Farewell Africa

My time here is up. I have been so blessed to be taken in by the community of AJAN and by the people of Kangemi. I will miss them all dearly (all except Luigi, and Anna the two german Shepards).
I said at one point that I would re-visit the topic of HIV/Aids.
Living at African Jesuits Aids Network (AJAN) this has been a topic of much discussion.
Why does Africa have such a problem with this disease?
My journey here while being thoroughly embedded in the community has not allowed me the time to fully articulate what is going on.
Instead here are two stories which paint some of the details.
John 24yo comes into the clinic with his mate. Fit muscular and smiling he asks for a TB test.
This is a strange request as he has no cough, no loss of weight and no night sweats. No contact with anyone he knows of that has active TB and when asked why he states
"I hear they are free"
The obvious query is 'why are you worried that you have the disease'. This isn't asked however as the answer is already known. TB is synonumus with Aids. You get Aids and the TB bug finally kills you. This is a well know fact amoungst Kenyans. He declines the option of a HIV test after thinking about it for a moment and leaves.

The 16yo mother that has no food to feed her children, no education to get a job, so must sell what she has and swallow all dignity. She contracts Aids in the process and gets pregnant a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time - caught in the same cycle. She cannot afford the test and has no way of paying for her children to get any education whatsoever

There are plenty more. I could go on about the 4 year old girl brought in by her brother. She has Aids, most likely so does he. They cannot afford the test. Do you tell them both there and then - a clinical diagnosis most likely

A 35 year old lady from the slums of Kibera tells when asked if the