Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
nearby, as well as hiring farm labour to
undertake the heavy cultivation work.
The son died from AIDS in 1986 at the age
of 35. His widow brought her three daughters
to live with the old couple. One other son, aged
38 has now joined this household. He is ill—
probably with AIDS, as his wife died of AIDS
within the last year.
The farm work is done in part by the
household members, but they also hire
Rwandan labourers to plant cassava and cut
banana stems. They also grow beans and a range
of other annuals, including groundnuts and
sorghum. They used to have a coffee plantation
but this has been abandoned because of insect
infestation.
They now get cash from sale of bananas and
beer as well as from licensed distillation of a
local alcohol,
waragi
.
This household has been severely affected by
the disease. The household was quite wealthy
and still has considerable resources, but,
predictably, is experiencing stress now and has
taken the three grandchildren out of school in
order to relieve the pressures of paying for
labour and also to help with the domestic work.
marry again'. This comment from a bystander
can be interpreted as follows. It is widely
known that his wife died from the disease,
therefore it is quite likely that he is himself
infected. Were this not so, in any case he now
had no assets or resources which would allow
him to re-marry and establish a new household.
This case illustrates how, in an extreme case,
the costs of nursing AIDS victims combined
with disappearance of the family has led to a state
of utter poverty where life is sustained at a bare
minimum. The entire family support system
having gone, this man was destitute and isolated.
INCIDENCE OF INFECTION, ILLNESS
AND DEATH
According to Anderson and May (1991), the rate
at which a sexually transmitted disease spreads in a
population is largely determined by the following
three factors:
•
the amount of time a person remains
infectious;
•
the risk of transmission per sexual contact;
•
the rate at which people acquire new sexual
partners.
The second household is one of the most tragic
cases that we encountered. It is hard to describe it
as a household; perhaps 'remnant household'
would be more accurate.
The fact that HIV/AIDS is mainly a sexually
transmitted disease means that it affects those who
are most likely to (1) be sexually active and (2)
have many sexual partners or have sex with
somebody who is likely to have sex with many
sexual partners. Evidence shows that this includes
people in the age range 15-50, the 'sexually active'
age group. Another group that is likely to be
exposed to infection is children born of mothers
who are HIV-positive. These children contract the
disease during birth. About 50 per cent of children
born to HIV-positive mothers will test HIV-
positive and about 50 per cent of these will
progress to develop AIDS (Figure 39.2).
In terms of income and wealth, the epidemic is
associated with poverty both cross nationally and
within nations. Partly this reflects the fact that
there are more poor people in the world than
there are rich, but it is also the case that the poor
The man lived alone in a bare hut, sleeping on
the floor. His possessions appeared to be little
beyond a blanket and a pot over a meagre fire
upon which he was cooking some bananas. He
was said to be 45 years old but looked
considerably older. He was quite clearly very
disturbed and could not be interviewed.
Information was obtained from others nearby.
Only a few years ago, this was a substantial
household with a reasonable farm which was
supplemented by fishing. His wife and 8 of his
teenage and adult children had died of AIDS
within the last few years. He had no relatives
living in the village, and supported himself by
cultivating and selling some of his bananas.
Onlookers said of him 'he is not expected to
