Burying our heads in the sand

While watching "Miss HIV", a documentary on HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa, I felt sympathetic. It's not for the reason that the scourge is at its best to inflict its wrath on our generations. My sympathy arose from the colossal exit of my fellow campusers from the auditorium where the documentary was being shown.

In this era of HIV AIDS, it is sad many students fear to know the truth about the scourge. This rules out their capacity to be better equipped to take on the challenge in the fight the AIDS scourge.

I stayed put. In mind, there lay my sympathy as the fellows, either pricked by the reality on the ground or afraid to face the grim reality passed on to them, marched out like a flock of sheep. It is universal truth that knowledge is power. The documentary, which highlighted HIV AIDS as a crisis to our existence, should have been regarded as the best of opportunities to show-case our yearning for more knowledge on how to fight this scourge. No wonder, it is common knowledge that a large number of campus students are victims of the scourge. They live in fear...afraid of the reality before themselves. No wonder, many more are falling prey to the scourge and the numbers are soaring each day.

This arises from ignorance and lack of knowledge. In the library of Books, God says that 'My people' perish for lack of knowledge.

During my orientation days as a fresher, the head of our department disclosed that most of us had come to campus with fresh blood. But, by the end of our course, more than 40% of us will certainly be HIV+. Many students in campus dread the disclosure of such knowledge about HIV AIDS to them. In addition, a majority of them end up falling victims courtesy of their ignorance.

It is a pity that some of us will never live for long to enjoy the fruits of our sweat. If we shall be lucky enough to be settled down in matrimony, kids coming along, it is certain that those kids might never embrace the chance to live under our guard. It is not a dream to find the young ones being taken care of by the old generation. The parents, who sired such innocent kids will for the lack of knowledge, perhaps have perished. The kids would be lucky to live under their grandparents' care.

My sympathy lies herein my heart still. However, there is a long way to go. The reality is on the ground. It helps a lot for knowledge seekers to stay put and absorb the knowledge passed onto them. It is sad for them to flock out en masse with the idea that they are escaping bitter reality. The days when we buried our heads in the sand are long gone. Such are times when we showed reality that we can stand the test of fear and let the enemy come in whatever form. Let the enemy come. We shall be well prepared. Assuredly, the so-called HIV AIDS enemy will fling to seven directions.

Joshua Masinde