人类生存所面临的一大挑战就是疾病，我们和我们的家人朋友都多多少少承受过疾病带来的痛苦，而且病痛让我们脆弱和需要安慰，然而艾滋病感染者们不但要面对疾病带来的痛苦折磨，还要承担起无谓的社会污名和歧视。艾滋病只是一种病毒，所谓歧视就是对未知事物的无知恐惧和社会污名化的错误信息导致，除了了解和认识事物的真相没有更好的办法可以解决，本期的同志亦凡人我们将听到被南非前总统纳尔逊.曼德拉誉为南非当代英雄的南非大法官爱德文.卡梅隆先生和一位心底朴实而灿烂的感染者小周的心灵表述。我们在这里用爱德文.卡梅隆的一段话作为对所有感染者的勉励。“我是南非唯一公开自己是艾滋病感染者的公务人员。我的感觉是被传召作为证人。我的感觉是被传召说明在一个千百万人正在死亡的国度里，我是如何幸存下来的。我觉得我不应在保持沉默。” —Edwin Cameron
Diseases and illnesses have always posed a challenge to the subsistence of mankind. We have all been ill at some point in our lives and we’ve all experienced to some degree the pain which comes from being ill. It leaves us fragile and in need of the soothing comfort of others. HIV-positive people not only have to face the pain of being ill, they also have to face a society which discriminates against them. Although HIV is just a virus, society has been treating it as something vile. Misinformation about HIV is rampant, and people are caught up in irrational fear of the virus. The best way to solve this issue is to help people to know and understand the truth about HIV and AIDS.
In this episode of QAF Beijing we’ll talk to grand justice Edwin Cameron, a man who has been praised as a contemporary South-African hero by Nelson Mandela, and Xiaozhou, a down to earth yet inspiring Chinese man living with HIV.
Edwin Cameron is a judge at the South African Supreme Court of Appeal and he is HIV-positive. A sincere and honest man, he speaks with spirited intelligence about his experiences. To start off this episode, we would like to encourage all HIV-positive persons with some of his words: “I’m still the only person holding public office in South African who has chosen to make public my HIV status… I felt I was called to witness. I felt called to account for my survival in a country in which hundreds of thousands were dying unnecessary deaths. I did not feel I could or should remain silent…” —Edwin Cameron
