Rats

There is a rat that lives on our staircase at night. The stairs are so steep he is hard to see. Often I am right upon the rat before it scurries down the steps and into the street. A few nights ago it stood stoic on the top step and refused to move. Finally Sarah took initiative, forced the rat to move down the steps and we jumped on the handrails, shrieking at midnight as the street sweepers looked up and laughed when the rat ran past them.

On Wednesday I went on Outreach with Shy at Korsang. Twice a day HIV prevention and medical teams are dispatched into the area surrounding Korsang, in the Boeung Trabek neighborhood. They offer medicine, HIV awareness and clean needles. We went to burning house where heroin addicts spend their days and nights barefoot amongst dirty needles. I saw a 15-year old boy, HIV positive, sleeping in the street, infection all around his nose. I watched one man pull blood from a needle in his hand, after fiercely scratching his irritated legs, only to pass out face down in the street before he could shoot up more heroin. Slashes lined his forearm. We talked to one teenager who recently quit taking his ARV treatment medications and shoots 5-6 times a day. He's a garbage collector and makes just enough money for his addiction.