November 1, 2001 It is in the southern countries of Africa where an alarmingly large numbers of HIV patients are concentrated. Photographer Masako Imaoka visited one of these countries, Zambia, to report on the people living in fear of infection, yet still endangering themselves. It is about people contracting AIDS and living with the fear of death. It is about people demonstrating courage in the face of adversity and those who give them support. Masako Imaoka found many different people here. An Orphan with Aids, Living on Death's Doorstep "Jacob's has gone to heaven." I had just recently returned home from Zambia when I received by email the report of a death of a friend from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) youth volunteer, Katsura Sasaki. Our mutual friend was a 14-year-old boy named Jacob, and he lived in a mission orphanage in the capital city of Lusaka called the Kasisi Orphanege. "When I grow up and am able to work, I want to buy some chitenge cloth and a carpet and make my home look nice." Jacob had told Sasaki of his hopes for the future just a week before his death. Sasaki had been sent by the JICA as a social worker, to provide psychological support to children brought up in the orphanage. She lived in close proximity to the children and grew used to the reality of HIV and AIDS. But because of her special relationship with Jacob, she was unprepared for the shock of his death. In her e-mail Sasaki added, "Jacob never showed any pain and his positive attitude and strength gave me great courage." About 180 children live communally at the orphanage. Like Jacob, some had lost both their parents or their mothers, whereas others were street children abandoned by their parents. About 40 of the children were infected with HIV, or had contracted AIDS, mostly whilst in their mothers' wombs. Though too young to fully understand the disease they suffer from, the effects of HIV strike the children soon after birth. In his last days, in spite of being unable to eat, Jacob was like a ray of sunshine to those around him. His emaciated body bore no resemblance to the average junior high school student in Japan and he weighed only 20 kilos. The awkward way in which he walked is still fresh in my mind. An 11-year-old girl, Jerry, had already lost her mother and three siblings to AIDS, becoming an orphan two months after her birth. She is currently in surprisingly good health, but at the age of six, she suffered from a lack of appetite, resulting in dramatic weight loss, along with tuberculosis and skin disease. "What's the point? I know I'm going to die, just like everyone else is going to die." Full of despair, Jerry cried inconsolably day in and day out. The majority of Zambian orphanages refuse to take in HIV infected children, and young HIV victims are regularly brought to the orphanage, not just from homes, but also from hospitals and social institutions. The numbers increase daily and the children who should be representing the future of Zambia are losing their lives everyday. Today, another child will die. The Frustration of Truck Drivers About 140 kilometers south of the capital of Lusaka, on the borders of Zambia and Zimbabwe, lies the town of Chirundu. Zambia is an inland nation, surrounded by eight countries and therefore has to rely on overland transportation. Shipments are unloaded in the South African port town of Durban, and pass through Zimbabwe on their way into Zambia. Sometimes the traffic is as heavy as 100 trucks per day at these pivotal locations. The trucks form lines at the inspection points where immigration procedures are carried out. "The drivers must wait for days, which is very stressful. As there is no other means of entertainment, they drink alcohol and buy the services of sex workers. Desire takes over and the drivers rarely use condoms," says 38-year-old Sky Zalowmisu(?), a truck driver transporting mainly cardboard boxes 1,800 kilometers across Zimbabwe, as he waits impatiently to get through immigration. Although he has only been here for three days, it is not unusual to wait for a whole week. And so a constantly changing horde of sex trade workers gravitates around the lodgings of the drivers in search of income. The village is in turmoil as truck drivers begin bargaining feverishly over beautiful young girls' services. Sky continues. "I know all about HIV, because of the people who come spreading information about the disease. Two of my relatives have recently died of AIDS. However, this is where we find our release. So it's no good telling us to use condoms." It is difficult to suppress the physiological needs of people. In spite of being supplied with a pack of 10 condoms by their employer and forced to take an HIV test once every two months, a 47 year-old driver and several other men admit to rarely using the condoms. Moreover, as sex worker Jenny Kaksa(?), age 35, points out, "The thing is, the South African drivers will strike up a generous weekly contract of 30,000 Kwacha (about 10,000 yen). In return, most of them refuse to use condoms. Personally I always use them, but a lot of the young girls give in to the wishes of the drivers because they are being paid large sums of money." Sex Worker: people engaged in sexual labor