Ugandan orphan travels to U.S. for surgery

EAST LANSING –
Alan has an almost cherubic face, but like any 13-year-old, there is an impish twinkle in his eyes. His throaty laughter and smile are nearly constant as he sits eating a Cobb salad. It is difficult to notice he is in a wheelchair, or that this 13-year-old has lived more tragedy in his short life than most Americans can dream of.
Alan is an orphan from the HIV/AIDS epidemic ravishing Africa. In Uganda, a child is consider an orphan when their father dies, unlike in the U.S. when both parents have to have passed away. On top of dealing with the stigma of having a father who died as a result of HIV, he is also suffering from cerebral palsy which leaves him unable to walk, and has the tendons in his right hand strung so tight he can't use his thumb.
He is in Michigan as a guest of his school, the Nyaka AIDS Orphan School, to receive surgery in hopes of gaining some use of his right hand. The surgery is only the latest benefit the teenager is getting from his five-year relationship with the school in Uganda.
Nyaka, which operates out of Michigan, offers primary education to "the most at need" youth and has been functional since 2001. The school has been authorized since 2003. The average class size for the school is 32, whereas the average class size for government or public schools is 60 to 120. The students get hours of instruction in math, English and other basic subjects, as well as free breakfast and lunch, and following school they spend an hour playing.
"Most of our sutdents are orphans from HIV and AIDS," said Chris Singer, communications manager for Nyaka. "A lot of our kids live with host families we have identified or grandmothers or family. We have almost 300 children and only five are positive."
The school focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The school's choir goes out and sings and puts on skits about HIV. "The skits are amazing because they are so in-your-face. It's very different than here," Singer said. "There they have billboards all over the place.
"There are lot of men who prey on young girls, and they call them sugar daddies," Singer elaborated. "And they have billboards that say No Sugar Daddies."
The messages from the youth and the government are working. New cases are declining, Singer said, noting that the HIV infection rate went from 18 percent to 7 percent. He said this is because the government uses ABCs education – Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condoms – and although it is working, it limits the country's access to U.S. funds because it is not abstinence-only education. Ironically, this success has placed Uganda as a model for fighting HIV, even without U.S. resources.
"This disease is a litmus test for our society, and we are failing," Singer said.
And he sees a different response from people who find out he works with HIV/AIDS in Africa and how they respond when they find out he is a board member on the Lansing Area AIDS Network. "I work for this school in Uganda and I get all this attention about how great it is. Why doesn't LAAN get that attention?"
Stigma around the disease remains as dangerous in Africa as it does in the U.S. Singer told the following story as an example. "A mom found out her husband had HIV and was selling off stuff in the home without telling her. When he died people came and claimed everything, and she was left with nothing and three kids," he pauses. "She went into the next room and hung herself."
Alan said his story was no different. Before attending Nyaka, he was teased for being in a wheelchair and for being an AIDS orphan. But not anymore. Going to school with others impacted by HIV has helped him connect.
Sincer said the stigma is not uncommon in America either and he thinks it is time for American HIV/AIDS service organizations to work together.
"I think we can all work together for the same thing," Singer said. "What bothers me is that there is stigma surrounding it from all sides. We all want the same thing. I don't think the kids there are any more deserving than the kids here… It is the biggest global injustice going around.
"No matter what side you are on, if you fit in one of those areas you are suffering from the injustice. We still have a large population infected here and nobody cares."