Praise in the Storm

Living in the U.S. we often hear about AIDS. We're educated about it while in school but for the majority of people, we rarely come in contact with someone suffering from the disease. In Africa, this is not the case. I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't had their lives changed by the disease, whether it be that they are themselves infected, have infected family members or are looking after AIDS orphans.
It was something that I had to quickly learn how to deal with if I was going to live here. I've had to learn how to watch people suffer with it, how to handle death (which is still not easy), and how to best help the orphans that are left behind.
It is still not easy for me to deal with but I think it's hardest for the children. I've talked a bit about Jacque and want to tell you more. She has completely changed my life, as well as have the many other children that I'm constantly surrounded by. When I met Jacque she was in a horrible condition. She is an orphan and was living with an aunt and uncle who have six of their own children. None of their biological children were attending school because of lack of finances to pay school fees. In addition to all of these people living in the house was another aunt and uncle, their children and several other orphans. The family was living in two rooms, barely eating and the home was in the swampy part of the slum. Not a healthy condition for a child living with HIV.
When we first took Jacque to the hospital, I went with a friend and her 16 year old cousin. No adult living in the home bothered to go. She was very sick and many tests were done. She was given medication to get rid of the many infections in her body. She was to see the doctor several more times over the next few weeks. Sometimes the 16 year old cousin would take her to the hospital and drop her off there. Other times she wouldn't bring her at all. No adult ever went.
ARVs are given free at this particular hospital to children but there has to be a responsible adult for them to be given. Since no adult ever went, Jacque was not given the ARVs.
Jacque was brought to my school regularly for a couple of weeks. Then suddenly she stopped coming. When I went to inquire as to why, the family told me they didn't want to be bothered with her. It was too far to walk and after all she is going to die.
My thoughts on that: if someone is going to let you bring your child to school for free, don't complain about the distance. And, isn't everyone at some point going to die. The adults may actually die first. No one knows how many days we have here on earth.
I offered to send a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) to pick Jacque up in the mornings and another parent offered to bring her home in the afternoons. This seemed to work for the family although things were still not going well for Jacque at home. I went with the boda-boda a few times to pick her up and on the second day, they had her things packed and told me to just keep her. I told them I couldn't just take her like that but if they would get a letter from a local official then I would stay with her. In less than a week, they had the letter and Jacque was moved into my house. She arrived at my house weighing only 22 pounds and with a large bag full of medicine (none of which was yet the ARVs). She had medicine to be put in her bath water. Two creams to be rubbed on her twice a day. And three different antibiotics to be given at varying times throughout the day.
I went to the next hospital appointment (4 days after she moved in with me) and forced her aunt to go to the hospital with me. Forced being that I showed up at her house with Jacque early in the morning (4 days after Jacque moved in with me) and told her that she had to come. We got to the hospital and quickly were able to talk to a counselor. The hospital records were all changed with me now listed as Jacque's legal guardian. I was told to come back the following week and ARVs would be started.
So, this past Monday, I spent the day in the hospital successfully. The ARVs are able to be started. I was given the meds for the first two weeks and Jacque started taking them this morning. Also, she was weighed and in the last week has gained 2 pounds!
The purpose of the ARVs is to keep the virus "sleeping." The ARVs have to be given strictly every 12 hours without missing a dose or being late. Otherwise, the virus "wakes up."
So, I'm learning to be more responsible. Since I'm now the legal guardian and the one to give the meds, I don't want to be the one to "wake" the virus up by missing a dose or giving one late.
She's been a joy to have in my life. After Nakato died, I said I would never do this again. God does things in mysterious ways and He knew exactly which little girl to put in my path to knock that idea out of my mind. After Nakato I didn't think I would ever let my heart be so completely abandoned to another child. That's been dashed to pieces.
Just in the little time she's lived with me, I've watched her personality changed. She's gone from being a subdued, quiet little girl who sat lonely in one place to a child full of life. She talks nonstop, runs around the house and keeps me laughing. She's been my constant shadow (will have to break that soon though). And everywhere we go people absolutely love her, even at the internet cafe where she walks around telling everyone to keep quiet. (It's the little English she knows) and is now her nickname there.
Please pray with me that she will continue gaining strength and health and remain healthy for a long time.