环球英语 01 HIV/AIDS - The Family

　　Voice 1

Hello, I’m Marina Santee.

Voice 2

And I’m Elizabeth Lickiss. Welcome to Spotlight 1. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

A young child sits by the roadside. Her small hands rest in the dry dirt. She lifts the grains and watches them fall through her fingers. In her mind she can hear her mother’s voice calling her. In her mind she can see her father working in the fields. But she knows that these images are only in her mind now. The young girl’s mother and father are both dead. She is an orphan 2. For a minute, her brown eyes fill with tears. But her grandmother’s voice stops her thoughts.

‘Coming Grandma’, she says in her native language of Swahili.

Voice 2

Each year the number of orphans 3 caused by HIV/AIDS rises. Worldwide, over twenty million people have died from diseases 5 connected to AIDS. HIV is the virus that causes the AIDS disease 4. AIDS destroys the body’s natural defence system. This means it cannot fight infections or diseases. There is no cure for AIDS.

Voice 1

Adults suffer the most deaths from this disease. Many are mothers and fathers of young children. They are the workers of the land. They are the providers of food. They are the carers in the home. They are the carers and supporters of their parents. They are the ‘working generation.’ When they die, they leave the weaker members of the family behind - the children and the grandmothers.

Voice 2

Priscilla is seven years old. She is an AIDS orphan. She lives with her grandmother and two brothers in Maua, Kenya. In the beginning things were very difficult for her family. They had little food. Their grandmother did not work. There was not any money for the children to go to school. But then, things changed. Priscilla and her brothers became part of a programme at the Maua Methodist Hospital. Their AIDS Orphan programme began in 2001. The programme aims to help children get back into school. They provide clothing money for schooling 6. And they have a project to build houses for orphans and those who care for them.

Voice 1

Priscilla now attends school and is doing well. And Priscilla is just one of the many children that the programme has helped. At first the programme could help only ten [10] children at a time. They gave the chosen ten grandmothers corn, beans and cooking oil. And they gave their grandchildren school clothes and shoes. They paid the money for them to attend school. But with the help of other groups the orphan programme now feeds over four hundred [400] children. And they help educate around two hundred [200].

Voice 2

The Maua Methodist Hospital, or MMH, does not only help orphans. They also work to help prevent children becoming orphans. They have a community based palliative care programme. Palliative care is care for people who have a disease with no cure. MMH workers know that there is no cure for AIDS. But there are many ways to improve the lives of AIDS victims. There are even ways to extend 7 their lives. So, hospital workers teach parents ways of cooking and cleaning that avoid sickness. They teach parents how to follow healthy diets. And they provide drugs that reduce the risk of catching 8 infections that can kill. They are able to provide some people with anti-retroviral drugs. These drugs slow down the AIDS disease in the body. But the drugs only work if people take them correctly. They have to take particular drugs at particular times of the day, every day. If they do this, then the drugs can work to extend life by many years. A medical worker from the hospital said,

Voice 3

‘We aim to keep the parents alive, well and active. And at the same time we continue to support their families. In this way, the children are able to grow up in a loving, caring family environment. And they are able to attend school along with other children.’

Voice 1

MMH workers also train people to care for their dying 9 relations at home. The workers try to change the hostile 10 opinions that some people have about HIV/AIDS victims. They work to change hate and fear to care and love.

Voice 2

This is important. All the physical help in the world cannot be a substitute 11 for emotional 12 support. HIV/AIDS victims need the love, and support of their families - whoever they are.

Voice 1

May the fifteenth [15th] is the United Nations International Day of Families. For the year 2005, members of the UN are centring on, ‘HIV/AIDS and Family Well Being.’ The UN says that the strength of the family has a very important part to play. It is central to how well communities can deal with AIDS and its effects. Strong families are the best defence in the prevention and spread of HIV. Families are also the best defence in caring for infected family members. The UN group said,

Voice 4

‘Families need and deserve 13 assistance 14 and support. Policies and programmes to fight HIV/AIDS must consider families and their communities. They must encourage efforts to care for family members and ensure that they are long term’.

Voice 1

The International Day of Families encourages people to work together - families, communities, teachers and organisations. Organisers encourage people to work together to educate and strengthen the family. In this way, they can fight HIV and the AIDS disease.

Voice 2

HIV/AIDS is changing what we think of as ‘the family.’ There are families without a mother. There are families without a father. Men and women may have to learn new skills to act as both mother and father. And there are families headed by children. Polices and programmes on family issues have to consider the new kind of families.

Voice 1

Groups like MMH and others are working to help families affected 15 by HIV/AIDS. But to succeed, they need families to accept, love and support each other.

Voice 2

HIV/AIDS has left some people without any family. They have no blood relations left. In situations like these, the community has an even bigger part to play. It needs to provide a family environment. The Maua Methodist hospital is part of the Methodist church in Kenya. The church welcomes all people to be part of its family. And as a family, they can work to help and support each other. They can work together to unite to fight hatred 16 and fear surrounding HIV/AIDS. They know that only a united family will be able to stand against difficulties.

Voice 1

The International Day of Families two thousand and five encourages people to think about the effect of HIV and AIDS on families across the world. Maybe you are lucky. Maybe you do not know anyone with HIV/AIDS yet. But chances are that you will in the near future. Now is the time to act to influence the future. AIDS groups are encouraging all people to come together as a global family to fight this threat to humankind.

Voice 2

The writer and producer of today’s programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom.