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Global Focus Films: HOME
Email: Global Focus Films
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UPDATE (Jan. 2002): Ghetto's sister, photographed below, died of AIDS complications.
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UPDATE (Jan. 2001): Ghetto's long battle with illnesses associated with AIDS came to an end in January 2001. His story continues to educate and inspire students and others in the U.S. about the ravages of this disease and the compassion necessary to combat it.
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"Ghetto"
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On HIV/AIDS DISCLOSURE in SOUTH AFRICA
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An avid soccer player and athlete, Johannes, known to those who love him as "Ghetto," 28, is living with full blown AIDS. Physical wasting due to his disease has robbed him of a once strong and muscular body. In spite of suffering from the opportunistic infection, oral thrush, which has filled his mouth with extremely painful sores, Ghetto still forces himself to eat, knowing that nutrition is key to his survival. Still quick to laugh at even the slightest bit of humor, Ghetto attributes his longevity to the loving care of his family and the support of his lifelong friend, Thembi, an outreach worker for Friends for Life, an AIDS services organization in Johannesburg.
In spite of the fact that his doctors told him he "would be dead by June 2000," as of August Ghetto still hoped to finish his college degree. At a recent visit to his doctor, he was told that even if he could afford Western AIDS medications, his T-cell count was virtually nonexistent and the toxicity of the drugs would probably kill him. Like the majority of South Africans facing the ravages of HIV/AIDS, he has struggled with the issue of disclosing his health status to friends and family. His fear is universal: that he will be abandoned by those who love and respect him. Having suffered from Hodgkin's Lymphoma, long bouts of TB and other AIDS-related opportunistic infections, Ghetto finally disclosed to his friends and colleagues that he was extremely ill with full blown AIDS following his 28th birthday in July. His inner strength to do so came from deep within himself, aided by the support of his sister who provides his daily care and guidance on how to disclose one's status from Thembi."
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"Ghetto"
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"Ghetto" with his sister who helps care for him at home near Johannesburg, South Africa.
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"People are afraid of their loved ones," Ghetto said, "of what the people around them would say. The people who love them. For instance, when I heard that I was HIV positive I decided to keep quiet. Because at that stage everything was normal for me. I was afraid of telling my mother because I knew she was going to be devastated. I thought of how it would break her heart after spending so much, investing so much in me to go to college, that would kill her. So I kept quiet. I think the reason why people keep quiet, they're afraid to hurt the next person, to hurt their friends, to hurt their mother. I knew about this since ‘98. So I was afraid to hurt the people I love and who love me. Well, now they know. They know about my status, they know I have AIDS, they know my CD4 count is very, very low. The doctors have told them, this person could die at any time.
"I don't know how I could prepare for death," Ghetto continued. "You can't prepare. Only God knows. The most difficult part of this disease for a person is to be quiet. If you could try to talk more about this AIDS. It's almost like cancer but people talk about that. Why can't they talk about this? I think more people are dying very early because this thing is killing them inside, alone. They don't speak out. If you speak out you're coping. So that's why I'm now prepared to disclose to my friends that I am HIV positive."
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"Ghetto" outside his home.
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Photos and text by Kellie Gibbs.
*Representations of people on this page is not an indication of their HIV/AIDS status.
Copyright 2000
Global Focus Films
All rights reserved
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