Jonas Bendiksen spent time mainly in the Central Plateau of Haiti. Haiti accounts for the largest HIV burden in the Western hemisphere. Although one of the poorest countries in the world, wracked by violence and instability, Haiti is making steady progress in providing antiretroviral therapy. Despite the enormous logistical challenges "accompagnateurs" (treatment partners) often walk hours, twice a day, to ensure that patients in their care take their medicine on time.

When Marie Sonie St. Louis, 33, first sought help, her immune system had totally collapsed, and she was considered a week away from death. She was no longer able to work as a cosmetics vendor in Port-au-Prince and moved back to her family’s remote homestead. “Hearing I was HIV positive broke my heart,” she said. “I thought I was lost. I thought I was going to die.” Since she started antiretroviral treatment, she has gained back considerable weight, her anemia has disappeared, and she is back to helping in the family household.

Marie-Thérèse Noël, 41, lived in Port-au-Prince when she fell ill. A single mother of three children, Marie-Thérèse could no longer afford to send her youngest, Manuela, 7, to school. "I don't know what's going to happen to me in the next year, but I know that I am going to keep taking my pills," she told Jonas Bendiksen during his first visit. Marie-Thérèse continued to suffer severe diarrhea and anemia after starting treatment and died six weeks later. Manuela was taken in by a cousin with the hope that she can return to school.

Relnel Chery, 38, a formerly well-muscled truck-driver in and around Port-au-Prince, returned to his rural home to his wife, Claudette, and new baby daughter, Rejika, when he became ill. He had lost weight and was suffering from acute pain in his feet. “I’m not ready to die,” he said, when starting antiretroviral treatment. “I’m ready to live.” He responded well to treatment and his immune system recovered, but despite this, his health spiraled downward, and his doctors were unable to find the cause. Relnel died of unknown causes after six months of antiretroviral treatment.


Autha Adolph, 26, believes that her HIV infection was meant to bring her back to her family in the remote interior of Haiti, where she now lives with her brother, his wife, and their six children. Autha was so ill when she began antiretroviral treatment that doctors doubted she would survive more than a few days. After more than two months of hospital care, she had made a remarkable recovery. As her strength and energy improves, she plans to return to her parents' house, to farm and to care for them. "I'm here and God didn't give me a receipt telling me how long I'll live, but I am still here."