Catastrophe lurks in the city
The only way I can think of HIV AIDS is Genocide – a killing force taking no mercy and affecting everyone in its path. Today I experienced the most devastating thing that I have ever seen in my life. I saw anguish in a new light. I saw pain.. I saw death.. I saw life for so many people.
I met a couple be freak chance the other day who has started an organization called, Global Family Rescue. They find widows and orphans that have no way of living with out aid. They were working in Rwanda for three years but recently were thrown out by the government because they were helping out both Hutu's and Tutsi's and the government only wanted them to aid Hutu's. Today we went scouting for families to support. There is nothing that I could have done to psychologically prepare myself for what my day had in store for me. We started out at this beautiful woman's house. She was HIV positive. She had been beaten so severely by her husband that she went blind. I can not explain the beauty of this woman and how radiant her smile was. She had about five children who were infected, and her oldest (a ten year old named, Raymond) was the source of income and the man of the house. She gets her meals by begging on the street because she cannot do any manual work. Her husband had been crazy and wanted to kill her. One day while she was out he came with a machete and slaughtered her mother, her baby, and the sitter. The youngest child saw everything and is severely psychologically damaged. This woman has no money for food let along pain killers for the infection funning through her veins. She is truly helpless. You should have seen her house. It was one room with three beds, a iron pot used for cooking in the middle of the floor and that is all. They have nothing but broken dreams and infection that is slowly and painfully killing her, yet she was one of the most positive people that I have ever met. I cried so hard when she started to cry as she told us that she just wanted to live to see her kids marry and have babies because I knew in the next couple of years she would be dead. She has such strong faith in God. She is not angry with him but was talking about his blessings. We went to another house where a "jaja" (grandmother) was caretaking her eight orphan grandchildren because her three children had all died of HIV. We spoke with the eldest child who had watched both of her parents die a year ago. She cried so hard when we asked her how she felt - if she was angry or sad. None of these children can go to school because there is no government funded schools and they can not afford 50,000 shillings, about $25 to attend school. We went to household after house hold and the same story, parents killed from Aids and no money for food or school or medicine to prevent the symptoms. Then we went to a home.. a dirt room where a 37 year old mama (who looks about 80) that was infected and had been bed ridden for four years. She went to the restroom in her bed and had not bathed. You can imagine the smell. Her husband died of the virus and left her sick with six kids. Her oldest kid, Grace is 20 years old and has been bed bound for three months. This HIV is killing them and they have never received any medicine, not even pain killers. The mom was rotting. I am not exaggerating she is decomposing. Her ear was molded; she looked like she had leprosy. She and Grace were nothing but bones. I could put my hand around her thigh. It is not fair. They had not eaten in three days. We asked her what she needed and she asked for school for her children who had never been to school, a meal, a blanket, and prayer. I sat with Grace for a really long time just loving on her. I cannot imagine the fear that consumes her mind as she lies next to her decomposing mother and knows that is what she will be soon. She was so beautiful and graceful. I couldn't help but to weep as I held her hand and thought about how she has nothing to live for. I wanted to dress her up and take her to have coffee with a boy –what she should be doing. It is not her fault that she is infected why does she have to die because of her parents.<> These kids stay up every night by their mothers bed side with a candle to make sure she does not die in the night. They do not even know how old they are… Never have they ever had a birthday party or experienced "Joy" as we would know. Actually in most of the houses they had an unexplainable joy but this house was heavy with depression and anguish. We didn't see any smiles there. I had to get this off of my chest I have been crying and really psychologically screwed up all day because of it and writing seems to help. Lets do everything that we can do to stop this epidemic. PLEASE don't just sit on your pride and let these people die. A very small amount of $ can supply many with medicine so dying isn't filled with starvation, anguish, and pain -as these people were. I saw a dead woman today with a high, soft, and calm voice. She held my hand and prayed FOR ME!!! How is this happening in this day of age? How is this possible? Don't be critical because you think people will screw over your money, that is just an excuse to sit on your money. Have you heard of Jesus' parable of the Talents. The servant who sat on his money was called evil and was cast out by the master, but the servant who did something with his money was favored by the master, and the master said 'Well good thou good and faithful servant, you may enter into the masters courts." Do what you wish with what you wish but you can never loose from helping a person.
