New Faces of HIV/AIDS

Esperanzaⁱ, a thirty-three year old Mexican American women from Los Angeles that I recently interviewed, like every mother is concerned about the future of her two children. She is especially anxious because she is one of 38.6 million people currently living with HIV worldwide and one of a million Americans living with HIV (Oprah Show 2006). Esperanza often cries out to God pleading, “I can’t leave now, please God don’t take me now, just wait to they [her children] turn eighteen both of them”. Latina and African American women like Esperanza represent a growing percentage of the HIV+ population in the United States. For example, in the Los Angeles county, “thirty-eight percent of women infected by AIDS are African American” (AIDS Partnership California n.d.). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that “AIDS is the number one killer for African-American women ages 25 to 34” (Oprah Show 2006). In spite of her circumstances and the dismaying HIV/AIDS statistics, Esperanza has hope for her future and the future of her children. That hope comes from her trust in God. Rapidly rising HIV/AIDS infection rates among Latina and African American women in Los Angeles and globally presents both a dire problem and opportunity for the church to engage in ministry among this population.

ⁱ Esperanza’s name was changed to protect her identity.