Limited Opportunities

I met this young woman who is 32 years old. She learned she was HIV positive when she went to the hospital to deliver her now three month old son, Joshua (all pregnant women are now tested before they deliver). Joshua went on ARVs before she did - but both are thriving.

She is married and currently lives with her mother in her village about 4 hours from where her husband lives. When she got sick and was unable to care for herself and her son, she moved back to the village with her mother. Her unemployed husband continues to seek out work.

Her one plea was for milk. She knows she shouldn't breastfeed her child since she's HIV positive - but milk is expensive - especially when you have no money. What would you do in that situation - you're too weak to work but your baby needs to be fed...Tough decisions and not a lot of options.







This widow lives with her three children - aged 13, 11 and 7. She is standing in front of her house (which is about 14' x 14'). When asked what she had eaten that day - she said nothing...when asked what she ate the day before, she said "nothing." When I asked her how she generates income, she said that about twice a month, she will weed someone else's land. She get's paid 20 cents for a 1 meter wide by 50 meter long strip (think Olympic sized swimming pool). She generally does 5 rows a day - giving her a total of $1.00 a day. She only can do this about twice a month - which means her total monthly income is $2.00.

She is in a very difficult situation with little opportunity to break out of her poverty. This is the hard reality for so many people around the world. Her Caregiver, Mary, acknowledged that this situation is worse than many of her clients. Whenever she has extra food, Mary will give from what little she has to help out this family. Compassion in action.