Meyeh Alexander Ngong asked me to post his photo here...He 54 years old and this is his eighth child Bris, asleep in his arms. Meyeh's parents didn't have the money for him to finish secondary school, so he finished school at the age of 10. His first wife left him, and he remarried a few years ago. His new wife is almost 30 years younger than him and when she got pregnant with Bris and attended anti-natal clinic she discovered she was HIV positive. Meyeh did his test then too and so began their life with HIV...
Meyeh's wife works beside the road selling "sweet drinks" like Fanta and Coke and eggs. Meyeh says, " That is where we get small monies to buy our drugs and our food...oil, salt, and the rest I manage." It is true, he "manages" everything else...including the childcare and all of the farming. He grows everything he can and each day he hoists two 20 liter drums on his shoulders with a bamboo stick holding them together and sets off for the stream an hour away to collect water for his family to drink, wash with, and cook with. He makes this 2 hour roundtip, twice a day...His family needs about 80 liters of water a day to function.
Meyeh wants to live...it is as simple as that. He wants to help Bris get an education before he dies and he wants to watch his children grow...so he works harder than anyone I met along my travels, and he smiles a lot.
Bris was tested for HIV 3 times and each time the result is negative and for this his parents thank God.
Once a month, Meyeh travels about 2 hours on foot with Bris on his shoulders...to the HIV support group meeting where he shares his thoughts and encourages others to dance and sing and to LIVE their lives. That is where I was lucky enough to meet this strong man, a bit shorter than me with the largest laugh in Kumbo...he asked me to tell you his story. 
Carrying water...
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