Alexander Joe
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Ndumiso Gamede was orphaned at the age of 13 when his parents died during the peak of the AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
Forced to raise his two younger brothers, he struggled against isolation, prejudice and poverty.
Gamede, now 28, points to a photo of his parents that hangs on the wall of the dimly lit, boxy garage he calls home.
“They were both HIV positive,” he said.
He said he had no one to guide him during his most vulnerable teenage years, “almost committed crimes” just to survive, and used “drugs” to cope.
As World AIDS Day looms on December 1st, the plight of South Africa’s AIDS orphans remains a blemish on a country that has made a gigantic invasion of an otherwise epidemic.
The national prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, is 13.7%, still the highest in the world.
However, the spread of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) has dramatically reduced the number of deaths. The tragic combination of cost and political denial made ARVs unavailable to the poorest of South Africa, where the disease was at its peak.
In South Africa, one of the world’s largest HIV treatment programs, more than 5.4 million of the estimated 8.2 million infected people are taking ARVs.
The life-saving drug also means that the number of infected AIDS orphans has dropped, said Agnes Mokoto, who runs an orphan program at the Cape Town, South Africa-based charity Networking HIV and AIDS Community. .
According to UNAIDS, there are 960,000 AIDS orphans in South Africa, compared with 1.9 million in 2009. A child who has lost one or both parents to her HIV is defined as an orphan.
The gap in the country’s population pyramid due to the epidemic has created a lost generation, especially of young parents.
“During the dark ages of the early 2000s, people were dying off, creating legions of orphans,” said Professor Linda Gale Becker, director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation.
Gamede’s parents died at a particularly difficult time when AIDS denial was entrenched in the South African government, including then-President Thabo Mbeki.
According to a Harvard University study, more than 330,000 people died due to misguided policies and quackery propaganda.
Discrimination against HIV-infected persons was intense and was felt most by those who were orphaned by the disease.
Gamede and his two brothers had to fight to survive after being shunned by his extended family.
“After my parents died, they turned their backs on us. They didn’t want to know… what were we missing,” he pondered.
He lives in the town of Bosloras, 30 kilometers (18 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.
Even documenting is an added battle for some orphans.
Nonhlanhla Mazaleni, who heads a shelter for AIDS orphans in Johannesburg, says she cares for 21 young people who are living with HIV and have no ID.
“One of our children is deaf. He came to us when he was 2 years old. He is now 24 and has no job. ,” she said.
Now a father of one, Gamede proudly looks at his computer screen, plays music videos and sings along to the beat.
Next to Gamede’s bed is a gray crib with a foam mattress on the floor.
While he was looking for work, he found solace in rap music, but he says the job proved difficult because he couldn’t keep up with his studies.
He also hosts a group of young people orphaned by HIV/AIDS, offering gardening classes as a form of treatment.
But his life is tough.
Had AIDS not ravaged his family, Gamede believes that “opportunity… would have been easy. Life wouldn’t have been like this.”
