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The annual Crusaid Walk for Life was well attended. Truly,
people from all walks of life were there, participating and giving encouragement.
There was the team from Positively Women in purple, teenagers from Body
& Soul in yellow, and the Food Chain in green, gathering on the south
bank, snaking across the 'wobbly' Millennium Bridge and ending up footsore
at a magnificent party venue in the City of London.
Yet there were relatively few of my fellow Africans among the crowd. I
would like to thank those who were: not only Body & Soul and Positively
Women, many of whom were African, but Henry Mumbi and the HIV Association
of Zambia, African friends from London's Social Services, and my friends
Moira and Anaice who were among those ensuring that the walk was a grand
success.
Yet I was saddened there were not more. We are the least advantaged group
in this great country, and I have found that Crusaid is one charity that
moves like lightning when one is in deep trouble. So it needs our total
support in its efforts.
I appreciate that some people are not physically strong enough to participate
in the walk. Even in a war not all soldiers are sent to the front. But
just a few minutes' visit to the starting point to cheer on the participants
would have gone a long way to boost morale at the Walk.
We who are positive need to fully support our own people at the helm,
not undermine them. We Africans need to solve our problems ourselves,
and this is only possible by getting involved and taking full charge of
our affairs.
Do we still need African-specific services for people with HIV? The answer
is, clearly, yes. Take social services in London. They all provide services
to the vulnerable. But at the same time they all have totally different
rules, particularly when it comes to their interpretation of the immigration
laws. It is the drastic inequalities from one borough to another, and
one case to another, that we need to shout about.
My heart bleeds when I meet people who seemingly have no hope of ever leading a decent life, because everything is tied to immigration status. People are suffering a lot nowadays,
