Sitting under a sala at the house of their village chief, these four members of the Akha hill tribe in northern Thailand told harrowing stories of how heroin has ruined their lives. Sompong Joebaw (second from left) says he became infected from sharing needles, and then infected his wife, who passed the virus on to one of their three children. His wife subsequently died from AIDS. I asked him what he wanted now. "I don't care for anything, but my heart goes out for my children," he said. "I'm callous about myself." |
