Today my heart breaks for I've seen the babies and adults that AIDS is killing. They are no longer just faces on some website, television commercial, brochure, or anything else. They are actually human beings. I know their names. I know what makes them laugh and what makes them cry. I've held these babies in my arms and rocked them to sleep or tried to get them to keep down even just a little bit of a bottle. AIDS is no longer just about the statistics to me - it's about friends I have, it's about little precious creations that God designed and loves, it's about families being destroyed and children left without any parents. And yet the resources are sometimes just not here. We've made medicines that can help anyone live a much longer, healthier life - but the education and availability sometimes just isn't here. People are still afraid of the stigma. The doctors and nurses don't always give the medicine because of supply. The tests don't come back accurate much of the time. So today my heart breaks.
Today my heart also has hope. There are improvements being made here - people are living longer and healthier - kids are being given the chance at life even when they are HIV positive. Dow is one of those little precious creations. When we first got here he was in really bad shape.
(This is Dow in June I believe)
He just didn't look like he was going to make it. Praise the LORD though that his little body responded so well to the medicines and today he is a BIG boy.
(This is Dow almost two weeks ago)
I love going to see him every week at Namwianga - to see him as he grows stronger and stronger. So there is hope. God knows each of these precious creations - young and old - that are HIV positive... and I know His heart breaks. Will your heart break for this horrible evil that is taking so many lives? It doesn't have to be this way. When will we wake up and let our hearts break? What will it take for you for the statistics to become more than just numbers on a page, but a tear stained face of a person dying? For me it took coming here to Zambia. Maybe it will for you too?
