The Time Has Come For Everyone to Lend A Much Needed Hand

     In Stephen Lewis’ lecture Pandemic: My Country is on It’s Knees, Lewis paints a gruesome picture of the decline of a once newly freed and opportunistic Africa to what is the present: a continent that is being consumed by HIV/AIDS.
     I believe that the purpose of this essay is to make the audience really think about Africa and their state of emergency and spur a change which will be beneficial to the people who are in dire need.
     When I read Lewis’ lectures I cried. I was able to project his experiences into my own life. I have two children and the thought of having to endure a lifetime of pain, loss and suffering while the developed world flourishes would be devastating to say the least. I think that with the reaction it created for me Lewis’ intended audience is income earners who have families. His lectures have many references to the connections made, friendships created and family changes with regards to children that it seems like the logical choice to make since families incorporate all these aspects. From my personal reaction, I think Lewis executed his purpose effectively by using rhetorical appeal.
     When starting to read this essay, it was hard to focus. I found the words to be very descriptive for something I had a hard time envisioning. It felt like I was reading a text book rather than someone’s personal history. As Lewis made his way into Africa, the language stayed descriptive but it seemed to fit better since he was describing, with great detail, each circumstance. I was able to visualize myself there with him.
     I think that Lewis described his personal history and experiences so descriptively and honestly to create an ethical appeal. First off Lewis discloses information about his personal upbringings, family values and choices he made in his early life which shows that he is headstrong. Secondly Lewis describes why he is interested in Africa. “Although the conference lasted only seven days, I stayed in Africa for a year; I was crazy about the continent from the moment I set foot on its soil-the music, the energy, the kindness, the generosity, the camaraderie, the purposefulness of everything… the sense of possibility was everywhere.” By explaining why he is interested in Africa, Lewis comes across as sincere without having an ulterior motive. Thirdly Lewis discloses his personal experiences when immersed in the African countries which shows he made personal connections and a life there. And finally Lewis’ timelines are easy to follow since they are sequential. All these examples build credibility for Lewis. He opens himself up to the audience fully in an easy to follow manner.
     I also believe that Lewis’ experiences were descriptively written to create not only an ethical appeal but also an emotional appeal. Facts are facts and remove the faces from the African people. By re-telling his experiences Lewis is able to bring the reader into his memory which causes the reader to then evaluate their beliefs, thoughts and emotions. The one interview that made me breakdown was Lewis hearing Agnes‘ story. “There was one woman, seventy-three years old, sitting slightly apart from the rest , who refused to speak…And then Agnes spoke. She took mo more than a couple of minutes…She had buried all five of her adult children between 2001 and 2003 -all five- and was left with four orphan grandchildren. That was it. She wept… I learned as I left that every one of her four grandchildren is HIV-positive. How much can one grandmother endure?” Sitting here on my computer, I am teary eyed and wrenched with the pain that one woman has been through. What a reality painted right in front of the reader! Lewis also used a comparison between the western societies and the African societies. “All of us who live in privileged western societies experience death from time to time, but in much of southern Africa that’s all people know. Their lives consist of attending funerals; if I may mangle a phrase, they go on a graveyard crawl every weekend.” I believe this comparison to be effective since we do take many things for granted and these lines bring it down to a very current level that almost everyone can relate to.
     At the end of the lectures Lewis uses inductive reasoning to formulate an argument for help. Lewis focuses on the progress organizations like UNICEF, Umoyo and Doctor’s Without Borders have made in helping people in Africa live with HIV/AIDS and helping the people recognize that HIV/AIDS incorporates everyone, not just women. These specific examples and organizations are having a positive impact everywhere they go. I believe Lewis feels that these organizations are the forwarding steps bringing Africa back to the continent Lewis remembers and loves.
     Also at the end of his lectures, after portraying a very gruesome and realistic picture of many countries in Africa, Lewis gives hope. “It’s hard not to be in a near stupor of anger. And yet I’m sustained, as so many Africans are, by the memories of what the continent used to be, and the conviction that the present will one day reunite with the best of the past.” Just when the problem seems too far out of control to handle and too depressing to think about, the resiliency conveyed left me with the drive to help. All of the examples provided in my analysis show how Stephen Lewis wrote a fantastic rhetorical appeal which really made me think with a different perspective and want to make changes to help stop this pandemic.
     So my question is how close to home does a pandemic of this magnitude have to hit before we take notice and help? Also, why is it once the media stops covering stories such as these, do we just forget about the people who desperately need our help?