Hope for Africa

摘要

By the grim standards of sub-Saharan Africa, 18-year-old Henry Kiiaka is not doing too badly. He attended high school near Kampala, Uganda, and he now earns $30 a month helping a farmer keep his books. Sporting a wide smile and a bright yellow button-down shirt, the former class president marvels at some of his schoolmates' low spirits. "Sometimes you will find a student just hiding and , crying in a room," he says. "Sometimes they commit suicide!" Despite his cheerful manner, Henry is no stranger to pain. He lost his father as a child, and his mother died of AIDS three years ago, leaving him to care for his four younger siblings. Two of his three teenage sisters still refuse to admit that the disease has touched their family, but Henry doesn't have the luxury of denial. His half brother, 10-year-old Ronnie, is living with HIV―and as head of the household, he is the boy's only lifeline. "Sometimes I have times alone," Henry confides while sitting with the downcast child at the pediatric clinic at Mulago Hospital. "One or two or three drops of tears."