  |
|
|
NINI'S STORY We are living in the midst of one of the most catastrophic diseases of all time. In the next hour, more than 350 people will die because of HIV/AIDS. Most of them will have complications intensified by poverty, malnourishment and the lack of medicines. But it is the children who suffer most. Children like Nini. Her mother died shortly after Nini was born, leaving the children in the care of their elderly grandmother. When my friend, George Snyman, director of the Masoyi Home Based Care Initiative, first came to their home, it was impossible to ignore the exhaustion and desperation in the grandmother's face. The baby's painful cries had been echoing in their small hut for days. As she passed this tiny and frail infant over to George, she pleaded with him to take the child. If he didn't, she would kill herself. She had 7 other little children to care for. |
|
George took Nini home.
He thought she must be about 4 months old. Before he brought her home,
he stopped at the clinic. He knew she was suffering, but wanted to make sure
there were no serious problems.
He was shocked when he heard the doctor's report.
The doctors confirmed that Nini had a number of conditions that required immediate attention: scabies (a fierce skin condition causing extreme itch and pain), an ear infection that was found to be so severe the inner ear was beginning to decay, oral thrush (causing the inside of the mouth to become inflamed and the infant no longer desires to eat or drink), a bladder infection, an enlarged liver, double pneumonia and severe malnutrition.
Without urgent treatment, this child would have died.
While she looked like an infant, the doctor told George that she was at least a year old. She should have been strong and happy, possibly taking her first steps or forming her first words. Instead, she was fighting for her life.
My friends, I wish I could tell you that Nini's story is one in a million. I wish I could say that this is unusual - but it's not. Thousands of grandmothers and grandfathers are struggling to care for their orphaned grandchildren. There is little joy in their life. There is only poverty, sickness and pain.
With your help, we can reach out to these communities and educate them on
care and prevention practices. Visionledd will also enable the churches to care
for these vulnerable children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS by
providing them with a stable home and a caring guardian.
Let me give you a quick update. Nini was a very sick baby. It took months for George and his family to nurse her back to health. By that time, the whole family had grown close to her. George and Nini's grandmother agreed that Nini would stay with George and his family.
