Not my problem

There were about 20 kids in the room from a few of the area schools. When the video finished playing, all that could be heard was the quiet hum of the gas radiator. The heat disappeared after about five feet and from any of the kids farther from the heater, one could see frost rising from their mouths. Winter isn't the best time for education here, but it's a message needed to be sent out. Especially when in the parks of small towns and in the streets of Tbilisi, the answer to the conditions of poverty are often found in the depression of a needle. Blood spurts back when the needle first enters, fills the brown liquid with a touch of red, and then with the injection, everything goes in and only a trickle is left over. Sit back, sigh, feel all the problems drain away. Refill, reset, "Here friend, have some." It's an ironic fact that most new addicts are won over by close friends.

"But you know, it's only the Svans that are narkomani. It's only the Ossettes. It's only Armenians. Good proper Georgians aren't narkomani."

"I almost stepped on a needle next to your house."

"That wasn't my kids'. That was a neighbor's."

There was some whispering in the corner. The steam picked up there as the exhalation of breath quickened. Someone laughed. They were talking about something else, not the content of the videos or the discussion. Those few moments, that chuckle, they were a long time. Every moment seems like an eternity, especially in the cold. The cold makes everything slow down, it makes time slow down. But also serious matters have that effect.

Beneath the drug usage, beneath the addictions and the deaths from bad heroin, there's a darker foe lurking. One that can strike even the first time user.

The presenter stood up and asked, "For how many of you was this the first time to hear about AIDS?"

Every kid in the room raised their hand. AIDS was never really a huge problem in Georgia. In 1999 the infected population was under .001%. That's nothing compared to their northern neighbor's infection rate. For Russia, there are nearly 1 million people living with HIV or AIDS, bringing the prevalence rate to 1.1 of the population. In the 2000s however, narcotic drugs and the sex industry picked up in Georgia, increasing the rate of infection by 350%, so that from .001% in 1999, the rate of infection is now at .1%, or a total of 2,700 people. The reason there are such ridiculously high numbers, for both Russia and Georgia, and for the rest of Eastern Europe, is that drug users are highly stigmatized and marginalized. The general attitude is that if you're using narcotics, then you should receive no support from friends, family or the government. You're effectively cast out, and so a problem that exists among narkomani is largely ignored. In Georgia, as the rates are steadily on the rise, more groups have begun to take note of it.

In Russia, the problem exists here: as there are few needle exchange programs, a narkomani shares a needle with an infected user. Then the narkomani sees a prostitute, or is perhaps seeing a prostitute, or is the prostitute herself. Then a middle class man sees that same prostitute, then goes home to his wife or girlfriend, who then herself becomes infected. The girlfriend sees someone else, who then becomes infected, repeat ad nauseum. As there are also few awareness programs to promote abstinence or safe sex, it continues to spread.

In Georgia, it's a similar case, though it has historically been slower since it hasn't adopted the free sex lifestyle that's become prevalent in Russia. But there's still the existence of underground sex workers and a growing problem with narcotics, both completely ignored by the government and society at large. Not our problem, so we should push it under the rug. My son will never do narcotics. My son will never have premarital sex. Not my son. Prostitution isn't a problem here, and if he sees one, well, he's a man, that's what they do. It's not your problem. It's never your problem. Not until your friend gets it. Not until your son, daughter, husband or wife get it. Not until you get it.

These attitudes also create a large degree of underreporting, so that the actual infection rate is probably much higher than what is officially known. How many men (and boys) here have I met to brag about their time with prostitutes? And how many have wives or will have wives?

For more about AIDS and HIV in the world abroad, go here: http://www.avert.org/
In Georgia, Worldvision. and Peace Corps are the active groups in AIDS
awareness projects. Do your part, at the very least, educate your kids.

And a quick note to Christians, who are often the ones doing the marginalizing in His name: Jesus reached out to the marginalized, to the weak and sick at heart. He didn't give a flying profanity to the lot that was "already saved". So keep that in mind next time you judge someone of lesser circumstance.