unloved, unwanted, and forgotten - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

Hello friends!!

Our team has had the opportunity to work with children quite a bit this month, which hasn’t been true for me most of this trip. Out of the 8 countries we have been to so far, I’ve really only had the opportunity to work with children just a handful of times. This month we have done several vbs’ and also worked with disabled children in the park. In addition, we had the honor of partnering with World Vision by spending a morning with children who have been infected with HIV and children who have been affected…meaning they are related to someone who is infected with HIV. Our contact, who is amazing by the way, read us a letter that was written by the coordinator from World Vision. He expressed his gratitude for everything our teams did that day. They kids were filled with so much joy and they laughed so much that morning.

Children infected with HIV are treated as outcasts in India. They are often unloved and neglected. Many people will have nothing to do with me because of their disease. They are forgotten and left to be dealt with by their parents only. No one wants anything to do with these children. It’s heartbreaking really. They have simple requests.

to be LOVED

to be WANTED

to be HELD

He also listed some of the questions they frequently get from the children…

What is the purpose of living if I’m just going to die of AIDS?

Will I ever get married?

Am I going to die from this?

When will I die from this?

Sure, we all wonder if we’ll ever get married. But the reality for these kids is that they probably never will. What if you knew how many more months you had to live…and you hadn’t even become a teenager yet! It truly was an honor to spend the morning with these kids. To see the joy in their faces as we sang songs and played games. We even got to eat a traditional Indian dish with them for lunch. World Vision is a wonderul organization that is doing many great things all over the world. If you know nothing about them, google it and check it out. Maybe sponsor a child. Whatever God leads you to do…

We were given a few guidelines for the morning. We weren’t allowed to take pictures because the children would be uncomfortable with it. They have one designated picture taker. We aren’t allowed to ask anything about their illness or how they are feeling. Several of the kids have already been given their timelines…they know how long it will be before they die……

Here are some pictures of our time with them!