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On Wednesday of last week, March 17, 2010, I was in the care center hanging out with some kids. There was a little boy there, just seven months old, who was coughing and very pale. I asked one of the volunteers what was wrong with him and she told me he had pneumonia. That is not something you want to hear. Pneumonia is hard on adults, but especially hard on infants. Shortly after, this child was brought to the hospital. On Friday, I was told that the little boy died.
I have not had to deal with death before; no one close to me has ever died. In fact, I have only been to two funerals in my entire life. So when this happened I didn’t really know how to handle it. Death almost feels like a part of life here in Lesotho, as so many people have AIDS and so many people die because of it. But it is foreign to me; so I have had to deal with a lot of contrasting emotions.
From what I understand of God, I believe that this child is in heaven. This brings some comfort to the situation. But a child has lost his chance at the fulfilled life that only God can provide. Later that day I was holding one of my favorite babies (sorry, I have favorites, I know it might be illegal or something). This particular little boy, I’ll call him “my friend”, is about 10 months old. He constantly has this look on his face like he has something wise to say, and has this little crooked grin that is so friendly. He has the characteristics of a kind loving old man, but he’s only 10 months old. He’s great.
My friend tested HIV+ when he showed up at Beautiful Gate. The cool thing is, if you start treating children with HIV before they are 18 months old, the effects of the disease can be contained more easily. The same day I heard about this little boy's death, I heard that my friend’s test came back and that he is now HIV-. He’s not cured, but he has got a really good chance at a long life.
It was an emotionally draining day. That is how things go around here. Death is all around. AIDS is a horrible thing, but LIFE is all around too. And there is no telling who these kids are going to grow up to be. These children used to not have a chance at life, but now they do.
I’m here for nine months and I sometimes think about what it will be like to watch my friend grow up. In the nine months I am here I might be able to see him take his first steps, hear some of his first words, and see him turn from an infant into a toddler – and that is just so stinking exciting to me.
With the care of the people here at Beautiful Gate, my friend is going to live. These kind of stories are happening all over the place. Death to Life. It’s what the gospel is all about.
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