Life In Exile

[poliphilo]

Odi rang last night. An aunt of hers has just died. She'd been talking to mourners at the wake (back in Cameroon) and it was tearing her up that she couldn't be there with them. The aunt was only 38 and probably died of AIDS- only no-one was saying that openly because of the stigma.

Comments

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's so awful - it's one of those ongoing horrors that must be chugging along in the background, without much attention being paid to it these days other than in the odd 'Dispatches' or 'From Our Own Correspondent' report made by die-hard journalists.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's right. The west has moved on from its obsession with AIDS but Africa- where it was never a "gay plague"- is still suffering terribly.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I'm not in exile but I do know how it feels to be far away form loved ones when they die (I missed both my parent's funerals) and it can be very sad and stressful especially when others blame you for not being there. That may not be Odi's case but still...I understand the feeling.
What is her legal situation in the UK now?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That must have been very hard.

Odi was sending money home to buy medicines for her aunt. I've no idea how she managed.

Her legal situation continues to be indeterminate.