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       Helpless...that is the only emotion I felt all day while holding this tiny baby. He was hardly breathing and would only open his eyes while he was eating. I had asked to hold him because I noticed all day that he was being passed from one woman to another.  I asked who his mother was and they pointed to the lady…my heart stopped. Dudu, his mother, was the woman who was extremely gaunt and would not stop shaking. I noticed her the first time I stepped foot into the care point in Swazi. My heart automatically broke for this woman.  It was hard not to stare at her. She is about 5’6 and weighs around 75 pounds. She can only walk with help from other people and her body is constantly shaking from the diseases that have ravaged her body.
        Dudu is 26, a mere year older that myself, has full-blown AIDS, tuberculosis, and was recently diagnosed with meningitis.  Her child is too young to be tested for HIV, but the likelihood that he has it is very high.  The baby was recently taken to the hospital along with the mother and was also diagnosed with TB.
       It is stories like this that you hear over and over again in Swaziland.  This mother and child represent the daily struggles of the Swazi people. While people in America are worried about the economy and their 401K, people here in Swazi are worried about their next meal or if they will live to see their child’s next birthday. Their reality is heartache, sickness, and death.

       I have seen the effects of HIV/AIDS in every country, but it is here in Swaziland that the effects of AIDS are so apparent. Swaziland has the absolute lowest life expectancy of any country in the world….31 years old.  So even though Dudu is only 26 and that seems extremely young for us to be at the end of your life, 26 is not an abnormal age to be near death here.
        Many of my teammates have been with Dudu and her child at the hospital over these past few weeks helping her from room to room and being with her to make decisions with the doctor and helping financially when we can.  Right now it is just a waiting game. The reality is that she will not last much longer than a few more weeks. At 26 she will be leaving a 4 month old with tuberculosis and a 7-year-old daughter orphaned. It is hard to put into words the feelings and emotions my team has gone through in dealing with this. Please pray that this tiny baby is restored to full health and that Dudu stays strong in the days to come.