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Durham man helping AIDS organization in Ghana
Aug 17, 2007 By: Danielle Milley(Previously published in October 2005)
DURHAM -- The young girl is brought into the hospice by her father. She is thin, trembling and barely has the strength to sit up in bed.
She is 11 years old, but from her size one might think she was only seven or eight. She is refusing to eat. Mark Simmons is heartbroken looking at her. He is certain she is going to die.
The doctors examine her and she is diagnosed with tuberculosis, but another test reveals she is also HIV positive. The doctors aren't sure how she contracted it as her father is HIV negative and her mother deserted the family.
"I thought she was close to death when she arrived at the clinic, but through the care and support of the clinic's staff and her father she became well enough to return home after only a few weeks," said Mr. Simmons.
This little girl is one of the people who has touched the Durham resident's heart during his five-month volunteer placement at the Western African Aids Foundation office in Accra, Ghana. When he returns home to Courtice in a few weeks, this is going to be one of the memories he carries with him.
For many, the prospect of working with an AIDS organization in Africa might sound daunting, but with his time about to come to an end, Mr. Simmons is in awe of the courage of those living with HIV/AIDS.
In the latest e-mail interview, he also tells the story of an older man who had come to WAAF from the northern part of the country to seek the care he needed because it wasn't available there.
"He always seemed so positive and had such a gentle spirit that I was always happy to see him," Mr. Simmons said.
The man stayed at the hospice for several months and was growing stronger, but then he developed severe complications and his health quickly deteriorated.
"I had to fight back tears when I came in to work one morning and was told that he had died the night before," he said.
Through his placement at WAAF, organized through Canadian Crossroads International in Toronto, Mr. Simmons is doing IT work and helping to set up a computer network (his placement is funded by NetCorps, a program funded by the federal government). He's also helped with voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).
"My time at WAAF has given me a much greater appreciation of the magnitude of the work that WAAF is doing," he said. "By creating awareness of HIV and educating the public on how to avoid becoming infected and by treating and supporting people living with HIV/AIDS, WAAF is making a direct impact on the lives of thousands of people in Ghana."
The West African AIDS Foundation was founded in 1998. The non-governmental organization's main focus is VCT, to ensure that people get to know their status.
"This is the only way of preventing the spread of the disease," said Dr. Naa Ashiley Vanderpuye, the medical director of the International Health Care Centre (the hospice).
She said the percentage of people diagnosed dropped from 3.6 per cent in 2003 to 3.1 per cent in 2004. According to the United Nations AIDS organization UNAIDS, there are an estimated 350,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Ghana (pop. 21 million).
WAAF is also focused on treatment, care and support of those living with HIV/AIDS, as well as educating people about prevention and the truth about HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Vanderpuye said the attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS hasn't changed that much since WAAF was founded, but it is working on it.
"The attitude is still that any HIV-infected person is a bad person, who is promiscuous and who deserves it," she said. "It is also assumed that HIV is a curse from God and that a person infected with HIV forms a threat to society because people think they can acquire the infection through casual contact."
Mr. Simmons said through his work helping WAAF with VCT, he<0x2019>s met some people who were well-informed about HIV and AIDS and others who knew dangerously little.
"I've met people... who regularly put themselves at risk of becoming infected with HIV because of this lack of knowledge," he said. "And I've seen how scared some people are when they come to be tested because they believe HIV is a death sentence."
At the same time, when he meets with clients at the hospice or members of the Positive Living Group, a support group led by WAAF for people living with HIV/AIDS, Mr. Simmons said he feels awed by their courage, saddened by their hardships, and hopeful that through positive living and the support of organizations like WAAF they'll live long and happy lives.
Dr. Vanderpuye said WAAF is the only organization in Ghana that deals with all aspects of combating HIV/AIDS -- from education and prevention to treatment, care and support. It works with both national and international partners, such as Canadian Crossroads International and the AIDS Committee of London. WAAF relies on volunteers, and both financial and in-kind funding.
Although the governments of many African countries are doing what they can to help those living with HIV/AIDS, Dr. Vanderpuye said they can't do it all so it is important to have organizations like WAAF.
"(Organizations that) deal with marginalized groups make it possible for people to access certain facilities that they would otherwise not be able to," she said. "WAAF also compliments the work of the government in education, prevention and research."
Mr. Simmons is amazed by the work WAAF is doing.
"It's reaching thousands of Ghanaians through its educational activities, providing testing and counselling for thousands more, and providing treatment and support for hundreds of people living with HIV," he said. "And they're doing all of this with a full-time staff of only 12 and an annual budget of less than $150,000 (CDN)."
For more information or to donate, visit www.waafweb.org.
