“I’m sorry but you have AIDS” has to be the worst words that anyone can be given. The disease is not like cancer which can be treated and cured if caught at an early stage with chemo and radiation. Aids are a deadly disease that has no cure. HIV is a lesser form of Aids, and is better managed when caught at an early stage, but even then the ending factor isn’t good. Finding out that you have Aids right off the bat would make anyone’s heart drop. For a young teen boy finding out that you have Aids is a life sentence.
We found out that a young teen that our contact knows just found out that he has Aids. After a Dr.’s visit to take care of some other sickness, it was found out that he has full blown Aids. As a teen, one should be thinking of the future: school, a wife, kids, a life. Now with the thought of never really being able to enjoy life, I can’t imagine what is going through his mind. To have a disease that has no cure, and to be in a country that more than half of its human population infected with HIV/Aids, one would think it’s the end of the world.
That’s when faith comes in to play. Yes, Aids ends in death, but why dwell on that. I know I have no clue what it means to be given a death sentence, but if I was given the sentence of Aids I would turn to God. For God can guide and comfort one when in need.
A lady (whose name has too many “th’s” and “clicks” to write) that we had the pleasure of visiting twice this month was diagnosed with Aids 15 years ago. The first time that we met her was at the beginning of the month; she was sitting on the hard cement floor where she would sleep and sit all day. I could tell that she had a stork because her right side was paralyzed. That day we brought her a mattress and a blanket so she would be comfortable. She seemed distant and really didn’t make eye contact. Before we left, her sister in-law told us that she had stopped eating, and without her eating she couldn’t take her medication. We were told that she loves fruit and it’s the only thing that they could get into her. The last day that we spent in Swaziland we visited her and brought her a big bag of fruit. The five of us who went could see a totally different person. She was smiling, happy, and made eye contact with us. When I sat down next to her and her mat and opened the bag of fruit and pulled everything out she went wild. With the little words she could get out, “Thank you so much,” stuck out the most to me. At the end when we were all holding hands to pray, she kept squeezing my hand. I knew at that point that we made her day, and that she still had the faith of God to carry on.
The landy who we visited this month!
It’s easy for me to say anything is better with the faith of the Lord, but really it’s up to the person in question. I do pray that the boy who found out he has Aids gets the help he needs, and that he also looks to God for help and guidance. I pray for the lady to continue to fight and pray to the Lord. There are so many people in Swaziland that have Aids and children that have been born with Aids and it is unbelievable. God has not forgotten Swaziland, and I will never forget the opportunity of getting to work with such brave and strong people who have the drive to live!
