Grey document: AIDS patients suffer a marginalized life By Chen Jian (China Youth Daily) Updated: 2005-12-02 09:25
A resident signs on a banner to promote the
prevention of HIV/AIDS in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province November
30, 2005. [Xinhua]
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1. The Sorrows of a "Blood Head"
55-year-old Lu Jingxian sat by his lonesome self on the side of the bed,
chewing on the dried bun like an expectant mountain goat bleating away. In the
early 1990's, he was a "blood head" in Luliu village, Lixin county, Anhui
province. "When the telephone call came from the county, I would ask all the
residents in the village to go by car together to the blood station (to sell
blood)." He said that people made more than 40 yuan each time. "They had to have
10 yuan deducted for the transportation, but I didn't." When Lu Jingxian spoke
about the kickback that he got from being a "blood head", he was still somewhat
proud.
Luliu village is formed from the four natural villages of Lu Zhai, Lushui
Yuan, Sizhuang and Shiqiao. Due to the "blood disaster" from the 1990's, 195 out
of the 1,256 persons in the village became infected with AIDS. According to the
statistics, 532 (or 42%) persons from 324 families had sold blood.
"At the time, most families mobilized everybody. All the able bodies went,"
said villager Lu Zhaoguo. In 2002, he was found to have AIDS. In an examination
in February of this year, he was found to test negative. While his family was
ecstatic, his AIDS subsidy has been canceled.
Actually, Lu Jingxian can only be said to be a minor "blood head" because the
ones who profit the most were the "blood heads" in the county. Most of those
"blood heads" have found justice under the law of heaven. According to the
villagers, there were three "blood heads" in the village, but the other two have
died from AIDS. "In many other villages, there were no such 'blood heads.' If
people wanted to sell blood, they would have to find their own way." One village
said that the relatives of Lu Jingxian have all passed away due to AIDS, and he
is the only one left.
"At first, I thought that my fellow citizens needed money and so I got them
to go and sell blood. I had no idea that this would cost them their lives." Lu
Jingxian felt that he could not face his fellow citizens. "Sometimes, I want to
just drink some pesticide and go on my way," he said.
2. The Neighboring Village Accepted Them
On November 26, villager Zhang Aiqin took a basket and headed for the town
market. Before going to market, she went to a bathhouse situated on the north
side of town. She took out three creased 50 cent bills and handed it over to the
female manager at the door. The manager smiled at her and handed her a pack of
one-time-use shampoo.
"When the epidemic was happening in Luliu village years ago, the people in
the next village would run away from them," said the bathhouse manager. "Later
on, we got used to it. After all, we are all from the same town. Besides, there
is some propaganda from above about the three ways by which AIDS can be spread.
But bathing is not contagious." When she came out of the bathhouse, Zhang Aiqin
looked bright and colored. On the street, she met some acquaintances and they
said hello warmly. At the market, there were crowds of people coming and going .
She stopped and looked here and there. She hesitated in front of a meat shop.
Finally, she only bought a batch of spinach worth 50 cents.
The husband of Zhang Aiqin died from AIDS several years ago. She has
unfortunately become a virus carrier. There is only the daughter left in the
household with her. "When the people in the county hear that someone has the
disease, they look at you in the same way." Jiang Tongfang who came with her
said that they prefer to stay in the village because this is their home.
3. Longtime Illness Trains a Doctor
In a dark house, the elderly man Lu Jingkui was lying on the bed board. His
body was shriveled underneath a filthy blanket and he was shivering. Lu Jinghui
has been feverish for some days, and he has been in bed at home for two days. A
kind-hearted neighbor went down to the village health clinic to get the doctor,
who was unable to come because he was too busy.
Without choice, the neighbor Xiao Qin entered the house and got ready to give
the old man an intravenous drip. Xiao Qin picked up a rusty pair of scissors on
the desk and broke opn three bottles of intravenous fluid and then used the
needle to extract the contents to put into the bottle. Afterwards, Xiao Qin took
a swab of yellow-colored cotton and rubbed it on the back of the hand of Lu
Jinghui. Then he deftly inserted the needle and the fluid entered slowly into
the body of the old man. The eyes of the old man gradually regained their
brightness. AIDS had taken away the lives of all the relatives of the old man,
and he was now a lonely sufferer.
"I used to watch the doctors do injections. After having watched for so long,
I began doing injections myself," said Xiao Qin. "Each time, I injected myself."
Upon information, many villagers have become 'doctors' after suffering from the
disease for so long. "Everyday, I have to take several different kinds of
medicine. When I forget, my body suffers," said villager Lu Jinyu. The table in
the living room of his home is arrayed with bottles of medicine.
Lu Jixian is just walking out the village health clinic with some pills for
the flu. According to Lu Jixian, AIDS patients such as himself can get free
medicine from the village health clinic. By his calculations, the medicine over
the last month was worth more than 300 yuan.
Lu Jixian used to be the villager doctor there and had been practicing for
more than 30 years. In 2002, he was diagnosed with AIDS, and he could no longer
run his decades-old health clinic. His wife and three children were not spared
either, because they have all been found positive.
4. The Hardship of an AIDS orphan
14-year-old Qingqing was making the meal at home while waiting for her
younger brothers to return home from school. AIDS took away the lives of their
parents and relatives. The three of them live together. The brothers attend the
school on the west side of the village. Of the 216 students, more than 160 have
been directly or indirectly adversely affected by AIDS -- some have
AIDS-infected parents, some are orphans whose parents have died from AIDS and
some are AIDS-infected themselves.
"With a family like ours, I can never go back to school again." In order to
take care of her younger brothers, Qingqing dropped out of school. The brother
Dahui and Xiaohui are both sensible. When they come home, they squat in the
courtyard to do their homework and they help their sister with the farm work.
"Inside Luliu village, the children are slightly better off. If they go to the
outside, they can face all sorts of pressures. Since they are poor, many
children have to drop out after elementary school," said a teacher. According to
the statistics, there are 72 AIDS-related deaths, leading to 42 orphans and 27
solitary seniors.
79-year-old Lu Jiang is presently living with her grandson Xiaoyong. "I don't
know how many more years I can live. What will happen the child after that?"
Grandma Lu cried and she hoped that some kind-hearted person will adopt Xiaoyong
so that he can continue to study. "A solitary senior such as her has basically
lost labor capacity. Since prices of agricultural products are standardized and
she has no other income, she lives an extremely difficult life," said the
temporary village cadre Lu Ke.
5. The Director of the AIDS Village
At noon on November 25, Lu Biao directed the village residents to pick up the
fertilizer bags at the village entrance. "The fertilizers are distributed to the
AIDS families. Every four families get to share one bag," he said. He is the
village director. In 2000, he was found to be an AIDS carrier.
"In the next year or two, the disease got very bad in the village. All the
cadres left, and the party secretary was the only one who sat in the empty
office," said Lu Biao. In 2003, he became the village director and has continued
to do so up to now.
"When I first came, I ate with the village director. I found out that he said
very little. He only picked up the food in front of him." So said the young
cadre Jiang Lei. Before going home, Jiang Lei make sure to go the bathhouse at
the county seat to clean himself thoroughly and then he entered his home. "After
a while, people got used to it slowly and we are together," Jiang Lei added.
In order to make sure the villagers get clean water, the
county recently sent more than 600,000 yuan to the village to make sure that
each family has a deep-water well. The village party secretary Lu Wei is
presently registering each family, one at a time. "According to the 'Four
Reliefs and One Concern' policy, each AIDS sufferer can get a living allowance
of 50 yuan per month," said Lu Biao. But he felt that this standard is "a bit
low" and intends to tell his superior that.
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