28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, by Stephanie Nolen - 1022 Words

Stephanie Nolen was already known for her work as the Globe and Mail’s Africa correspondent, ranging from the effects of war on women and children, to Stephen Lewis’ fight to end AIDS in Africa, when she published 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa in 2007. 28 is Nolen’s attempt to reflect the 28 million Africans who had HIV in 2007. Nolen gathered the testimonies of 28 individuals including orphans, miners, grandmothers, soldiers, the clergy, and Nelson Mandela. In this book, Nolen seamlessly integrates personal stories of the victims with shocking statistics and engrossing quotes, effortlessly bring a ‘human face’ to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This is a great piece of work demanding both empathy and immediate action. The issues discussed in 28†¦show more content†¦But as Mamba took in more and more children, this rescued her overall economic wealth and strained her financial means, keeping the children in poverty and bringing Mamba into poverty herself. AIDS weakens not one person, but a whole community when it strikes. Additionally, Siphiew Hlophe and Andualem Ayalew were both denied opportunities to improve themselves with study-abroad programs due to their HIV-positive status. This bonds the people to their current positions, giving them no hope for the future and detracting for their potential to contribute to society and to make a comfortable life for themselves. Likewise, HIV/AIDS also takes away educational opportunities from the younger generations. For instance, Lefa Khoele, a very intelligent young boy, was forced to stay behind many years due to sicknesses caused HIV, hindering his full development. In these instances, AIDS causes poverty by barring individuals from achieving proper educations and ameliorating their capital worth. When even the younger generation is affected, hope for the future is truly grim. Families must rely on older individuals, like Mamba, who have escaped the epidemic unscathed. The low income due to HIV/AIDS leads to low consumption of goods and little savings, which results in malnutrition, inability to combat illness and a lack of education and skills. The low capital worth, low