The news crew interviewing a sponsored child.I went with a television crew and World Vision staff from the UK to one of our projects where they collected stories for a five part series on diseases that kill children under five years old. One of those killer diseases is HIV/AIDS and we met with a mother who wanted to have her two month old child tested for HIV.
This little two month old got his heel pricked - to squeeze out five drops of blood for the HIV test.
The test can only be read in a lab about 8 hours away and according to the clinic manager, she still hadn't recieved results from tests she had sent in five months earlier! Imagine being a parent waiting for 6 months or more to know if your child is HIV positive...
When we asked the mom how she would feel if the results showed that her son was HIV positive she said, "I know it will be ok and that he will be fine."
I was a bit suprised by that response because I thought she'd say that it would be sad, unbearable, or devastating, but she went on to say that both she and her husband are currently on anti-retroviral therapy and they are both leading strong, healthy lives, so she felt certain that IF her son was HIV positive, he too would be ok.
Where I saw death staring me in the face...she sees hope because of the medical treatment that is available to her and new son.
No comments:
Post a Comment