The only way I can think of HIV AIDS is Genocide – a killing force taking no mercy and affecting everyone in its path. Today I experienced the most devastating thing that I have ever seen in my life. I saw anguish in a new light. I saw pain.. I saw death.. I saw life for so many people.
I met a couple be freak chance the other day who has started an organization called, Global Family Rescue. They find widows and orphans that have no way of living with out aid. They were working in Rwanda for three years but recently were thrown out by the government because they were helping out both Hutu's and Tutsi's and the government only wanted them to aid Hutu's. Today we went scouting for families to support. There is nothing that I could have done to psychologically prepare myself for what my day had in store for me. We started out at this beautiful woman's house. She was HIV positive. She had been beaten so severely by her husband that she went blind. I can not explain the beauty of this woman and how radiant her smile was. She had about five children who were infected, and her oldest (a ten year old named, Raymond) was the source of income and the man of the house. She gets her meals by begging on the street because she cannot do any manual work. Her husband had been crazy and wanted to kill her. One day while she was out he came with a machete and slaughtered her mother, her baby, and the sitter. The youngest child saw everything and is severely psychologically damaged. This woman has no money for food let along pain killers for the infection funning through her veins. She is truly helpless. You should have seen her house. It was one room with three beds, a iron pot used for cooking in the middle of the floor and that is all. They have nothing but broken dreams and infection that is slowly and painfully killing her, yet she was one of the most positive people that I have ever met. I cried so hard when she started to cry as she told us that she just wanted to live to see her kids marry and have babies because I knew in the next couple of years she would be dead. She has such strong faith in God. She is not angry with him but was talking about his blessings. We went to another house where a "jaja" (grandmother) was caretaking her eight orphan grandchildren because her three children had all died of HIV. We spoke with the eldest child who had watched both of her parents die a year ago. She cried so hard when we asked her how she felt - if she was angry or sad. None of these children can go to school because there is no government funded schools and they can not afford 50,000 shillings, about $25 to attend school. We went to household after house hold and the same story, parents killed from Aids and no money for food or school or medicine to prevent the symptoms. Then we went to a home.. a dirt room where a 37 year old mama (who looks about 80) that was infected and had been bed ridden for four years. She went to the restroom in her bed and had not bathed. You can imagine the smell. Her husband died of the virus and left her sick with six kids. Her oldest kid, Grace is 20 years old and has been bed bound for three months. This HIV is killing them and they have never received any medicine, not even pain killers. The mom was rotting. I am not exaggerating she is decomposing. Her ear was molded; she looked like she had leprosy. She and Grace were nothing but bones. I could put my hand around her thigh. It is not fair. They had not eaten in three days. We asked her what she needed and she asked for school for her children who had never been to school, a meal, a blanket, and prayer. I sat with Grace for a really long time just loving on her. I cannot imagine the fear that consumes her mind as she lies next to her decomposing mother and knows that is what she will be soon. She was so beautiful and graceful. I couldn't help but to weep as I held her hand and thought about how she has nothing to live for. I wanted to dress her up and take her to have coffee with a boy –what she should be doing. It is not her fault that she is infected why does she have to die because of her parents.<> These kids stay up every night by their mothers bed side with a candle to make sure she does not die in the night. They do not even know how old they are… Never have they ever had a birthday party or experienced "Joy" as we would know. Actually in most of the houses they had an unexplainable joy but this house was heavy with depression and anguish. We didn't see any smiles there. I had to get this off of my chest I have been crying and really psychologically screwed up all day because of it and writing seems to help. Lets do everything that we can do to stop this epidemic. PLEASE don't just sit on your pride and let these people die. A very small amount of $ can supply many with medicine so dying isn't filled with starvation, anguish, and pain -as these people were. I saw a dead woman today with a high, soft, and calm voice. She held my hand and prayed FOR ME!!! How is this happening in this day of age? How is this possible? Don't be critical because you think people will screw over your money, that is just an excuse to sit on your money. Have you heard of Jesus' parable of the Talents. The servant who sat on his money was called evil and was cast out by the master, but the servant who did something with his money was favored by the master, and the master said 'Well good thou good and faithful servant, you may enter into the masters courts." Do what you wish with what you wish but you can never loose from helping a person.
