Infinite Hope: January 2008

Friday, January 25, 2008

Babes galore

In desperate need for a place to live, Slindile (18) with four month old Alwande and 22 month old Lusanda "Buki" moved in with me in late October. What an adventure it's been to deepen my relationship with Sli, to to journey with her through raising two young babies. It has been a journey of joy and struggle: being waken many nights to crying babies, watching a growing Buki eat phenomenal amounts of food and grow in his understanding of language (Zulu and some English), being thrilled by little Alwande's first smiles, and helping Sli get the supplies and helps she needs to get back to school.

Back in late October, after her fiance's continued infidenlity, Slindile, whose mother passed away when she was 12 and whose grandmother has been missing for almost two years, had no place to go. She and her three younger siblings have been like family to me for the past four years, so inviting her to move in was the most natural option for her. Sli and her two babies moved into my house with me, and I've been supporting them ever since. After being out of school for two years with her babies, Sli is enrolled again, attending grade 9. Plans are currently underway for her to move into a place of her own, and continue her studies.

Additionally, Slindile's 10 year old sister moved in with us for a month back in November after sexual abuse at the unregistered orphanage where she was staying. Her younger sister, and two younger cousins were all moved by social workers to a place of safety, and will be soon placed in a family at SOS Childrens Villages.

Slindile hopes to be reunited with her grandmother, and get a place of her own so that one day she can again care for her three younger 'siblings'. If you are interested in helping to fund Slindile to get a place of her own (buy the land, put up a simple house), please let me know. It will cost between $1500 and $2500 to get her set up in new digs, an amount of priceless value in supporting an orphan and potentially her younger siblings as well.

Join me in Praying for the Amangwe Community

Praise God for the land granted us and the new building that we’ve managed to put up!
Pray for an end to the stigma and denial surrounding HIV/AIDS in the Amangwe community – For courageous local people to come forward and openly talk about the huge devastation of AIDS in their community.
Pray for God’s provision and equipping of Thembalethu as we move forward in the work God has called us to do.
Pray for health, provision and hope for the many sick adults and orphaned children in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Pray for provision and wisdom as we move forward to establish Thembalethu Care Centre as a place of hope and love in the midst of Amangwe Tribal Area.
Pray for the HBC mommas that they would continue to be encouraged by God’s word and the fellowship of other believers to continue to deepen in their faith journeys.
Pray that God would build up strong, godly Christian leaders for the Amangwe community.

Jargon Buster

Adherence Training - The required three-module (three day) training given to HIV+ people who are on their way to accessing ART. The three modules cover topics including basic HIV, healthy living with HIV, and ARV adherence. The focus of the third module is to emphasize the need for the patient to takes his/her ARV medication according to the prescribed schedule.

AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; starts out as HIV, then becomes AIDS as the immune system damage becomes evident and opportunistic infections arise. document.

ARV(s) - Anti-retroviral(s) the multi-drug cocktail of treatment for AIDS that converts it from a terminal to chronic condition.

CD4 count- The measure of immune system strength through a blood test. If below 200, the patient can access ARVs immediately, if above 200, the patient must watch their health closely, and recheck their CD4 regularly.

Drug Resistance - Poor adherence to ART can lead to a public-health emergency where HIV virus mutates to develop a strain resistant to the positive effects of the treatment.

Gogo - [Zulu] grandmother

HBC - Home-Based Care, a grassroots network of (mostly) mommas who voluntarily look after the sick and orphaned in their community. With good training, they can be the eyes of the community to identify possible HIV/AIDS patients, motivate and assist them in receiving support and treatment. They also have the potential of remaining life-long treatment supporters of their patients on ARVs to ensure good adherence to the treatment.

HIV - Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, a virus that attacks the immune system of a person. It often lives in the body of an infected person for years before it shows any symptoms.

Opportunistic Infections - Infections that take advantage of the body's weak immune system. Some of the most common in South Africa are tuberculosis, meningitis, pneumonia, and oral thrush.

TB - Tuberculosis, is a disease most commonly infecting the lungs, and the number-one killer of HIV+ people. TB has been around for centuries and today infects one-third of the world’s population, killing almost two million people a year.