STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION AGAIN

The community in Papua New Guinea has been fed on family stigma and discrimination for over a decade at the hands of the AusAID anti-family paedophiles.

They tell of how HIV positive people are rejected by family and forced to die on the street. The only person I knew to die rejected was Max Mea.

Now we read in the media the story of three young women in a report Young and Positive. They have a double message of pushing stigma and discrimination aside but being loved by grandparents, uncles and aunties. They say the support was more than received from family.

The early AusAID and UN paedophiles were anti-family and blamed the family for everything. But this was a gross exaggeration.

When a young daughter is diagnosed HIV positive, there is shock in the family. Parents suffer fear, stress, frustration, anger, disappointment and shame. Educated families will be more loving and accepting. It is the response of family that will influence the wider extended family members.

Their lovely daughter will not marry and help the family with bride price. The younger children will not study with the money from their sister’s bride price. She will stay at home. She may become a key supporter in the family. It all comes back to family. Love remains.

Perhaps the young man or woman is a good person, helpful in the house, role model for the younger children and cousin sisters and brothers, active in the church and care organizations, mentor and peer educator for others with HIV.

The family can only feel pride not shame but with never-ending sadness. The loved one’s HIV status will be a minor factor in family life. I enjoy the same response after three years of HIV.

But there may be family rejection if a young man or woman is sexually active, drinking beer and home-brew, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, going out at night and not coming home, working in a job but not helping the family with money, violent to family members and abusing parents.

Now we have a “new chum” organization FHI 100. Let us hope they do not carry on the anti-family, anti-faith, anti-parents agenda of the early paedophiles. We read in the media that they are supported by two gay and lesbian organizations from before and that is a danger sign.

Let us hope that the FHI 100 research does not reinvent the wheel on aspects of HIV/AIDS infection that we all know already. What is so difficult?

We hope that the FHI 100 agenda does not include same sex marriage, legalization of gay and lesbian sex and legalization of sex workers including underage girls and boys with blame for all parents.