Grace, Hope and Happiness

I knew we were going to an AIDS hospice. I somehow missed the detail that most of the patients were children. It was a little gut wrenching. I had too swallow a few tears. Most of the kids were gone to school so we headed to the day care. It is a facility specifically for kids who are HIV/AIDS orphans or are positive themselves. There is a broad range of ages. The focus is getting kids ready to start school. Many of the older kids have never been in school. They receive meals and medication for their condition. The daycare staff works with home health care workers and the families to get the kids to a doctor's office regularly for checkups and medication refills as the government provides free ARVs (anti-retrovirals). After they sang their songs for us and we played a bit, we divided up into different rooms to work on letters and number. I think I was in one of the younger classes, but it is challenging to determine ages as all of the kids look much younger than they are due to various reasons.

There was one little girl (I found out later that it was a girl. I thought she was a boy because of the way she was dressed) in my class who caught my heart. She seemed to be hard of hearing and much younger than the rest of the kids. She was one only one who was not understanding how we were writing the letter A and the number 2. The entire time i was there she didn't make a sound. I decided to spend some time with her. I felt a huge need to pray. Not loudly or obnoxiously, but just to myself as we wrote our numbers. I had to confront the question if I thought God is big enough to heal her. I know He is, but I was challenged to pray that way. Even now, it will continue. I know that He has a plan for her life no matter what the condition or how long or short.

At WAMATA, a local organization for AIDS patients and community resources, we met three women who were living with HIV/AIDS. Upon meeting them, I discovered that their names either were or translated to Grace, Hope and Happiness. Hearing their stories gave me hope for others like them and also inspired me to be a better health care provider to patients I will have like them. They were the most wonderful women who were welcoming and gracious. they made me smile.