A world of difference By Lisa Nicely,
Go-Local Content Editor
From the community page of www.Go-Montegobay.com : This is part 2 in a 3 part series; part 1 was published on Tuesday 19th June. "DON'T HAVE sex and if you have to have sex, use a condom." That's the word of warning from Carrie, a patient at the Hope Hospice for the Dying in Albion Montego Bay. Established in 1997, the hospice is run by The Good Shepherd Foundation and is a non-profit, non-denominational organisation established to address the plight of Montego Bay's inner city. Like a ray of hope in dark times, Montego Bay Hope is home to 16 patients all of whom have been diagnosed with AIDS. They find refuge and shelter there, and the family atmosphere is a relief from the ridicule and scorn of a society still sceptical to and largely unaware of the issues surrounding AIDS. The go-montegobay team visited the hospice recently and spoke with some of the patients. Here are their stories: Carrie A carrier of the virus for the past three years, Carrie is a single mother in her early 30s. This is her second stay at the institution. She has been back for about a month now. "I was here about two years ago when I became very ill. I couldn't keep down anything not even water. It was a miracle how I recovered because the doctors gave up on me," she says. Carrie's family doesn't really visit or support her. "There are 12 of us and only one sister help me out when she can. Carrie says that back home, she was all but scorned and rejected. "I have the most utensils in the house, because as soon as I touch something, it belongs to me." The neighbours, she says, would send their kids to throw water and rocks through her window. Carrie theorises that "it was a deportee girl who came from abroad and was sleeping with half of the community. You know everybody have to have somebody so three quarters of the people dem get it..." Carrie therefore believes that she caught the virus from her lover who caught it from "the deportee girl". She says she believes that a lot of the people in her community have caught the virus but don't know it. Now an "expert" on the symptoms, Carrie is able to recognise them in other people. But she will not approach anyone for fear of what the reactions might be. "I see it but I don't say anything because many of the people don't know about the symptoms." She is glad to be at the hospice where no one in the community knows her because that way, she can remain a "face without a name." Marva Marva is in her mid twenties. It's been three years now since she has been diagnosed. She too has been in an out of the hospice but says she feels a lot better when she is there. She tells it like this; "I was here before and I went away and come back. I feel little better now cause I feel like I was dying. I never have nobody fi talk to, nothing fi eat. A since lately mi tell mi family. Dem treat mi alright cause mi breda come up here and bring things fi me." Marva says she knows how she caught the virus but she didn't explain. "Mi do the blood test," was her only response to our queries about how she found out that she was a carrier. But she later adds, "mi on the work (on a construction site) and me feel giddy." She has had counseling from the doctor who diagnosed her. "The doctor counsel me first," she explains. Now, she doesn't have many friends outside the hospice but the other patients are her friends. "Dem treat me like family," she says. She sometimes has joint pains, which makes her weak. "You finish?" she asked us, holding on to her side, and doubling over in pain. "Yes, thanks for talking to us." Sylvia 72-year-old Sylvia concludes that she has had the virus now for a long time but didn't know it. When she began to feel ill many years ago, the doctors kept telling her that it was a "nerves problem." "Mi no say mi never have nerves problem you know but it wasn't no nerves. All along it was this thing yah," she says in reference to the HIV virus and with obvious distress. We asked Sylvia if she liked it at the hospice but she said, "No sah. Mi no really like it, but whey fi do." Sylvia caught the virus from her lover, a married man who lives in the United States with his wife. He and Sylvia had been friends before he left the country and she swears "mi no do nothing with no one after him go wey." He came back to Jamaica a few years ago "to look for his mother" and after he went back to the U.S. Sylvia began to experience various discomforts. The most troubling was an unusual itching of her skin. It was after many visits to the doctor that she was eventually diagnosed with the HIV virus. Sylvia was shocked. AIDS was the last thing on her mind. Her sister and her church family visit and bring supplies for her when they can. Sylvia has resigned herself to thinking that "her time" will come soon. "Me make up me mind misis," she says with a tone of finality. And by way of advice to the rest of the world, Sylvia says simply, "dem must know whey dem a do." There is no denying the huge difference that the hospice is making to the lives of those it serves. People who may have otherwise been left without a home, find shelter, food and friendship there. It's not exactly an all-inclusive hotel experience but for people like Carrie, Marva and Sylvia, it's sure making a world of difference. The final article in this series looks at issues of treatment and the spread of AIDS in Jamaica and other parts of the world. Be sure to check the community page of www.Go-Montegobay.com for part three. The real names of the patients have been withheld for privacy.
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