Already, companies like British Petroleum and Barclays Bank are hiring two employees for some skilled jobs to hedge against AIDS deaths. School systems will be hard pressed to match the more lucrative private-sector salaries. Some of the educational investment in today's children has already been lost as students become infected at startling rates as well. About half of those newly infected with AIDS are younger than 25. One survey at the University of Durban-Westville estimated that one third of its students are HIV positive.
Educators complain that many students refuse counseling and are unwilling to use condoms.
Daphney Mdlalose knows the consequences. I told her that it wasn't a good idea because she might get AIDS, but Lydia just laughed at me. One day, Lydia vanished from her high school in the KwaZulu Natal province. She returned months later, frail and sick. Not long after, she died a victim of AIDS at only 17.