Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Little Amani was loved by his grandmother, held in her arms until he passed into His arms on Friday. He is one of the many babies that are born with this terrible HIV virus. Amani's father died last May, his mother last month, and now this sweet little boy was also dead. His two other young siblings remain at grandmother's along with a handful of other children. Never has this dear old woman mentioned her difficult circumstances. Her mud walls are falling in, plastic bags cover the places where the thatch no longer exists, and there seems to be many hungry stomachs to fill. Her circumstances are desperate, but when you are in her presence you know you are with a great and wise saint. We went to visit today to give our condolences, a small gift and our friendship. Really, words didn't come easily.

During the past two months, we seem to have lost a baby almost every week. They tell me that nearly three quarters of the babies born with the virus are dead by their first year unless there is some kind of intervention. Great strides have been made to prevent mother-to-child transmission, but moms often aren't suspicious that they have the virus until baby starts getting sick all of the time and by then it is too late. We have been blessed to have Dr. Leena come and visit with us for a several times each month for a few days at a time. As she accompanies us through the villages to visit our friends, she is able to not only assess the situation but do something about it. We were together at Amani's house on Tuesday and, after seeing so many babies like him in our villages, she has made it a priority to help our HIV babies to get on the ARVs early so we won't lose them. Really, we have seen what is like a miracle happen with the one baby that as started ARVs at just a few months old. He is no longer sick, but is instead smiling, and learning to crawl and doing other type of normal baby things. They will be normal kids who just have to take their medicines twice a day.

One of our stops was to visit Mama Baraka who lost her baby last month. We were checking in on her husband who has been making a slow recovery. At the end of the visit, she asked if we had just a little more time to look in on one more child. Her neighbor's son Devidi turned out to be one of our younger friends -- that I didn't know it as he travels on his mother's back during his trips to the Lugoda Hospital so he doesn't actually have a seat on the bus! He is six years old and he has been on the ARVs for two months now. Although emaciated and covered with the lesions, there was a smile and a twinkle in his beautiful eyes as we showed him a new toy that we "just happened to have" in the car. We were able right there to arrange milk for him and Dr. Leena "just happened to have" the medicines he needed in her little medicine kit, and really, it was a divinely appointed visit for little Devidi. I am humbled by beautiful women like Mama Baraka who have time to think about and serve others during their own time of grief.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible these days is "Trust in the Lord and do good" from Psalm 37, and really I cling to that as we venture into unfamiliar terrain to serve. Last time I wrote, I shared about Sifa and Lucia and sending them onto Moshi for heart surgeries. Both of those little girls are still there in Moshi. Sifa doesn't weigh enough yet so she can safely have the surgery so she is waiting -- and eating! -- there in Moshi. Lucia, on the other hand is waiting for the doctor to come up with a plan. Getting them there was a worry for me, and the whole idea of sending them off hundreds of miles away to a city was frightening to me. But Moses, a new friend of ours who has a taxi, was waiting for them at 11 pm at the bus stand, took them home, fed them, and put them to bed at his own house. The next morning he got them to the hospital where they have been waiting for the last 3 weeks. I can only imagine the overwhelming work load of the few people who know cardiology in this part of the world. I admire them. Everyday as I teach my students, I imagine the future with these kids using their God-given potential to make this country and this world a better place.

Please keep my little girls Lucia and Sifa in your prayers as they wait to hear the plan for their heart surgeries. It would be so wonderful if this is finally the trip when they come back to me healed. Thank you.

In His service,

Susan