! YOU’RE GOING TO GET SICK AND DIE!”
No, dudes, I don’t work with “AIDS People”. I, have in the past, hugged an HIV-positive child whose mum and dad were dead and wiped his snotty nose (No, I didn’t get HIV from him then either). I have, in the past, counselled people. I have, in the past, sat with someone on the phone and cried with them when they found out that their 3 year old daughter had been raped and they didn’t know what to do next. I have done these things and I will continue to do them for as long as they feel good for me to do in my heart.
There’s more to it than just “working with the AIDS people”, as it’s always been so eloquently put by someone. There’s the aspect that where I work focuses on making the network of organisations we have work together, help each other, help someone who needs help.
That’s where my heart lives. So, yes, that enables me to use what I can do (my IT skills and/or intuition, ’cause everyone knows about my fairy dust!) to do something that I want to do with my life – make a little difference in the world.
My parents always said they did things to help. It’s in my blood to want to help. So I can, and I do, as best I can.
Some days it’s hard. When you look at the magnitude of the problems we face, it’s easy to wuss out and say “bugger it, I’m just one person”.
Some days it’s easier. When you know that you have enabled someone to get help, empowered someone with a little knowledge, it’s easy to say “bugger it, we can do this if we do it together”.
So, that’s where I am. World AIDS Day is coming up and with that, The South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), with representation from all sectors of government and civil society, together with NEDLAC, have agreed that at 12.00 noon on World AIDS Day, Monday December 1st, the Deputy President will ask all people in South Africa to stop and observe and act on World AIDS day.
So, I’m asking you to do it. Stop working, stop talking, stop writing, stop doing what you usually do and think. Think for fifteen minutes about the fact that people are dying. Think about the fact that it’s not just people who are dying but, it could be you. Think about the fact that it could be your neighbour. Think about the fact that it could be your brother or your sister or your very best friend. People are sick. Some people who are sick don’t even know it. People are sick and dying and we’re doing nothing about it. People are sick and dying and one of them is probably you.
That’s all we’re asking. Fifteen minutes of silence to send love to those who have already left us, love to those who face this disease head on, and love to those who are not sure about all of it and are scared to find out.
Make History Happen, Just by Thinking.
You can read the full press release here