GEORGIA* LIVED A normal life in Jamaica until last October when a nasty rumour - that her three-year-old daughter was living with HIV - shattered her hopes and dreams.
Until then, she had a job, a place to live and friends. But, in the short space of time, life as she knew it, vanished as the rumour caused her to lose her job and her daughter's place in school, although neither of them has HIV or AIDS.
"Before everything started, I had a job and everything was all right. But then one evening I came home and the lady next door told me she would no longer pick up my daughter from school. The next thing I knew my daughter was kicked out of school and my landlady gave me notice," she said.
Georgia has undergone all this although the Ministry of Health has consistently run a public education campaign which speaks about discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS. The campaign also seeks to educate the public about the disease which cannot be transmitted through sharing utensils, a handshake or even working in the same environment.
That message, however, seemed to have missed her community as after the rumour broke out, people's attitude suddenly changed towards her. Georgia believes the rumour started as a result of a newspaper which published an article about HIV/AIDS and carried her daughter's photo. She said her daughter's photo was taken while they were at a fun day and at the time she was told it was because her daughter was cute.
The caption of the photo implied that her daughter had the disease. She said her daughter was told by the school not to return and no explanation was given.
Efforts to contact the publishers of the newspaper were unsuccessful as the phone numbers provided rang without an answer.
She said the gossiping started and then things took a turn for the worse. Georgia said she was at home with her child during Hurricane Wilma when the landlady knocked on her door and told her to leave. Georgia explained that things got worse after the landlady took out the house windows and screwed out all the light bulbs.
"When her husband came back he told me to leave. He told me not to touch anything for him and not to use his toilet. The cold coming in caused my daughter to catch pneumonia," she said.
Things became worse for Georgia, a domestic helper, when her employer banished her from the house and forced her to wash the concrete on the outside, the pool and drive-way, because it was felt that she also had AIDS. She eventually lost her job when her daughter became ill and was taken to the hospital forcing her to miss work for a few days.
"She (employer) told me not to use her utensils and I was told to stay outside. After I came back from the hospital with my daughter I went there and while standing in the rain no one came out. Eventually they came out and told me not to come back," she said.
The National Aids Committee in the Ministry of Health confirmed that discrimination is still rampant although the Ministry of Health has tried desperately to increase public awareness about the disease.
"There are a number of cases that have come to our attention because the HIV status of persons has become an issue. Most people with the disease are not willing to carry cases forward when they are discriminated against," said Ruth Jankee, Executive Director of the National Aids Committee.
Jankee added that the Ministry of Health was carrying out campaigns and that they were working on policies to assist those persons who are discriminated against as well as anti-discrimination legislation to deal with the problem. She said there have been commitments from lawyers as well to assist persons discriminated against.
As it stands, Georgia has a case under the Jamaican Constitution, although the constitution does not provide for monetary damages as a result of being discriminated against because of the disease.
But, for Georgia leading a normal life is all she wants.
"It's not about the money which may come about if a lawyer deals with the discrimination case. I just want my life back because it has been changed," Georgia said, adding that she plans to make a report to the Ministry of Health.
* Name changed upon request.
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