Coming to Say Goodbye: Stories of AIDS in Africa

Is there anything more heartbreaking than looking into the eyes of a small child who is infected by the HIV virus? Although many of the children in Coming to Say Goodbye: Stories of AIDS in Africa are under the care of health professionals who help ease their suffering, many others are not so fortunate. Opening with a quote from Salih Booker of the group African Action (“AIDS is now acknowledged as the worst plague humankind has ever faced. Years from now people will ask about AIDS, as with the Holocaust, ‘How could they have known and failed to act?'”), this program, which depicts some of the lives of the estimated 10 million HIV/AIDS sufferers in Africa (host to three quarters of AIDS cases worldwide), is a powerful call to action. Produced by the Catholic ministry Maryknoll Productions, the video doesn't proselytize, but rather offers an intimate look at people and families who have fallen victim to HIV/AIDS, while also documenting attempts to stop the cycle (mainly through education, especially for women and children). In addition, viewers are left to ponder the disease's impact on the culture's social security system: traditionally the young care for the elderly; with an entire generation wiped out by AIDS, it is the grandparents who are now raising their grandchildren. A powerful collection of personal stories that remind us--as one interviewee puts it--that AIDS statistics "are numbers with the tears washed off," this is recommended. Aud: P. (C. Block)