Interview with Sarah Burchett
Age 18, white, female
So Sarah, what do yo know about AIDS
They have it in Africa, a lot, and it is an autoimmune disorder, which means that it affectys your immune system, and I know that . . . uhm, it’s spread through blood, mostly like bodily fluids, so, you can get it like, sexually transmitted, or, like uhm, like druggies can get it through the needles they use, sharing needles, and uhm, like and if you have an open wound or something and you’re interacting with someone with AIDS, sometimes you can get it. That’s what I know. So yeah
Ok, so where did you learn most about AIDS
From you. [laughter] and from television
From me? [laughter] did you talk about it in school? Because, like we talked about it in our health classes. Did you ever talk about it, like, at school?
I took health online, so thee was probably a unit, but I just skimmed it.
Ok, do you feel like it’s something that people are pretty aware of in the United States, or not so much?
Umm, I feel like, people are aware of it, like they know AIDS is a big deal, but I don’t think they really understand it. [yeah] I think they’re like, oh yah, AIDS, that’s a big thing, but if you were to ask them what AIDS is, or what it does, or why it’s a big deal, I don’t think, so many of them would know.
Do you think, uhm, that people feel, maybe don’t know so much about it because they don’t feel like it affects them? Or like, why do you think people don’t know about it so much?
Yeah, I feel like in the US, it’s not like, in Africa, so many people have AIDS, but in the US, like, I mean, there are people that have AIDS, but I feel like it’s like not everyone you meet has AIDS, so it’s not as big of an issue, I feel like people don’t worry about it, because it’s not like, you know, getting the flu.
Is there a specific demographic that you perceive as being more susceptible to AIDS?
Um, druggies, [k] and sex addicts.
[laughter] valid. Ok, uhm, true.
It’s the truth.
So do you feel like AIDS poses any kind of risk to you?
No.
No . . .
Because I’m not going to do drugs or, hopefully, have sex with someone who has AIDS, so . . .
[laughter] Well, do you feel that it’s important to educate people about AIDS?
I feel like it is because, even if it doesn’t affect you, it affects so many other people, and, um, I feel like there’s a lot of people who are like, who are like, ‘oh yeah, I donated to AIDS research’ but they don’t really, I feel like a lot of people just don’t, I don’t get the impression that they don’t really care, like they you know, they, they do it just because it’s the cool thing to do is to care about AIDS, yeah
[they don’t really understand]
But they don’t really know anything about it, so.
I could agree with that. Uhm, so the people that have AIDS then, do you think that they, like, deserve their uh, health status, or?
No, um, I feel like sometimes in the US, like I don’t think anyone deserves to be sick with the disease, but in the US I think there are so many opportunities for people not to get AIDS that when they do, you know, it’s partly, usually because of their own negligence and because of their own bad decisions. Whereas I feel like in Africa, there’s not as much education about it and just with the way the culture is, it’s so much easier to get AIDS without necessarily making bad decisions in your life, it’s just going with the culture, and people aren’t educated about it, but in the US I feel like if you get AIDS because you’re doing drugs, or you’re just going around having sex with people, those are kind of your own bad decisions that lead you to that.
So what specific things, uh, do you perceive as perpetuating the problem, like in Africa?
Um, I think poor education, people don’t understand a lot about how it’s transmitted, and like in Africa, I’ve heard people talk about how like only, there’s only so much to do with your life, and um, so you have sex and you do drugs and you play soccer, so, just they, they, I guess they’re not opened up to all the opportunities that life has, and just the way the culture is just perpetuates . . . AIDS spreading, and people getting sick.
So, um, what about kids that have AIDS, like little children?
Like, because their parents had AIDS?
[um, hmm]
I think that’s super sad.
Ok.
Cause it’s not their fault.
Ok, so like what about, the role of gender equality and AIDS? Do you see that as making any kind of difference?
Um, I think it could. I feel like especially in cultures like Africa where women don’t necessarily have the same rights as men, um, that if they had, if they had the feeling that they didn’t have to give in to men, when men like, you know, like forced into sex or something like that, if they had a better understanding of the fact they too could say no and make their own decisions, I think a lot of women, probably would say no, like they wouldn’t want to be having sex all the time, with these men, so, I feel like that could make a difference, umm, I don’t know how big of a difference it would make. I think, probably other things would make a bigger difference, but I think it definitely could.
What other things do you think would make a bigger difference?
Um, I think if you go in and help like, help the people like with education and like with their economy so that their lifestyle changes I think that will help a lot. Because, then, like I said, they’ll have so much more to do. If people or going to school or working a good job, or um, you know if they see all these possibilities then they’re not going to spend their life just going around and you know having sex and spreding diseases, you know, they’ll um, they’ll have bigger things in mind, and I think part of that is just like, I seriously think that it’s just kind of boredom, it’s like we having nothing else to do so we might as well, go have sex, or uh, let’s go have drugs, you know like, so if they had things that were important that they could say is more important than going around and having sex with people, I think that would really help.
Ok, um, do you know anything about the role of nutrition and AIDS?
I know what you told me about how if you’re malnourished then your AIDS medicine just makes you feel sicker instead of feeling better.
Ok
That’s all I know [laughter]
Um, ok, um, well, thank you for interviewing with me.
No problemo.
I think we’re going to stop for now.
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