From Bangkok, Hope For Millions Living With Aids

[Thomas_Merton]

From: http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28416

From Bangkok, They Brought Hope for Millions Living With AIDS

Darren Taylor

NAIROBI, Apr 22 (IPS) - Smoke from open fires roasting slabs of meat and maize cobs rises alongside a rutted, dusty road in Kangemi, a slum north-west of Kenya's capital Nairobi.

Scrawny chickens scratch in the dirt; goats gather in plastic-strewn alleyways to feed on rotting piles of rubbish, competing for space with scores of ‘matatus' or minibus taxis.

But for some of Kenya's abused, neglected and HIV-positive children, this chaotic dirt track is a veritable Road to Eldorado, shimmering with the promise of a radiant future. For, at its end lies ‘Shangilia Mtoto wa Afrika' (Swahili for ‘Rejoice Child of Africa'), an orphanage with a difference.

‘'In most orphanages, children are just taught basic education. But we've realised that performing arts are really empowering. These are kids who've come from devastating backgrounds. They're traumatised. They've gone through extreme abuse, sexual and physical, and they need courage and confidence,'' explained Japheth Njenga, Shangilia's director.

‘'Performing on the stage for an audience is a liberating experience for them. They feel a great sense of achievement and self-worth when they perform, and then they're far more likely to succeed in academics,'' he said.

So while the orphanage encourages its 221 children to further their academic studies, theatre is its ‘heart', Njenga enthused.

‘'It's cruel to take a street child and just put him in a class and expect him to sit still and learn mathematics. They become bored and they return to the streets. When they come to us, these kids are sometimes wild as their lives have been formed by violence,'' he said.

So, Kenyan consultants give the children free reign to express themselves in drama, dance and music - but also in acrobatics and martial arts.

Surrounded by the desperate poverty of Kangemi, Shangilia is a place of unbridled optimism. Inside the orphanage's cramped courtyard, scores of joyful children play and laugh. No one broods in a corner; everyone's active.

Glittering gold trophies in glass cabinets and framed certificates bear testimony to the children's achievements. Photographs of youngsters meeting celebrities, including the entertainer Harry Belafonte, and dancing with Kenya's Vice-President, Moody Awori, adorn the walls of the reception room.

But the institution's crowning achievement so far is its exuberant performance of traditional dances at the World AIDS Conference held in the Thai capital Bangkok in July last year.

That is where the world noticed Shangilia.

‘'I'm told that the kids were such a big hit in Thailand because people couldn't believe that children with such self-confidence and talent had been living on the streets just a few years ago, sniffing glue and suffering all kinds of terrible things,'' Njenga stated.

As a result of Shangilia's foot-stomping appearance in Bangkok, Lee Breuer, a renowned Broadway director who collaborates with many famous entertainers such as Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman and the musician Stevie Wonder, is securing contracts for the orphanage's children to perform at events around the world.

But, while such attention is appreciated by Shangilia, something else happened in Thailand with perhaps far greater implications; something that has ‘transformed' the orphanage, according to Njenga: ‘'Some of our children here are HIV-positive, and the other kids used to be very scared of them, but the kids who went to Bangkok have returned to end the discrimination (against) and stigmatisation of the AIDS orphans.''

Samuel Mushiri, 17, who arrived at the orphanage as a six-year-old street child, was one of the 11 children of Shangilia chosen to dance at the conference.

‘'I used to think that if you touch a person who has AIDS, you too will die. We made many new friends in Thailand. At first, we did not know they were HIV-positive. But after we realised this, we became even closer to them,'' he elaborated.

‘'They are just like us kids here at the orphanage: people run away from the AIDS people - just like they run away from the street kids. They think you will give them disease, or hurt them in some way,'' Mushiri said.

‘'But you are the one left with the pain, when people do not even want to touch you or they chase you away; they don't talk to you - except to shout. We, as people who have lived on the street and alone with no parents, we know what it is to feel hurt,'' he whispered.

And it is that pain that gives the Shangilia orphans the unique ability to see inside the world of a person living with HIV/AIDS.

‘'Before Shangilia it was a difficult life. No food, no clothes. The only clothes I had were very dirty and (full of) holes. I had no shoes. I had nothing to stay alive for. I thought my life was a waste,'' said Peter Wainaina, 18, who now considers himself a de factor AIDS counsellor as a result of the knowledge he gained about the epidemic in Bangkok.

‘'Sometimes the mums give the babies HIV-AIDS. So how can we blame the child for having the AIDS? Before Thailand, I too used to say bad things about AIDS people. But this is unfair. People get AIDS through different ways, but no one gets the disease on purpose. So they need our support,'' he said.

The children who danced in Thailand constantly encourage their HIV-positive fellow orphans.

‘'They hug them; they embrace them. It's as if they're saying to all the other kids: ‘look, there's nothing wrong with having AIDS'. So now the other kids have started to play with those who are HIV-positive,'' Njenga said. ‘'It's amazing to see.''

‘'My experience in Thailand has changed me forever!'' exclaimed 14-year-old Elizabeth Karimi. ‘'Bangkok taught me that the greatest wish to have is for all the world's scientists to work together to find a cure for AIDS. That will be the best gift the world will ever receive.''

Karimi's dance-mate, Catherine Wairimu, 14, has a similar burning desire: ‘'My greatest wish is that the AIDS medicines will be given free, to all the people of the world. I met a mother in Thailand who is HIV-positive and she passed it to her baby. Now they have no money because the husband is dead and they must pay for medicines. Only one tablet, it costs so much. I don't know why,'' she said.

The AIDS conference has left John Mwaura, 14, who came to Shangilia as an eight-year-old street child, with a deep sense of the value of people living with HIV-AIDS.

‘'We must take care of them because we never know what God has planned for them. Just because they have AIDS doesn't mean they're fit only for death. They have lives to live, and maybe it's God's plan for some people with HIV-AIDS to be great leaders - even the leader of a country!'' he gushed.

Surprisingly, none of the children who performed in Bangkok expressed a desire for a career in acting, dancing or singing despite Shangilia's emphasis on these pursuits. Instead, they wanted to be professionals like pilots, doctors, and engineers.

But one had an even greater dream, inspired by her experiences in Thailand. Sharon Atsango, 14, said only a few words, at the very end of the children's conversation with IPS. But her utterance epitomised the confidence which typifies the orphanage's children, and emphasised the transformation that those who attended the AIDS conference in Bangkok have undergone.

‘'One day, I will be a scientist. And I will discover the cure for HIV-AIDS,'' she said.

Kenya is one of the countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. More than two million people are living with the virus which has orphaned thousands of children, according to ministry of health.