when positive = despair

August 12, 2008 by thejessicat

I know that I promised ya’ll the 2nd & 3rd episode of my three week saga, but this is WAAAAAAYYYYY more important than my holiday.


This needs immediate attention in fact!
Ever heard of the ‘One Life, One Revolution’ campaign?
It highlights the pitiful lives of children infected with AIDS.

 

This year, it was held at Gurney Plaza, Penang.

When I first saw it under construction, I remember telling Ralph this –
“eh!! Haunted House ar?? Let’s go!”

And I told Minny this –
“ehh, wanna go inside?
Mebbe they’re making something like Ripley’s Believe It or Not!”

After so much suspense,
the makeshift abandoned ruins were open to the public today!
I finally knew what it was all about, and yes, no haunted house for me

 

The volunteers fixed the mp3 recordings on for me – it was supposed to be my ‘guide’ as I walk through this abandoned ruin.

The recorded voice of the narrator guided me in my walkthrough and retold the story for us to experience the lives of these unfortunate children.

There were 3 stories to share :

India, Cambodia & Malaysia.

 

So yeah, I was ‘Jothi’ – a little girl from India.


Beautiful pictures from the country I’m supposed to be from

 

And.. my family and I were living in poverty. So much so that dad & mom fought completely everyday. This is my mother :


She lives in despair trying hard to fend for me & my brother

 

Walking through this ruins, I also learned that the country I am in – India, has the 2nd largest HIV+ infected people.

As I walk through my ramshackle house, it pains me to see my family living under these circumstances.


There was barely any space to move around

And this is where I sleep, the place I call my room

I was in dire need of help, how am I to survive this absolute poverty? The meals I eat even depend on what mother earns everyday out on the streets, at times, we have none to eat at all!

 

 

And when they suspected me to be HIV+, mother’s earnings from her little business were gravely affected


If no one buys from mother anymore,
we will suffer from starvation!

The more I hear her stories, the more I feel for this

young girl – Jothi. Being in her shoes made me experience her pain


As I ponder as my character Jothi, could I be infected?

I went for a check up at the nearby clinic to find an answer to my questions

And, I was HIV- !!

Yes, I was so happy for little Jothi!
But, I wasn’t satisfied for myself…

 

I wanted to feel how it was like in the shoes of a HIV+ child, so I further explored my home and the streets of India, and ooops I realized I’ve entered a place which I’m not supposed to enter. LOL.

By entering a wrong room, I was apparently now in a new dimension, Cambodia!

That’s what you get when you don’t follow the instructions. hahahaha.

Anyway, I’ve got nothing to lose – I get to explore both countries!

So now by accident, I am warped from Jothi the Indian Child to Srey Mom the Cambodian child


Heloo, I’m Srey Mom now.
REMEMBER.
I’m not Jothi anymore.

 

My life is more miserable than Jothi’s, after comparing both their lives. In Cambodia, my parents have divorced and now, I’ve got no home to run from the cold.

No shelter to protect me from the cruelty of the world.
No food for me to satiate my dire starvation.

and worse comes to worst :

mom is now gone.

 

How am I to fend for myself?
I left for the city in search of finding a good job so that I may continue living my life. Somehow, I ended up in the borders of Thailand.

They promised me a job that paid well and I felt so blessed for I now have a glimmer of hope.

BUT.

my happiness was short-lived..


I was dragged to a brothel and was forced to work there

My clients were mainly Cambodian men, Thai labourers & foreigners. As they always wanted a young girl, I was constantly pushed to ‘work’ more than 20 times a day.

When I cried & begged the prostitute house to let me go, they locked me in a room without food & water. I was helpless, and dying day by day


I was taunted by so many of these creatures that I begged to be released

I HAD to provide them my services again.
I had no choice.

 

As weeks passed, the other girls working with me were being murdered for contracting AIDS. When they were confirmed HIV+, our pimp daddy ended their lives.

So I tried my best not to appear sick, although I felt weaker and weaker every day.

 

My skin peeled
I was having itches all over
My stomach hurts non-stop
I grew warts on my body

and when I could not take those painful times of working everyday,
I collapsed.

They took me to a nearby clinic to check if I was HIV+, I took the chance and tried to escape. I could hear the pimps looking for me, but I was hiding in the trash can. Hoping & praying that they would never find me


The trash can I hid in for hours

And now, the check-up showed that I was HIV+.

And my character – Srey Mom, screamed and cried her lungs out. I was devastated after experiencing her life and now, finding out that she had contr

acted AIDS.

 

She was in despair.
There was nothing she could do about it.

After exiting Cambodia, I found myself in the room where the ‘Wall of Hope’ was. There, I saw photographs of many other children who had been affected by AIDS.


This man is also listening intently,
following the experience of a little boy


This is the Wall of Hope; where we get a chance to personally write a message to all the AIDS victims, right from the bottom of our hearts.

And this was what I wrote..

(pinned with the white thumbtack)
much love, Jessie.

Just before we exited the entire abandoned ruin, we could take a little souvenir home in remembrance of this journey we took, experiencing the lives of these children

And *psst* I didn’t take only one,

Benjie has it too!!

We are in support of these pitiful AIDS victims, they deserve to have life.. a one of love and shelter, a life filled with hopes.

Say this with me if you wish,

Dear Father,
Please bless them and guide their lives in this unfortunate situation.
May your hands of protection be upon them all.
With this in His name I pray,
amen.

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