When Gambians' savings dry up, when their friends don't stop by on weekends for tea, when the virus starts to win and they start to give in, they turn to people like Abdulai. He, along with a team of 11 others, works for the Catholic Development Office, a Catholic Relief Services partner that cares for HIV-positive Gambians, orphans and children.
They do what few others are willing to do: pay attention to those with HIV. They roll them over and teach their families how to clean bedsores; they push needles into their arms and let IVs drip into their veins; they fill cups of mouthwash.
That's not all. They counsel them. They laugh with them. They tell them HIV is like any other disease; you just have to manage it. They pay for orphans to go to school; they even buy them shoes.
They also help those who are ill but not HIV-positive. Villagers just know them as people who care for the sick. Confidentiality of patients is a priority.
As if that weren't enough, they take a question-and-answer game show on the village circuit. They talk to kids and adults about HIV and promise prizes—cooking pots, bed nets, soap—if they answer questions correctly. In this poor region, free household items are much appreciated. People pay attention.
Abdulai and the other staff of the Catholic Development Office work in Bassé, little more than a stopover in the eastern end of The Gambia. The rusted buses that carry Africans into Bassé also bring HIV and misperceptions.
Photo by John/Maggie Williams/CRS 
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