Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

WARNING: Explicit Imagery and Colloquial Language.

Tim Barrus:  Director, Show Me Your Life

There will be many children on Show Me Your Life and some of them have very difficult stories to hear.

But we must hear them and we will listen.

Bem has been arrested. Bem’s home is in Lagos. I use the word HOME. Home can be a ditch. There is much confusion around where he has been taken. And who exactly he has been taken by. He seems to have almost disappeared.

Bem is nine. He has full-blown AIDS.

Jules was kind enough to send Bem a camera. Jules was around for a visit and wanted to DO something.

Bem was so excited about being a part of Show Me Your Life. Bem seemed to be coming over the transom from a variety of computers. It looks like he participated when and where he could. It was hit and miss. So was his English. Bem has no teeth. They’ve rotted out of his mouth. He has big articulation problems.

There was a video link there for a while.

His speech is like deaf speech. There are probably other neurological conditions. Bem likes glue. Glue addiction in Africa is an epidemic.

There was an older boy who was doing some translating. Most people do not realize that English is the official language of Nigeria. Many people speak it. Bem spoke Yoruba.

What English he has comes from watching pirated DVDs. Hollywood has to be good for something.

We suspect he may have stolen a trinket somewhere. If not a computer (too big), something close enough. Probably hand-held.

These are the rag children.

It is not clear where he was taken, or why he was arrested. The police in Lagos are infamously corrupt. They have in the past been accused of murdering children. We do know that Bem was ripping off hot spots around Lagos and stealing wireless.

Give me a fucking break. The kid would sit outside of buildings and do whatever he was doing (on someone else’s wireless). No one really knows what Bem was specifically doing. Maybe he had hacked into the US Federal Reserve. He’s nine. Does it matter what he’s done. Obviously it does. Is there anyone who thinks whatever it was he was doing was not about survival.

Ben confined to an overcrowded jail with adult criminals will be life-threatening.

I could have been more firm. I could have said: no, you can’t be a part of this unless you are in an organized group.

I am a pushover. He so wanted to be a part of it. This is where the cultures collide. I did not foresee that being a part of Show Me Your Life could ultimately lead to Bem’s life being threatened. It hangs by a thread on a good day.

We are not without people we can rely on and who we have called into it. I am assured that Bem’s being lost in the system is temporary.

I am not convinced.

Being lost between the cracks in Nigeria can mean you’re dead.

Bem is a street-kid. A thief. A pickpocket. A beggar. He is disposable. A nuisance. No one would miss him or even know he was missing. The only reason we became aware of Bem not being around is because he was filming (we are not really sure what it was but we think it was the gang of kids he hangs with) and due to send the clips. No clips. No Bem.

On the other hand, this is WHY we need to know how such children live. Children we can identify with suddenly become not quite so disposable.

We simply do not know how children like Bem EXIST. We need them to show us their lives. We are like idiots with our heads in the sand because we do not really want to know how they survive. It isn’t going to be a pretty picture.

I am not going to stop Show Me Your Life. In fact, THIS IS WHY WE NEED IT. These are images that humanize these children. Creating an identity is going to challenge the status quo that would see these children nameless, homeless, and marginalized. A kid with a camera is a threat. Make no mistake about it.

I knew that he had been chased by cops. But Bem is quick.

Now, they have him.

So many people accuse me of being abusive to the boys and I am challenged to trot them out to PROVE they exist. Okay, and then what.

I would never trot Bem out. He is not a piece of meat in high heels and a swimsuit.

He’s a nine-year-old with AIDS.

We have launched a search.

Do NOT interfere or get in my way.

Watch this space. — t