Russian Roulette

PHOTOS AND INTERVIEWS: MISHA GALUSTOV COORDINATION: ALEXA KAROLINSKI

tarting in the 80s, AIDS hit the United States and Europe in two waves. First came the actual disease, the thing you can get that kills you dead. Then came the massive piles of info, stats, debate, and talk. Almost two decades later, we challenge you to find anyone with a high school education who can’t tell you something about transmission rates, anti-retroviral cocktails, and, most importantly, how not to get infected. But do you know where they know none of that stuff? Russia. In a country where it’s widely believed that you can get the virus from sharing food, most HIV-positive Russians are forced to hide their illness from their relatives, friends, and colleagues. There’s not just a stigma around it—if you’re known to be infected, you will be fired and ostracized. As a result of this witch-hunt culture of shame, ignorance, misinformation, and shocking stupidity, Russia has one of the fastest growing rates of HIV infection in the world. UNICEF estimates that in 2005 there were 940,000 people in Russia living with HIV. Of these, it is believed that 160,000 were children infected by their mothers during childbirth. HIV-infected mothers in Russia historically abandon their children after birth—either that or they hide the fact that their child has HIV. Of the many orphanages that exist in Russia, none officially house HIV-positive kids, but we recently decided to go to some Russian orphanages and figure out how exactly things worked. We were kicked out of five institutions and had to spend hours in a filthy police station after a security guard took away our camera before we found an orphanage that would let us come in and ask some questions and take some photos. This facility is in the Vladimir Region, about 280 kilometers from Moscow. It’s kind of a drab Soviet-bloc-style building with a high fence and dogs at the entrance gate. The only reason I got in was because I accompanied NGO volunteers. It’s widely known that this is one of the places where HIV-positive kids get placed after they turn eight years old and can’t stay in specialized clinics. In this orphanage they live with other kids. I didn’t know which ones I interviewed had HIV, and neither did they.

Vice: How are you today?

Seryozha, 7 [right]:

Really good. I just had lunch and I want to play, but the nurses said I have to wait half an hour. They say it’s better for my stomach.

They’re right. You could get a stomachache. How long have you been here?
Not very long. A few months or something. Where were you before?
In a different home for children, but I didn’t like it there. I didn’t get along with the children and the nurses were unfriendly. There were many sick children there too. What did they have?
I don’t really know. The nurses didn’t tell me. Are you sick?
I get shots and pills every week, but I’m not sick. I can do anything. When you are sick you have to stay in bed and I don’t. Do you know why you get medication?
I get pills so I don’t get sick. The nurses said that it’s easy to get sick in the winter. Have you ever heard of HIV?
No. Do you know your parents?
I met my mom last year. I don’t know my father. My mother told me that my father is a businessman and that he travels a lot and is very busy. Are you in contact with your mom?
She called me on my birthday. That’s great. What did she say?
“Happy birthday.” And she asked if I was happy and told me that she is sick. What does she have?
She said that it’s something difficult to heal and that she is going somewhere else to live and that she might not see me again.

Vice: How was your breakfast today?

Alina, 10:

Good. We had hot kasha.

What did you dream about last night?

I don’t remember it very well. Something about the sea.

Have you been there?

Twice. We went to the Black Sea with a group. I played with jellyfish and collected stones.

What is your day here like?

I wake up and then I have physical exercises and breakfast. Next are school lessons, which I really like. After that I go to a sewing group. We sew dolls and Christmas-tree decorations. We’ll begin with real clothes next year. We sold some of our sewn toys at a fair but mine didn’t sell.

Do you know much about your parents?

My mother used to correspond with me, but she disappeared when I was eight years old. She was beautiful. Our chief mother here says that she’s in the sky, that she moved there and I’ll meet her there many years from now. Anyway, I miss her.

What do you know about God?

I know that he’s in the sky and he watches us. A teacher says he recognizes everyone and can hear everybody.

Would you like to be adopted?

I don’t know. I’m afraid of that. What if I don’t like them or they don’t like me? I’ve heard of a girl who was adopted and her parents didn’t like her. She killed herself, children told me.

Do you know about HIV or AIDS?

It’s scary and fatal. And the people with AIDS never tell others that they have it. That’s why they can easily infect you.

Vice: Do you get along with the nurses here?

Seryozha, 10:

Sometimes, when they don’t punish me.

Do you get punished a lot?

Yes, but it’s mostly undeserved.

Come on…

Well, once Ilya and I took a bowl of warm water and put it under someone else’s hand while he was sleeping. He peed his pants!

That’s a classic.

And once, during shower time, we stole all the girls’ towels. We hid them in our closets. That wasn’t so clever, because they found them. We got punished for a week.

Are you in contact with your parents?

My mother calls me on my birthdays. She lives far away, near St. Petersburg. She said she will come and pick me up from this place one day.

Did your mom ever tell you why you are here?

She said that she couldn’t take care of me and that people here can take better care of me.

Do you believe that?

My mother said that the place where she lives doesn’t allow children. She lives in a home with many other adults who have the same problems as her.

Do you know what kind of problems?

No, but she said she might always be there.

What’s your plan for the rest of the evening?

First I’ll have dinner, then I have to take my pills and then we’re all watching a movie.

Why do you have to take a pill?

The nurses say that I have to take them so I don’t get sick. Most of the children here take them. Once a girl got sick, but she was moved to a different place.

Do you know what she had?

No. The other children said that she died, but I don’t know if that’s true.

Vice: I like your haircut. Who did it?

Sasha, 13:

Thanks. My girlfriend Svetlana did it a couple of days ago. I like it very much.

Tell me about your girlfriend…

We have a good connection. We talk a lot and ride bicycles together or go for walks outside. It’s just good to have someone.

Do you hold hands and kiss each other?

Yes, we do. But it’s against the rules here, so the nurses don’t know. Don’t tell them, OK?

Do you take medication?

Sometimes a nurse gives me a pill. I don’t know what it’s for. I think they’re vitamins.

How often do you take medicine?

Two times a week, probably. There are kids in here that take way more medicine. The nurses say they need it for their immune system.

What do you know about HIV?

It’s a disease that kills you.

What else?

You can get it when you have contact with other people who have HIV. I think you should never have contact with people who have it. They should stay in separate places.

What do you know about your mom?

She was very sick. That’s why I am here. She died in a hospital when I was two. My first years were spent in a hospital, too. I needed some kind of medication when I was younger. My heart was not that strong or something. I don’t really know the name of the disease.

What do you know about your dad?

Nothing.

What would you ask him if you met him?

I would like to know everything about him, what he is doing and why he left me and my mom. But I don’t think about it a lot. You can’t show that you are weak, otherwise other people will bully you.