The Old Man and His Sons

For those of you who have wanted to know about the AIDS stories that Alyssa and I do...here is an example of one of the stories:

There once was an old man with four sons. One day, he called his sons together to speak to them.

“My sons,” he said, “I have traveled to many places and seen many things. I want to tell you about what I saw. As I traveled, I saw many strange and wonderful things, my sons! But I also saw something terrible that brought fear and sadness to my heart. I saw many people suffering from a deadly sickness called HIV/AIDS. The people with this sickness become weak and cannot work. There is no cure for HIV/AIDS, so people with HIV/AIDS suffer greatly and then die. Whole families and clans, even whole nations, are in distress because of this sickness. In many places, people are dying from HIV/AIDS and leaving their children with no father or mother. The strong, young people become sick and cannot work. Those who work in the gardens die, so there is not enough food. Soldiers become sick and die, so that they cannot protect their countries. Satan spreads many lies about HIV/AIDS, so that people will not know how to protect themselves. He even convinces some people that HIV/AIDS does not exist. But you, my sons—I want you to know the truth, so that you will not suffer and die like the people I saw. 

"When a person has HIV/AIDS inside of his body, that person can pass the HIV/AIDS to someone else in three ways: First, if the blood of the person with HIV/AIDS touches your blood, the HIV/AIDS can get into your blood as well. Second, if you sleep with someone who has HIV/AIDS, you can get the HIV/AIDS from them. Lastly, a baby can get HIV/AIDS from its mother, while it is inside her womb, during birth, or during breastfeeding. 

"Here is what you must do, my sons, to protect yourselves from this very bad sickness: Don’t let your blood touch the blood of another person. So you should stay away from knives, razors, or needles that have been used by someone else. Never share a bed with any person who is not your wife. Even if a person looks healthy and beautiful, they can still have HIV/AIDS and pass it on to you. If you get HIV/AIDS and then you sleep with your wife, she may get it from you. After that if she gives birth to a child, the child may get HIV/AIDS from her body. Then because of your foolishness, you will die, and so will your wife and child. Know that you cannot catch HIV/AIDS from mosquitoes, like malaria, and you cannot catch it from someone by greeting them or eating with them or swimming with them. It is not spread by coughing or sneezing, or by urinating. You do not need to fear people who are suffering from this sickness. You must only be careful around blood, and you must only sleep with your wife, and she must only sleep with you. Listen to me, my sons, for I know many things. Listen to my words, so you will not die.”

After he finished saying this, the sons left their father and each went his own way.

The first son met a beautiful girl that he liked very much. He said to himself, “This girl looks beautiful and healthy. Surely she cannot have the sickness my father warned me about.” And so he arranged to meet her late one night, and he slept with her. But he did not know that before that night, she had also slept with another young man. That young man had HIV/AIDS, and he had given HIV/AIDS to her. She did not even know the she had HIV/AIDS. Later, the oldest son became sick. Word was sent to his father, “Old man, your oldest son is sick with the sickness that has no cure.” The old man cried out, “My son, my son, did I not warn you? But you did not listen, and now you will die!”

The second son grew tall and strong, and he married a good girl who made him very happy. One day, after he was married, he went on the road to a far village to sell his cows. While he was on the road, he met a woman who seemed very healthy. He said to himself, “I am far from home, and no one here will know what I have done. It will be a long time before I go back home to my wife, and I don’t think I can wait that long to stay with a woman. This woman looks beautiful and healthy. Surely she cannot have the sickness my father spoke of.” And so he slept with her. He did not know that the woman had HIV/AIDS. When he returned home, he again slept with his wife. Both he and his wife became sick. Then they had a child, and the child became sick also. Word was sent to the father, “Old man, your second son is sick with the sickness that has no cure. And now his wife and child are sick with it as well.” The old man cried out, “My son, my son, did I not warn you? But you did not listen, and now you will die—you and your wife and your child.”

The third son was a good young man. He listened to his father’s words and never shared a bed with his girlfriend. One day, while he was off at cattle camp, he and his friends deciding to do some fresh scarring. The first young man took a razor blade and carved a bull on his arm.  Then, he passed the razor blade onto the young man beside him.  Each man took the razor blade, one after the other, and finally it came to the third son. He and his friends did not know that the first man with the razor blade had HIV/AIDS. A little bit of that man’s blood got into the blood of the third son from the razor blade and the blood of every other man at the cattle camp. When all of the young men returned home from cattle camp, they all became very sick, including the third son.  Word was sent to his father, “Old man, your third son is sick with the sickness that has no cure.” The old man cried out, “My son, my son, did I not warn you? You were a good young man, but you were infected by the blood of another. You were not careful, and now you will die.”

The fourth son kept his father’s words in his heart. He never slept with a girl, and after he was married, he slept with his wife only, even when he was away from home. He was very careful around knives and razorblades and anything else that might have blood on it. He grew strong and healthy, and his father was very proud of him. He helped care for his brothers as they suffered from HIV/AIDS, and because of this, he was blessed. He had many children, and he taught them to help care for their sick uncles. When all the other brothers died one by one, he continued to be strong and bear healthy children.

One day the old man said to his last son, “My son, my son, I am so happy! You listened to my words and now you will live—you and your wife and your children!”