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In December 1998, for the first time in Haiti, a valiant woman of less than forty years old, Esther Bourcicault Estanislas, decided to come out of the silence and testify publicly about her seropositive status. Not without emotion and sympathy, thousands of viewers (among which adults, teenagers, and children) saw the courageous Esther on television, whose husband had already been taken away by AIDS. In words full of energy and hope, Esther Bourcicault explained her experiences, her disappointments and her pains with the virus. She also expressed her thankfulness towards all those friends and parents who supported her and continue to show her their love. This occasion greatly contributed to the process of bringing AIDS in Haiti into the open and is considered as the drop of water that made the bucket (of testimonies) overflow. Mrs. Bourcicault started a series "confronting the public," which, through invitations to gatherings or interviews by journalists of various media, is still running in the Haitian capital. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), although still considered a myth by many Haitian youngsters (who often say that AIDS, SIDA in French, stands for: Syndrome Inventé pour Décourager les Amoureux - in English: Syndrome Invented to Discourage Lovers) is now viewed different. It is not upto the same degree as before a taboo topic or a motive for blind discrimination against infected and affected people. Since from the beginning of the 1990s tallies of HIV/AIDS infected cases were collected, Haitians in general, through fear or simply through shame, did not want to hear about HIV/AIDS and displayed a conspiracy of silence regarding the spread of the epidemic in the country. Infected people often hide behind fetishism or certain vodoo myths to explain the reasons of their illness. Similarly, when parents don't abandon their infected off-spring, they prefer to spend money and time at the "hougans" (vodoo priests) rather than accept the result of a physician's test. The reality of the illness and the devastation of the virus in Haiti have been displayed in broad daylight through testimonies. Figures can tell. According to projections made by Haitian specialists at the end of July 1998, more than 335,000 Haitians would have been infected and the number of orphans of AIDS would be approximately 190,000. Same projections sustain that the number of seropositive people could reach 400,000 in 2010 if nothing serious is done to reduce the growth of the spread of the virus. However, HIV-infected and affected persons have recently been considerably motivated and assisted to testify on their situation. A most striking initiative was the first national forum on solidarity with people living with HIV, convened in Pétion-Ville, suburb of the capital, on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of April 1999. This forum, which brought together more than one hundred people of various backgrounds, among which seropositive Haitians and foreigners who had come for the occasion from other Caribbean countries, was organized by Promoteurs Objectif Zerosida (POZ), the Panos Institute of Port-au-Prince and Plan Haiti. The three days of this big gathering gave the opportunity to seropositive people to testify about their experiences and their suffering from the virus. Affected people could express their situation, disappointments and hope. People working in the domain of AIDS in Haiti as well as abroad could share their experiences. Additionally, participants from various backgrounds became aware of the real danger of the epidemic and were enabled to join the struggle for life. Based on ideas generated during the forum, groups and associations for the prevention and solidarity were formed. One case is a network of Haitian journalists, named "Centre for Communication on AIDS (CECOSIDA)," with as main objective to produce and distribute information on health, the prevention of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (MST). This network that functions with the support of POZ and Panos, aims also specifically to establish opportunities for testimonies by HIV-infected and affected people, in national solidarity against the virus. Similar to networks of HIV-infected and affected people existing in other countries of the Caribbean, such as the Dominican Network for Seropositive Persons (REDOVIH) in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean Network for Seropositive Persons (CRN+) based in Trinidad & Tobago, the Association for National Solidarity (ASON) was created in Port-au-Prince two months before the national forum, with a view to better help seropositive people here. "ASON also has the mission to ensure a lasting awareness within the population, by promoting public testimonies of HIV-infected and affected people," said Saurel Beaujour, Secretary General of the association. On 29 August 1999, ASON organized a day of solidarity in Léogane. Several seropositive people, members of ASON, testified in front of dozens of participants, in majority youngsters. Most remarkable testimonies were given by Dieula Jean, 30 years old and mother of four children among whom a baby of nine months, born infected, and by Christian Jules, father of five children at the age of 35. Dieula Jean has lived with her husband for 12 years. She said that she never has had a relationship with another man but the father of her children who, himself, has not shown any sign of infidelity. When Dieula was tested seropositive in April 1999, she was surprised. "When I carried my last baby, I was always suffering. I never had any problems during my first three pregnancies. To general surprise, all began with pains, wounds everywhere on my body and venereal infections. When the physician announced the news to me, I saw the opposite of everything in front of me. I could not speak nor raise my legs, let alone walk. I felt cold and hot at the same time. "Then, slowly I started thinking about my children. Especially about my baby. I asked myself ‘What happened to me? What will I tell my husband who doesn't want to hear talk about AIDS?' Many questions came to my mind. Finally, I resigned myself. I claim my innocence and remit the entire situation to God. I have decided to suffer with serenity." "Currently," she told, "the illness is eating me away. I cannot obtain the medicines that can reduce the suffering. My only wish is that infected people like myself and many other non-infected people will support me morally." However, Dieula who is widely-known at Côte-Plage 16 (suburb located just south of the capital) for her personality and conviviality, is very preoccupied by certain signs of instability in her family. She admitted that her husband, although always suffering from stomach aches, which makes one suspect infection, refuses to have himself tested. He prefers to flee the house to avoid hearing about AIDS. The testimony of Christian Jules, like Dieula's, created a lot of emotion among the participants. Mr. Jules has been married for about 9 years. Like Dieula, he was tested seropositive nine months ago. Mr. Jules said that he was not too surprised about his infection because he had several partners at any one time. He explained his case as follows: "My only regret is that my children are suffering because of my carelessness. At the receipt of the result of my test, my only fear was to know how to tell my wife, who always seems faithful to me. I understand that my situation is the result of my going around. My wife and my children do not deserve at all to have to pay a price like that." Christian Jules is delighted that his wife is not infected, nor his children. "Fortunately," he said, "she can work and take care of our children. It is marvelous to have a woman like her, who supports me with patience and courage. She deserves love rather than this terrible burden on the family: AIDS, for which only I am responsible." "The symptoms of the illness are devastating me and I can't do anything about it. I want to die. But death does not seem to want me. Only God knows why. Maybe I have a mission to accomplish. Anyway, I hope that my testimony will help you all, especially you other young people who are the hope of the country, to take serious the reality that the AIDS virus represents. It threatens to exterminate our entire generation," concluded Mr. Jules. [1395 words]
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