A genuinely sorry sight

I always worry when I see men carrying babies. Invariably it seems to mean that something is horribly wrong with the mother.

We live quite close to a hospital but I only really notice it about once a week....still, it's enough. Once we were driving to work and noticed two men, one carrying a baby and one with a very large child strapped to his back. Look closer, it wasn't a child but a skeletal woman slung up in a bit of tattered fabric. This morning on the way to work I noticed a woman curled up on the grass lying with her head on the kerb. I thought, she is crying and might have just lost a child. Moments later I drove past a man walking down the street towards a local clinic, with a baby strapped to his back and a couple of water bottles with what looked like milk in his hand. I don't know if they are connected, but I am so sorry to see it.

15% of the adult population have HIV/AIDS here. Some reports say it is coming on for 20%. That is one in every 5 people. There are literally millions of orphans. But if you are Malawian HIV/AIDS is just another thing to add to the list of stuff that will kill you. Most people have malaria, many have bilhartisa, there is cholera and TB and dysentery. I understand a Malawian's life expectancy is around 45 (a recent improvement from 38).

I do not know what to make of all that.
F x