Poverty and AIDS
BACKGROUND
Bloodselling for money: From 1970s to mid-1990s, village pesants in Henan province sold their blood for money. The problem wento out of control when non-medical businessmen began to step into it. Pesants shared on set of equipment for draining blood out their bodies and contaminated equipments with HIV virus easily got more people infected with HIV virus. At the end of 1990s, pesants usually young working men and women started to turn to AIDS patients and died painfully without any hope, leaving the old and the young behind them. This letter was written by a woman infected with HIV because of bloodselling. Thanks for many people’s encourageous and brave efforts, these unfortunate peost ple’s situation finally caught attention from the Chinese government, and medicines were given to turn for free to relieve their sufferings.
THE LETTER
When I was 16 years old, winter that year was usually cold. The Spring Festival was close, yet my family had little money for it. So I went into the town selling my blood for money with other people from my village. I got paid by 50RMB for each time. I made 300RMB that day, thinking I could help my family a little bit. After the Spring Festival, I left home and worked in a city for several years. Then, I was old enough to get married. I was in a meeting with a guy from my village through other people’s introduction. The guy was farming in Xinjiang province. His family was not bad. He was normal looking. He was the only child in his family. We met and talked to each other for several times. After we were more familiar, I followed him to Xinjiang and stayed there. Two years later, my daughter was born. I started to miss my family so I came back to my family with my daughter that year. I never expected I could never leave again.
To be continued.
This letter is originally published in Paper.com and this bad translation work aims no commercial use in all kinds of forms.
#Writing Against Silencing#