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McCullin’s disturbing and powerful pictures, at County Hall Gallery on London’s South Bank, documents the impact of antiretroviral treatment (ART) on the lives of people living with HIV in Zambia and South Africa.
The photographer, who made his name working as a journalist in the Vietnam war, first visited Zambia and South Africa with Christian Aid in 2000. After this first visit, Don McCullin documented the lives of people living in desperate poverty who had been affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The photos from this trip were shown in the Cold Heaven exhibition He returned to southern Africa in April 2004 to record the changes the introduction of ART had brought to these impoverished countries. More than 200 people attended the evening event, which was hosted by Dr Daleep Mukarji, director of Christian Aid. McCullin reluctantly addressed the crowd, saying he preferred his pictures to do the talking. He spoke about the impact anti-retroviral treatment had made to the two women he revisited in South Africa and the tragedy of young sisters Mavis and Aaron in Zambia whose mother could not afford treatment and who died shortly after his first visit. He said he hoped his pictures would help to raise awareness of this global issue and compel people to put pressure on their governments to tackle the virus. Christian Aid partner, Chanda Fikansa, of the Catholic Diocese of Ndola in Zambia, painted a moving picture of the dire situation facing millions of Zambians infected by HIV who have no hope of getting the treatment they so urgently need. Broadcaster Joan Bakewell, who travelled with Christian Aid to South Africa, described her respect for the work of Wola Nani – another organisation supported by Christian Aid which is battling the HIV/AIDS crisis. Wola Nani trains women to become home careers who, in turn, support people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. She spoke of the innovative ways Wola Nani reached out to young people to educate them about the importance of safe sex through the provision of condoms.
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Nkwazi compound, Ndola, Zambia, 2004
Edith, right, visits Catherine, 33, and
her two-year-old son, Kenan. As
Catherine becomes increasingly ill, she
worries about Kenan, whom she thinks
might be HIV-positive. Although Zambia
now provides drugs to help stop mother-
to-child transmission, many mothers do
not know that they are positive and pass
on the virus in childbirth or while
breastfeeding.
REF:
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Khayelitsha township, Cape Town, South
Africa 2004
Cynthia, 36, whose life resumed after
she bagan taking antiretrovirals in
September 2003. As the numbers of HIV-
positive South Africans rises to 5.6
million, Cynthia's nearest Médecins Sans
Frontières clinic is one of the few
sources of free HIV drugs in the Western
Cape. Cynthia's medication is monitored
by Christian Aid partner Wola Nani,
which also provides counselling and
support.
REF:
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Kawana cemetery, Ndola, 2004
One of dozens of funerals that take
place each day in this sprawling
cemetery in Zambia's red-earthed
Copperbelt region. Almost 17% of Zambian
adults, or a million people, are HIV-
positive. "Four years ago, there was a
steady tempo of burials," said Don
McCullin. "Now there seems to be a
crescendo."
REF:
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Khayelitsha township, 2000
When this photograph was taken, Charlie,
lying in bed with her newborn daughter,
Khanya, and one of her sons, was so ill
she could not get up. "The last time you
came to see me I was very very sick,"
Charlie told Don McCullin on his return
four years later. "I thought I would die.
Since then I've been taking
antiretrovirals. I'm feeling much better
now."
REF:
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Khayelitsha Township, 2004
Antiretroviral drug treatment has
brought Charlie back to life. It has
made it possible for her to raise her
daughter Khanya. Here they sit side by
side, reading in Khanya's school. Access
to antiretroviral treatment, she says, "
means that I am able to work and can
continue with my life and look after my
children".
REF:
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Nkwazi compound, 2001
Teresa in February 2001 with her
children Aaron, 10, and Mavis, eight,
three months before she died at the age
of 34. "'When she was ill, we swept the
house, washed the clothes and fetched
water," recalls Aaron today. "'We liked
looking after her because she was our
mother." When Aaron first saw this
photogrph of his mother, he was overcome.
It now has pride of place in a frame on
the dresser.
REF:
Christian Aid/Don McCullin
Nkwazi compound, 2004
After their mother died, Aaron and Mavis
went to live with their grandparents,
Margaret, 62, and Ofeshi, 69. On the day
that Don McCullin arrived, they were
eating leftover grains of dried maize
for breakfast. Ofeshi earns about 60
cents (40p) a day as a cobbler.
Frequently they cannot afford the
Zambian staple of maize.
REF:
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
